1
00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:06,359
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome episode number thirty five of The Hunting Collective.

2
00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,960
Speaker 1: And of course I'm Ben O'Brien, and this week we

3
00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,240
Speaker 1: are in Bozeman, Montana on a Saturday afternoon in the

4
00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:19,680
Speaker 1: Mediator Offices, the lovely brand new Mediator Offices full of

5
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:24,160
Speaker 1: plastic tables and no office furniture, and I'm hanging out

6
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:29,040
Speaker 1: with our new associate editor, Morgan Mason. And Morgan came

7
00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:34,040
Speaker 1: to this company from gear Junkie and moreover from Wakefield,

8
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,680
Speaker 1: Kansas as a small town farm kid who's got a

9
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 1: pretty badass story to tell us about joining the army,

10
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,159
Speaker 1: headed to Iraq, coming back and spending time outside and

11
00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:51,080
Speaker 1: then finally, after many years, find his way to this

12
00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 1: company and it will be creating some content alongside this

13
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,240
Speaker 1: podcast and others for all of you, so hopefully you

14
00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:09,840
Speaker 1: enjoy that. So, without further ado basin Morgan, Yes, sir,

15
00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,160
Speaker 1: what's going on man? Not too much, just packing up,

16
00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,119
Speaker 1: getting ready to hit the road. That's right, that's right.

17
00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,760
Speaker 1: I'd like to start podcasts off with people you like,

18
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,480
Speaker 1: describe your surroundings. Normally the surroundings are way more exciting

19
00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,080
Speaker 1: than their current surroundings. But still, I think a lot

20
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,959
Speaker 1: of people are interested in where we are learning about

21
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,400
Speaker 1: it to give your best pros describing where we are.

22
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,600
Speaker 1: We are in the Canary District in Bozeman, Montana. In

23
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,840
Speaker 1: our offices. Don't give out any addresses because people want

24
00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,959
Speaker 1: to come in and there all the women are gonna

25
00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,480
Speaker 1: want to come especially with these dogs laying around like

26
00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:51,080
Speaker 1: continue anyways down here in our office in our corner

27
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,160
Speaker 1: that they stuffed us in the editorial team, you know,

28
00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,320
Speaker 1: and just hanging out at our fancy tables. Yeah, there

29
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 1: are plastic tables and they came probably from Target and

30
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:09,280
Speaker 1: they probably cost about yep. When you're a startup, that's

31
00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:11,919
Speaker 1: kind of how it goes. That's life. Yeah, that's startup life,

32
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,520
Speaker 1: and that's what we are. Um. But we have two

33
00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:19,760
Speaker 1: dogs laying sleeping under these plastic tables. Puppies by the

34
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,360
Speaker 1: name of Arlow and by the name Opinion Opinion, being

35
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,200
Speaker 1: the office dog. He's claimed it. Tell us about tell

36
00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,079
Speaker 1: us about Opinion. So the Opinion is a wire hair

37
00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:35,400
Speaker 1: pointing grayfawn that I picked up in June and he

38
00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,200
Speaker 1: is my little bird dog, amigo. So he just got

39
00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,280
Speaker 1: him trained up and we're gonna hit the road here

40
00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,120
Speaker 1: pretty soon. And head back to my home state of

41
00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,919
Speaker 1: Kansas and go chase birds around. And I've got his brother,

42
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,960
Speaker 1: Arlow from the same litter that I'm dropping off with

43
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,480
Speaker 1: my brother, So we're gonna go take these little hooligans

44
00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,040
Speaker 1: out and chase quail around out there. Dude, these wire

45
00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,360
Speaker 1: hairs are just like they come in here and they

46
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,600
Speaker 1: just sleep. And if if a fucking quail wandered into

47
00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,200
Speaker 1: this office, ship would erupt, it would erupt. And I

48
00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,079
Speaker 1: wish if we were in a situation where a quail

49
00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,840
Speaker 1: would wander in to our office. I watched Opinion down

50
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,320
Speaker 1: at the front windows looking at a little tweet bird

51
00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,040
Speaker 1: and almost getting ready to blast through. That's a good dog.

52
00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,000
Speaker 1: I imagine we should talk about because you know, you

53
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,760
Speaker 1: and I both work for this company, right, so, but

54
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,359
Speaker 1: it's early on, so we have an opportunity to shape

55
00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:34,119
Speaker 1: some things, primarily in this case what the office looks like,

56
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,760
Speaker 1: but also what's in it. Yeah, I have a pretty

57
00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,520
Speaker 1: gnarly case of a d D when it comes to work,

58
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:42,400
Speaker 1: Like I don't have a d D in any other

59
00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,200
Speaker 1: person in my life, and then when I'm working, I

60
00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,000
Speaker 1: always want to be doing something else. So I have

61
00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,640
Speaker 1: a d D. We currently have a putting green. If

62
00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,360
Speaker 1: you go to my Instagram you'll see a photo of it.

63
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,680
Speaker 1: It's very popular. Mr Stephen Ronella, founder of this whole venture.

64
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:04,800
Speaker 1: He's always anti I golf, but me, I'm terrible black golf.

65
00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 1: But my brain needs a distraction. MM. So what do

66
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,080
Speaker 1: you feel like we should like? What kind of things

67
00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,400
Speaker 1: should we build around the office to keep our minds

68
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,880
Speaker 1: off work? Um, we definitely need to get the kitchen

69
00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,800
Speaker 1: up and running so we can tinker around with recipes, right, yep,

70
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,080
Speaker 1: tune into the tune into the meat eater platform. At

71
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,800
Speaker 1: some point we'll just cook ship at random times of

72
00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,080
Speaker 1: the day and everybody should love that. It will be

73
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,040
Speaker 1: like on fire. Just set the little switch and go

74
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,839
Speaker 1: live and show that a bottle that's going on drunken

75
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,599
Speaker 1: mess that it will hopefully be anything else any like

76
00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,320
Speaker 1: other awesome things. And I don't know like a new

77
00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,760
Speaker 1: startup office should have, especially this one. We should have

78
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,960
Speaker 1: boatloads of taxidermy everywhere, and we should probably have bows

79
00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,560
Speaker 1: and arrows, with the arrows having little belcrow tips that

80
00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:00,920
Speaker 1: we can shoot at the taxidermy for the kill shots.

81
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,400
Speaker 1: That's a good point. Maybe at each other. Is that unsafe. No,

82
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,920
Speaker 1: I think that's fine. Okay, we can do that well. Also,

83
00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,200
Speaker 1: we were talking about having a kegurator. Yep, I feel

84
00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,560
Speaker 1: like that would be good. Um, pretty much anything we

85
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,560
Speaker 1: want at this point are lords of this tiny little

86
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,719
Speaker 1: domain in which we sit. Yeah, that's that's the Media

87
00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,360
Speaker 1: Incorporate office is. Hopefully, Uh we'll soon have podcast studios

88
00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 1: and video areas where we can go live and show

89
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,560
Speaker 1: you what we're doing over here, and hopefully that ship

90
00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,920
Speaker 1: is interesting. So you out there, that's that's our job.

91
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,320
Speaker 1: You're out there on the internet world. Uh, we would

92
00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,560
Speaker 1: want to read it or learn about it. So tell

93
00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:45,400
Speaker 1: us about your position here at Meat Eater Incorporated. So

94
00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,200
Speaker 1: I was brought on as an assistant editor and constent creator.

95
00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,839
Speaker 1: So my job is to work with some of the

96
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,279
Speaker 1: individuals that we're working with in the meters, so like

97
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,320
Speaker 1: April Ooki and others that are writing in and slip

98
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,000
Speaker 1: and bringing in pieces and going through and editing those,

99
00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,600
Speaker 1: getting ready for the web and all of that, and

100
00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:10,480
Speaker 1: then also looking for interesting stories and putting things together,

101
00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,160
Speaker 1: whether it's out twos or recipes or what have you,

102
00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:16,880
Speaker 1: and whip those up for the company and just drive

103
00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 1: that website traffic and just keep looking for interesting things

104
00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,560
Speaker 1: going on. Yeah. See, this is at some level I think,

105
00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:24,640
Speaker 1: live in the dream. Yeah, because some of the things

106
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,480
Speaker 1: you listed aren't like dream like scenarios. But the dream

107
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,960
Speaker 1: like scenario was very much that we can kind of

108
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:31,560
Speaker 1: like wake up in the morning, like I'd like to

109
00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,159
Speaker 1: write about that, and then you dear audience out there

110
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,440
Speaker 1: listening can then decide whether we're good at our jobs

111
00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,240
Speaker 1: or completely terrible at them, and that we should be

112
00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,359
Speaker 1: We should go away and stop bothering you with this

113
00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,560
Speaker 1: content and put all those hate comments on the on

114
00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,359
Speaker 1: the internet. Yeah, you can do whatever you want on

115
00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,520
Speaker 1: you as a free country. But hopefully you like the

116
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,440
Speaker 1: things that we come up with, the crazy ideas that

117
00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,159
Speaker 1: we spawn in this room or room similar to it,

118
00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,880
Speaker 1: and uh, we keep our jobs and you guys, you're entertained.

119
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,080
Speaker 1: I think that's an easy one. But for me as

120
00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,200
Speaker 1: a journalist, that's pretty pretty much a dream scenario. Yeah,

121
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,440
Speaker 1: just wake up and research find interesting things, or take

122
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,280
Speaker 1: off for Kansas and go round up a bunch of

123
00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,520
Speaker 1: interesting things there. Yeah, which is yeah, so you're leaving

124
00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,240
Speaker 1: here tomorrow to go back to your home place or

125
00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,440
Speaker 1: a m pushing off Oh man, you're that's hard. That's

126
00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:23,560
Speaker 1: hardly gonna have to have more coffee than booze in

127
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,280
Speaker 1: the cop in the morning. It's a party. That's a

128
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,440
Speaker 1: hardy trip right there. How long a drive is that? Um,

129
00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,240
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stop three quarters of the way down in

130
00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,520
Speaker 1: Nebraska and do some pheasant hunting there with a buddy,

131
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,040
Speaker 1: and so that should only be like ten and a

132
00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,160
Speaker 1: half hours, but with the puppy stops, that might turn

133
00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,080
Speaker 1: into about a twelve hour situation. Hang out there for

134
00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,440
Speaker 1: about forty eight hours and then drop down another four

135
00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,920
Speaker 1: hours down to the little quarter section family farm and

136
00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,200
Speaker 1: chase birds with my brother. Yeah that's pretty cool, man, Yeah,

137
00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,440
Speaker 1: pretty cool that. See, if you can round up some

138
00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,040
Speaker 1: white tails and spend the month, they're just kind of

139
00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,120
Speaker 1: whipping up content. Yeah, well, I think it'd be are

140
00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,280
Speaker 1: gonna be reading your content that we did. They need

141
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,360
Speaker 1: to know what the hell you know? You came from Kansas.

142
00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,000
Speaker 1: We learned that part. You have awesome dogs. We know

143
00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:11,000
Speaker 1: that we work here. We also know that, Um tell

144
00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:15,360
Speaker 1: us about your upbringing. So I grew up out in

145
00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,520
Speaker 1: northeastern Kansas on the edge of the Smoky Hills and

146
00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,520
Speaker 1: the Flint Hills on the side bordering the Flint Hills.

147
00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,640
Speaker 1: And I grew up on a quarter section farm hundred

148
00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,840
Speaker 1: sixty six acres that was passed down from my great uncle.

149
00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:32,120
Speaker 1: UM and Dad brought us up out there, bought my

150
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:37,720
Speaker 1: brother and I up working behind bird dogs, bucking hay bales. UM,

151
00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,160
Speaker 1: just kind of living the little country homestead dream out there,

152
00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,559
Speaker 1: working cattle and and doing that. So did that. Grew

153
00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,040
Speaker 1: up through high school and played ball in high school,

154
00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,000
Speaker 1: and then shipped off for the Army. UM shortly after

155
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,320
Speaker 1: signed in between my junior and senior year, and spent

156
00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,760
Speaker 1: that time just kind of working through the reserve unit

157
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,920
Speaker 1: that I signed up for. And then let's not go

158
00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,080
Speaker 1: too quick. Let's go back to when you were working

159
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:08,000
Speaker 1: on the farm. UM. I grew up in the suburbs

160
00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,560
Speaker 1: where there was no farms. I mean there were farms,

161
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,400
Speaker 1: but I just hunted on them. I didn't work on them.

162
00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:15,720
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you learned anything growing up on

163
00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:17,120
Speaker 1: a farm, or like you have a little bit of

164
00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,480
Speaker 1: grit you might have not had otherwise. Absolutely, part of

165
00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,280
Speaker 1: it from the farm and part of it from my dad.

166
00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,680
Speaker 1: He's a kind of guy that doesn't say a whole

167
00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,240
Speaker 1: lot but when he does, it's very strong points. Yeah.

168
00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,000
Speaker 1: Um pe he deals with people all day. He works

169
00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,280
Speaker 1: at this little gas station mechanics shop in town, and

170
00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,360
Speaker 1: so there's people coming in and coming out all the time,

171
00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,920
Speaker 1: and he's just learned a way to effectively use his

172
00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,960
Speaker 1: words to tell you to get the hell out. Um.

173
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,600
Speaker 1: That's usually a good dad, a good version of a dad,

174
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,280
Speaker 1: kind of like that old school dad. Yeah, very much so.

175
00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:55,920
Speaker 1: But he's a good guy. He's got a soft heart. Um.

176
00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,880
Speaker 1: But yeah, he's a good dude. And just one brother. Ye,

177
00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,040
Speaker 1: one brother, Joel. You guys close, Yeah we are. We

178
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:03,839
Speaker 1: weren't so close growing up. I was kind of that

179
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,640
Speaker 1: an asshole older brother. Yeah. Yeah, I had one of those. Yeah.

180
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,560
Speaker 1: How what's the age of difference, uh six years? Yeah, okay,

181
00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,960
Speaker 1: well I was a year and a half my brother. Yeah,

182
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,760
Speaker 1: we weren't really friends until we got old enough to

183
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,160
Speaker 1: like not be assholes to each other. Yeah. I think

184
00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,080
Speaker 1: he's got some emotional scars from when I like pinned

185
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,280
Speaker 1: him down and put baby mice down a shirt. Everybody listen.

186
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,000
Speaker 1: He's probably better off for that. Yeah. No, my brother

187
00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,319
Speaker 1: used to go online and back when there was like

188
00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,080
Speaker 1: a O L and semester and I show up high

189
00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,640
Speaker 1: like my freshman year of high school, and he was

190
00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,720
Speaker 1: a junior, maybe your sophomore, and I'd be going to

191
00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,280
Speaker 1: class and some young lady would approach that I had

192
00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,160
Speaker 1: no interest in dating and be like, I can't believe

193
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,880
Speaker 1: here dating, I can't believe we're growing out, Like what?

194
00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:47,719
Speaker 1: And it turns out my brother had hacked my well

195
00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,400
Speaker 1: screen name and made girlfriends for me at various times.

196
00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,280
Speaker 1: Good for him, Yeah, he's a nice I love, lovely fellow.

197
00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,280
Speaker 1: I admire him now. But yeah, I mean that's just

198
00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,920
Speaker 1: growing up man. Yeah, you're either doing the beating or

199
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,760
Speaker 1: or or seeing it. Yeah. Yeah, it's been awesome just

200
00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,079
Speaker 1: developing that relationship with Joel and coming back to it

201
00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,000
Speaker 1: is like at the very core of our relationship and

202
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,160
Speaker 1: and our father's relationship with us is hunting. It's like

203
00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:18,960
Speaker 1: he barely had any time to do anything because he

204
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,400
Speaker 1: was hustling his ass off at the gas station and

205
00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:23,400
Speaker 1: then coming home and work in the fields until like

206
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,080
Speaker 1: ten o'clock at night, and so we didn't see him

207
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:27,839
Speaker 1: a whole lot. But when we did, it was on

208
00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,680
Speaker 1: Sundays and we would be walking the fields or we'd

209
00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:33,760
Speaker 1: be driving around country roads with binoculars and hands and

210
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,079
Speaker 1: looking for deer at first and last light. And that

211
00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,120
Speaker 1: was just how we were brought up an ingrained and

212
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,240
Speaker 1: so it's it's been a really cool situation. Uh, once

213
00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,840
Speaker 1: Joel and I have gotten past all that other bullshit

214
00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,800
Speaker 1: to share this, and I'm exceptionally excited excited to come

215
00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:52,600
Speaker 1: home and have these two bird dogs and for us

216
00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,400
Speaker 1: to walk the fields together. It would be really cool. Yeah,

217
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,560
Speaker 1: that's a good part of life. Man. You're in a

218
00:11:57,559 --> 00:11:59,920
Speaker 1: good part of life for sure, where you can kind

219
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,600
Speaker 1: to return to the place where you know, having fond

220
00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:08,679
Speaker 1: memories is important. Not everybody's homes gather up fond memories,

221
00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:10,480
Speaker 1: but a lot of us, my mind does. I'm sure

222
00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,080
Speaker 1: you're years does too, and um returning to those places,

223
00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,240
Speaker 1: especially around hunting. Like I have a strong hunting bond

224
00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,760
Speaker 1: with my dad. My brother never took it up, like

225
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,480
Speaker 1: just never. I think he just he was out partying

226
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,720
Speaker 1: and running around when I was up on Saturday mornings

227
00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:33,160
Speaker 1: chasing deer. He was out chasing, yeah, chasing different kinds

228
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,400
Speaker 1: of tale, which is never. He never really took to

229
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,080
Speaker 1: it and to this day really doesn't have much interest

230
00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:40,760
Speaker 1: in it. I even guess some interest in it because

231
00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,360
Speaker 1: I do it. Like he is aware that it is something,

232
00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:47,880
Speaker 1: but he's also not all fully on board with the

233
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,560
Speaker 1: situation and like questions things all the time like why

234
00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:53,520
Speaker 1: would you shoot that fox? Or why would you do this?

235
00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:56,640
Speaker 1: And um, I've come to value that part of our

236
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:58,800
Speaker 1: relationship because I spend so much time in a bubble.

237
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,520
Speaker 1: Sure you do as well around him. You shround yourself

238
00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:03,839
Speaker 1: with people that like to do the ship you like

239
00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,640
Speaker 1: to do. And uh, it's nice. Everyone's a while for

240
00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:08,160
Speaker 1: me at least to go back and have that. But

241
00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:12,280
Speaker 1: you have to get those checks and balances. So so, uh,

242
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,199
Speaker 1: you're in high school, you play ball, football, baseball, all

243
00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,080
Speaker 1: all balls, pretty much everything. It was small town Kansas.

244
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,400
Speaker 1: We had eight hundred people in the town and so

245
00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,040
Speaker 1: it's just like you want to play something here, you

246
00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,560
Speaker 1: go go sign up. And then army. So that's a

247
00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:28,800
Speaker 1: big stage of your life. Was it the army? Correct? Yes,

248
00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,720
Speaker 1: Army reserves. Army reserves. So tell me about why and

249
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,680
Speaker 1: how on that one. Oh, there's a lot of why

250
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,120
Speaker 1: in that one. There's a lot of family history. It's

251
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:43,120
Speaker 1: just very rich in military. Um, so there was a big,

252
00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:46,360
Speaker 1: big element of like my upbringing of looking back to

253
00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,120
Speaker 1: my grandfather and my great grandfather, UM, and just all

254
00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,120
Speaker 1: over in our our family tree, there's history of the military,

255
00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:56,880
Speaker 1: and so that's always something that had been on my mind.

256
00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,720
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I was also looking for

257
00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,080
Speaker 1: opportunities because it was very much small town Kansas, not

258
00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,120
Speaker 1: a lot of opportunities to to get out to go

259
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,679
Speaker 1: to college. UM didn't come from a wealthy family, and

260
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:12,000
Speaker 1: tuition was not spoken for. It was figure this out,

261
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:18,160
Speaker 1: find your way. So between all of that, the just

262
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,600
Speaker 1: the feeling of wanting to serve and and do something

263
00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,800
Speaker 1: with my life that was meaningful, and also just creating

264
00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,480
Speaker 1: that that opportunity to break out into the world and

265
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,360
Speaker 1: and see what I can do to give it a go. Yeah. No,

266
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,600
Speaker 1: that's that's an impressive thing. I mean I never had

267
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,280
Speaker 1: inklings of that, and I don't think I would have

268
00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,560
Speaker 1: listened somebody told me to stand in line. I think

269
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:41,360
Speaker 1: I probably would have been kicked out pretty early on.

270
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,120
Speaker 1: It was it was difficult. There's a lot of teeth

271
00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,480
Speaker 1: written in there. Yeah, particularly what was hard is for

272
00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:51,280
Speaker 1: you mm hmm, Yeah, just breaking because I was just

273
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,240
Speaker 1: like running around like a wild child in Kansas. Just

274
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,640
Speaker 1: running around, mashing the accelerator down on my little pickup

275
00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,000
Speaker 1: truck everywhere I went, and just kinda running around without

276
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,920
Speaker 1: cause and and then jumping in and getting that discipline.

277
00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,480
Speaker 1: It was. It was good for me. Yeah. So what

278
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:12,640
Speaker 1: happens during your your army tenure? Did you go fight?

279
00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,800
Speaker 1: Did you give me the full full experience? Yeah? So,

280
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,120
Speaker 1: like I had mentioned, I joined in between my junior

281
00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:20,920
Speaker 1: senior year, so I got to have a little bit

282
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,680
Speaker 1: of a half step in where I went to drills

283
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,840
Speaker 1: and kind of learned the lay of the land before

284
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,600
Speaker 1: jumping on full throttle. And then after I graduated, shipped

285
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,920
Speaker 1: off to Fort leonard Wood, Missouri and ran through basic

286
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,160
Speaker 1: training there. Did that, went down to a i T

287
00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,680
Speaker 1: which is Advanced Individual Training UM, and I was in

288
00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:42,800
Speaker 1: ninety six Bravo, which was an intelligence analyst, And so

289
00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,840
Speaker 1: did that training down in Arizona and finished up with

290
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:48,960
Speaker 1: that and then went back to Kansas to jump in

291
00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:53,040
Speaker 1: a school into college and really had no fucking clue

292
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:54,760
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do with my life. I was

293
00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,960
Speaker 1: still like fresh off the farm, having a clue, still

294
00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,760
Speaker 1: super green, and I just did that and just kind

295
00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,240
Speaker 1: of puttered around in school didn't do much. And then

296
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,800
Speaker 1: one day I was litting or laying around in my

297
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,000
Speaker 1: room and on my little thirteen inch TV screen I

298
00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,880
Speaker 1: watched news clips of the planes in the towers and

299
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,160
Speaker 1: I was just like, oh shit, my life has just changed.

300
00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,040
Speaker 1: And like I just got goose bumps right now thinking

301
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,680
Speaker 1: about it. UM, just knowing that something was going to

302
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,000
Speaker 1: happen at that point in time, my life was going

303
00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:30,800
Speaker 1: to be different. And sure enough, two years later, our unit,

304
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,240
Speaker 1: which was a FOTE Movement Control battalion out of Manhattan, Kansas,

305
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,520
Speaker 1: we got deployed and we were in. We went basically

306
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,200
Speaker 1: like right behind the Marines UM, coming in from Quait

307
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:45,960
Speaker 1: into Iraq. So I spent fourteen months over there on undemployment.

308
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,600
Speaker 1: And I went from a small town Kansas boy with

309
00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,880
Speaker 1: no clue about the world too rude awakening of life

310
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:59,400
Speaker 1: and politics and third World country dynamics UM and just

311
00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,840
Speaker 1: running around the desert with a machine gun on my

312
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,080
Speaker 1: hip and learning this all in. Wow, how old were

313
00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:07,800
Speaker 1: you then? I was twenty? So I had my twenty

314
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:12,639
Speaker 1: first birthday Jesus interact, Oh boy. And this was in

315
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,480
Speaker 1: this was during the Shock and all the initial invasion.

316
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:18,800
Speaker 1: So we were in Fort Riley, Kansas when the shock

317
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,600
Speaker 1: and all went down, But we were shipped out like

318
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,840
Speaker 1: very soon after that. So we were like in our

319
00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,920
Speaker 1: deployment stages as that, like as the blasts we're going off,

320
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,399
Speaker 1: and then when when give me the moment prior to

321
00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,480
Speaker 1: any you know, firefights or any Browns going off that

322
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:37,840
Speaker 1: you realized ship was about to be different, Like you

323
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:40,159
Speaker 1: was it when you got on the plane to go

324
00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,399
Speaker 1: over or did you land and look around or what? Like?

325
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,200
Speaker 1: What was the realization moment? And maybe in the military

326
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,199
Speaker 1: training you have to be prepared with that prior. You know,

327
00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:52,000
Speaker 1: we definitely were a little bit prepared for that, um

328
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:53,600
Speaker 1: but I think it was when we were on the

329
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,160
Speaker 1: plane and I think I think we're on a Sea

330
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,359
Speaker 1: one thirty flying over. I can't remember exactly, but it

331
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,280
Speaker 1: was a pretty eizable plane and as we were sitting there,

332
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,119
Speaker 1: we were loaded in wearing full battle rattle, so we

333
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,000
Speaker 1: had kevlar helmets on, we had our flak jackets on,

334
00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:12,160
Speaker 1: We're holding our sixteens, and we were all sitting shoulder

335
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,080
Speaker 1: to shoulder on this little like twelve to fourteen inch

336
00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,760
Speaker 1: cargo strap that was on the side of the plane

337
00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:21,919
Speaker 1: like running down and we sat there and it was

338
00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,199
Speaker 1: just like a complete bear airplane on the inside, and

339
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:26,800
Speaker 1: all of our gear was piled up in the middle.

340
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:28,679
Speaker 1: There's a couple of humbies in the back of the middle,

341
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,840
Speaker 1: and we're just sitting there for I don't even know

342
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,080
Speaker 1: how many, like fourteen hours or something, just looking at

343
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,800
Speaker 1: each other and like the freezing cold as we flew over,

344
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:42,320
Speaker 1: and I'm just like, huh, this is life uncomfortable. Yeah, um,

345
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:44,480
Speaker 1: so yeah that And then so when we dropped in,

346
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,760
Speaker 1: we dropped into Kuwait, which things weren't too crazy there.

347
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,440
Speaker 1: It was a very westernized base. Um, it was very

348
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,800
Speaker 1: safe and secure within the base that we were staging

349
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,320
Speaker 1: at for deployment. But then as soon as we got

350
00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,320
Speaker 1: the call and we're just like we're heading boys, get

351
00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,760
Speaker 1: your stuff, get get everything ready to go. It was

352
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,000
Speaker 1: jumping the humbies. And as we approached the border, that

353
00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,840
Speaker 1: was like that was the moment. And we approached and

354
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:09,879
Speaker 1: there like the border was this big burn that was

355
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,160
Speaker 1: going down the line and they were just in one

356
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,840
Speaker 1: Abram tanks all pointed, dozens of them pointed into a rack,

357
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:17,760
Speaker 1: and at that point in time, I was just like,

358
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,639
Speaker 1: holy fucking shit, like what are we what are we

359
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:25,280
Speaker 1: getting into right now? Um? And yeah, that was wild.

360
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,320
Speaker 1: And then I was in the convoy at the very

361
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,240
Speaker 1: rear and my job was as a saw gunner as

362
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,280
Speaker 1: well to pull rear security on the convoy. So we

363
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,120
Speaker 1: had a lot of reports that there were attacks coming

364
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,159
Speaker 1: up from the rear, and it was my job to

365
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,399
Speaker 1: make sure that nobody came up and got after us.

366
00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,560
Speaker 1: So I had a saw in him two four nine

367
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,479
Speaker 1: hanging out the back of the humby and just pointed

368
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,040
Speaker 1: backwards down the road making sure we didn't get hit.

369
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,800
Speaker 1: So I chewed on a lot of dust that day. Yeah,

370
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:58,560
Speaker 1: but you did. And do you feel how long from

371
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,320
Speaker 1: when you crossed the border to when you fire the

372
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 1: first round? You know? Actually when I went over there,

373
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,840
Speaker 1: I never squeezed off my trigger. Really great. Yeah, So

374
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,159
Speaker 1: I'm I'm thankful for that, But I'm also thankful for

375
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 1: the guys that that had to and had to do

376
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,040
Speaker 1: what they had to do and came back, and you know,

377
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,240
Speaker 1: always thinking of the guys that didn't come back and

378
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 1: the gals that didn't come back. But I'm I'm very

379
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,000
Speaker 1: much blessed of the fact that I don't have that

380
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,479
Speaker 1: hanging over me. Um, that I'm not dealing with that.

381
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:28,800
Speaker 1: So you have friends that did or folks that's tough. Yeah,

382
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,280
Speaker 1: And I think from somebody like me or a lot

383
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,440
Speaker 1: of people listening, just you can't comprehend that, Like there's

384
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,239
Speaker 1: no comprehension of of that kind of stress and that

385
00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:40,160
Speaker 1: environment and what that does to your perspective, let alone

386
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,320
Speaker 1: in your mind. Yeah, it was. There was definitely a

387
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,680
Speaker 1: lot of emotions to to filter through coming back after

388
00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,800
Speaker 1: that one. Yeah, So you spent how much time in combat?

389
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,919
Speaker 1: I was in? Our deployment was fourteen months, so we

390
00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,320
Speaker 1: had orders for six months and then as soon as

391
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,800
Speaker 1: we got over there, before we jumped in, they're just

392
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,640
Speaker 1: like up by the way orders changed were three six

393
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:06,560
Speaker 1: boots on ground. So wow. And so two thousand three

394
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:11,080
Speaker 1: to two thousand four we were there the entire time. Um.

395
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 1: And so at some point you come back home, yeah,

396
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,920
Speaker 1: and tell us about you know, you cycled through, You've

397
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 1: done your time, You've done your fourteen months, and then

398
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:25,080
Speaker 1: it's time to come home. What's that like? That? That

399
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,119
Speaker 1: was wild. That was a lot to digest and filter

400
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,720
Speaker 1: through and marinate on. And just all the things that

401
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:35,760
Speaker 1: I saw over there, all the things that I felt

402
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,560
Speaker 1: over there. Um, it was wild. It took me a

403
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 1: long time to to get through all of that, and

404
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,200
Speaker 1: I basically came home to Kansas, went back to Manhattan, UM,

405
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,919
Speaker 1: and was just really wasn't sure what to do with

406
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:51,840
Speaker 1: my life at that point, really didn't have any direction.

407
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,160
Speaker 1: I was just knowing that I needed to go through

408
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,760
Speaker 1: everything that i'd i'd felt and saw and all of

409
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,399
Speaker 1: that and somehow figure it out out. And so I

410
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,080
Speaker 1: was there, and then about three months down the line,

411
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,119
Speaker 1: I had a buddy came back that had moved to Colorado,

412
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:08,680
Speaker 1: and he's just like, what the hell are you still

413
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,880
Speaker 1: doing in Kansas? Like, let's go. So a week later

414
00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,560
Speaker 1: I packed up my car and I moved outside of

415
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:18,119
Speaker 1: Breckon Ridge. And for the next jo i'd say like

416
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,399
Speaker 1: thirteen years, I spent my time bouncing in between Colorado

417
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 1: and Mexico and just just try to enjoy life, just

418
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,359
Speaker 1: get back to happiness and and getting back to a

419
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 1: better person and and figuring that out. But it was

420
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,400
Speaker 1: it was definitely a long journey along the way. Yeah,

421
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:41,200
Speaker 1: are there any um stories you want to tell from

422
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 1: being over there? You feel like would inform folks about

423
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 1: what it was like? Like some you know, you don't

424
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:47,879
Speaker 1: have to tell something if you don't want to, but

425
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: there might be something that I always wondered if it's

426
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 1: even worth telling what actually happened, other than you know,

427
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 1: folks understand the fall before and they understand you know,

428
00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,800
Speaker 1: violence and those types of things. But there's was there

429
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,480
Speaker 1: any seminal moments for it over there that you know,

430
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: give you some positive look on it or just an

431
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 1: overly negative look back on it. I'd say, like the

432
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 1: one thing that stands out in my mind that like

433
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,040
Speaker 1: when I think back to memories over there, that like

434
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,680
Speaker 1: it comes like first and foremost for me is we

435
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 1: were out on a convoy and we had to go

436
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,359
Speaker 1: into Baghdad for this deal and we had to go

437
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,439
Speaker 1: through this section called I. E. D Alley. It was

438
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 1: just like notorious, and like my job in the unit

439
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,320
Speaker 1: was an intel analyst, and so I was in charge

440
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,639
Speaker 1: of tracking all the attacks that happened on the highways,

441
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 1: figuring out who was doing it, why they were doing it,

442
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: and briefing that to our commanders. So I was very

443
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,719
Speaker 1: involved in like what was going on. So we were

444
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,919
Speaker 1: going through the section called I. D Alley, and I

445
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,320
Speaker 1: very much knew like the ship that went down there.

446
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,160
Speaker 1: It's just people were getting blown up right and left,

447
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:53,520
Speaker 1: and so we rolled through and pushed through, and we

448
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 1: like had guns hanging out the window, just waiting for

449
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 1: something to pop off. Never did um. And then about

450
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 1: thirty minut it's later, we had swung around, finished what

451
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,679
Speaker 1: we needed to do, and we're coming back down the

452
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,880
Speaker 1: other side and there was a Humby sitting there smoldering

453
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,639
Speaker 1: that had just been blown up, so meaning that we

454
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 1: had driven over an I E. D. And they chose

455
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,399
Speaker 1: not to press the trigger at that moment. And seeing

456
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 1: like the black smoke rolling and knowing that there was

457
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: people inside, soldiers inside, and like that was just that

458
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:29,720
Speaker 1: shook me down to the core. Yeah, but it did. Yeah.

459
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,960
Speaker 1: We had a gentleman by the name of Omar A Villa.

460
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,160
Speaker 1: He was a sergeant in the army. On probably maybe

461
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 1: ten episodes ago seven episodes to go to the podcast,

462
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,320
Speaker 1: he spoke about the same thing. He was blown up

463
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,000
Speaker 1: in an I D attack and he lost, you know,

464
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 1: and maybe in the same spot you're talking about, because

465
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,960
Speaker 1: he spoke about it in that same terminology like I

466
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 1: D Alley. Look, this is the place where he knew

467
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: that there was a lot of that going on, and

468
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 1: he was blown up, and Um had third degree burns

469
00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: the most of his body and lost a leg and

470
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 1: Um lost most of most of the fingers on both

471
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 1: his hands and went through his gun and still going

472
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:10,119
Speaker 1: through hundreds of surgeries. Now today, you know and like

473
00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,760
Speaker 1: that that story and even yours, you know, from an

474
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: outside perspective, not having been lucky enough not to go

475
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 1: through that, but being so close to it is. Yeah,

476
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,399
Speaker 1: like you feel this overwhelming amount of like thankfulness that

477
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 1: you didn't just get blown up. But then you look

478
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: and you're just like, holy sh it, somebody else did.

479
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 1: And then you just like have this weight of guilt

480
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: laying on you. And it's it's, I don't know, it's

481
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: it's tough to to describe, like the that feeling. It's random, Yeah,

482
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 1: the randomness of life. Yeah. Yeah. I heard somebody try

483
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:43,480
Speaker 1: and describe that on a sports regarding like a baseball

484
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 1: game the other day, and I thought, how shallow was Like,

485
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 1: just at the moment I heard it, I thought, well,

486
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,720
Speaker 1: anything could happen at any time, and and one little

487
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,679
Speaker 1: thing is different and we win the game. I thought, Uh,

488
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,320
Speaker 1: all right, that's that's life. But in those situations, those

489
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,919
Speaker 1: those things way that's circumstantial, the consequences way heavier. No,

490
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,440
Speaker 1: even the circumstantial occurrences like that, like you drive over

491
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,439
Speaker 1: I D and the guy doesn't hit the button or

492
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,679
Speaker 1: isn't sitting by it's sitting by the button. Then the

493
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: next guy doesn't he and it does and it changes

494
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 1: in that that those things changed just not your life,

495
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,400
Speaker 1: but many many, many lives just in those small decisions.

496
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 1: So I'm glad they didn't blow you up. Yeah, me too. Yeah,

497
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,199
Speaker 1: what it sucked for everybody. Um so you're back. You

498
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 1: go back, and you're doing Colorado in Mexico. Um, you

499
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,120
Speaker 1: spent a lot of time outside, I imagine. Oh yeah,

500
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: So when I came back, I had kind of like

501
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:41,200
Speaker 1: bounced around a little bit trying to figure out what

502
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: I was gonna do. And then one New Year's Eve,

503
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,639
Speaker 1: I just made a little pack to myself to follow

504
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 1: happiness and jumped into that. And then when I first

505
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 1: came over it first came back, I was a white

506
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,439
Speaker 1: water raft guy down in Buena Vista and Brown's Canyon,

507
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: and I had a hell of a time and then

508
00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 1: I left that. Because we're basically surviving off of PB

509
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,160
Speaker 1: are peanut butter. I was like, I gotta do something else.

510
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 1: Every other kid that age yep, sleeping out of my

511
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: car down on some ranchers land out there. It was

512
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: an amazing time. Um. But I went back and got

513
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 1: involved in the white water industry and was like kayaking

514
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,000
Speaker 1: and paddle boarding and surfing river waves and just having

515
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:23,480
Speaker 1: an absolute blast doing that. And so I chased that

516
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 1: around for a while and ended up learning how to surf,

517
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 1: and then going down and ended up going down to

518
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 1: Mexico a couple of times. Once lived down in San

519
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 1: Jose Docabo and ran a paddle board and surf shop

520
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:38,080
Speaker 1: down there and got to go out and surf for

521
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:42,199
Speaker 1: lunch and after work, and that was amazing. Um. And

522
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,160
Speaker 1: then came back up, kicked around Colorado for a while.

523
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,120
Speaker 1: I went back down there a second time, was amazing.

524
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 1: I took my brother that time. I bought a camper

525
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 1: van and the dog that I had before bomb or

526
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 1: this black lab and we just road tripped the whole

527
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 1: way down on this white Cambra van. So it's like

528
00:27:58,119 --> 00:27:59,879
Speaker 1: the dream, Yeah, it's like, but it was funny. In

529
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 1: the little Ford Econo line one fifty or whatever, and

530
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,240
Speaker 1: there's like me, I'm six ft about one ninety my

531
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,960
Speaker 1: brother six four two twenty and then a black lab

532
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:11,359
Speaker 1: and we had no room in this and we were

533
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,680
Speaker 1: like sleeping in there and there's black dog hair everywhere.

534
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 1: Every meal, we're like pulling dog hair out of Yeah,

535
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:23,119
Speaker 1: it's almost like a Patagonian commercial, like a modern The

536
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,119
Speaker 1: funny thing about this is is I watched a hundred

537
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: eighty degree South, so that and not just like screw

538
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,479
Speaker 1: Colorado for a while, I'm going to Mexico. Well, I mean,

539
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,119
Speaker 1: you know, the benefit of going through, you know, some

540
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: pretty scarring events in battle, I think maybe help you

541
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 1: find a little bit of what you were, you know,

542
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 1: like just go like there was some live in the moment,

543
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: because you certainly get to realize in those situations at

544
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: moments that don't always laugh like every moment is precious. Yep.

545
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 1: There's a lot of that, and there's just like a

546
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 1: lot of confidence of the things you can do us

547
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 1: you go through so much that tests you mentally and physically.

548
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,720
Speaker 1: You're like, I'm gonna go live in a van in

549
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:00,600
Speaker 1: Baja for four months and just wing it and I

550
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: don't know, like a lick of Spanish, I know, I

551
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: e d s down there. Nope. Now, I'm pretty big

552
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 1: on perspective for sure, and I think, um, everybody's perspective

553
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: is different, of course, based on their experiences, but there

554
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 1: are certain experiences in your life that provide the ultimate perspective.

555
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 1: And there's not a lot of people that have what

556
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: you know, that the perspective you have and then came

557
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,120
Speaker 1: out of it clean at least physically came out of

558
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 1: it clean. And and is that perspective something you still

559
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: use today daily basis? Yeah, absolutely, I'm always trying to

560
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 1: pursue passion and work to fulfilling like a just living

561
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 1: a really good life, um, you know, and just just

562
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: trying to live the best life I can um and

563
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 1: staying within the realms of passion and not that's brought

564
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: me pretty much to where I am here today. It's

565
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 1: just kind of falling exactly like what my heart and

566
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 1: what my gut tells me to do, and and keep

567
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 1: investing in myself and investing in little bearded bird. Dugs

568
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: thrown around with, Yeah. No, So then you know, after

569
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:05,720
Speaker 1: that time in your life you decided to move to

570
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 1: Montana and then he told me just basically because you

571
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: thought there was some opportunity here, and you thought the

572
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 1: hunting and fishing world was where you wanted to stake

573
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,280
Speaker 1: your claim and kind of worked out where he didn't it. Yeah,

574
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 1: I did, you know. I had left Colorado and bounced

575
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 1: to Utah for a little bit to some fly fish guiding,

576
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 1: and then came back and did a little white tail

577
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,920
Speaker 1: hunting with my brother. And it was just kind of

578
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: this this deal of figuring out hunting again because I

579
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 1: took a lot of time off after coming back from war.

580
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,080
Speaker 1: Just like the whole thought and idea of killing just

581
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,360
Speaker 1: wasn't I wasn't in the and mentally in the place

582
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,040
Speaker 1: to to get after that. So I spent a little

583
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:44,600
Speaker 1: bit of time away from it to the tune of

584
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 1: about ten years, and just really did some soul searching

585
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: of what that meant for me before I got back

586
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: into it. And I'm really glad that I did that

587
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 1: and took my time, and it's thankful that I had

588
00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:58,280
Speaker 1: that core of going around in the fields with my

589
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 1: dad and my brother and Jason birds and yeah, yeah,

590
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,680
Speaker 1: I mean, was it was that the aversion to hunting

591
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: during that time? Was that a visual thing or was

592
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: it a just a philosophical like I've seen death and

593
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 1: I don't want to participate or what. Do you have

594
00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:16,800
Speaker 1: a take on what that really was for you? Yeah,

595
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,840
Speaker 1: I was, Yeah, it was the aspect of taking life

596
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: that I just I wasn't comfortable with. Um just like well,

597
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,280
Speaker 1: it was just like the whole thought of killing, Like

598
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,520
Speaker 1: as soon as I thought of like killing it, like

599
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,920
Speaker 1: you know, like the crisp bodies that I saw that

600
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,280
Speaker 1: were like blackened and tarred up and all of that.

601
00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 1: It's just like that's what killing brought into my head,

602
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 1: Like no matter if it was hunting or any sort

603
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 1: of deal, and shows this mental imagery that came into it.

604
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 1: And it took a little bit a while to like

605
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,200
Speaker 1: filter through that and figure out what everything meant to me.

606
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 1: And and now I'm in a really good place in it. Yeah,

607
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 1: I'm sure that takes some time to get through. Yeah,

608
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: it's not a small thing. I've I've heard a lot

609
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 1: of veterans talk of bounce. Well, there's two things. One

610
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 1: is what you're talking about, right. The killing becomes you know,

611
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 1: less palatable for lack of a better term, or killing

612
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:13,120
Speaker 1: becomes this um, you know, this negative force in your

613
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:14,760
Speaker 1: life and you don't want to you know, you want

614
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,520
Speaker 1: to eliminate that negative force or or those things with

615
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 1: The second thing I've heard is that that like time

616
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: spent outside, the solitude of mountains, the what wildered, the

617
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 1: focus and the intensity of being in the wilderness. Like

618
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,000
Speaker 1: those types of things, the bonds that you are similar

619
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:35,480
Speaker 1: from from those of you know, your your combat, your

620
00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 1: patriots and combat are similar to those that you go

621
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 1: outside and have adventures with. Like did you was going

622
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 1: outside still something that heals you while you were getting

623
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,640
Speaker 1: to the point where killing was then get okay for you? Yeah? Absolutely,

624
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: That's That's what Colorado was for me, getting out there

625
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 1: and just exploring the mountains and exploring some of my

626
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 1: family roots in western Colorado and chasing adventure out there.

627
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 1: It was. It was very healing for me, and it's

628
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 1: it did me a lot of a lot of good

629
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 1: to get out there and just be free and be

630
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,560
Speaker 1: in the mountains and and have that solace. Yeah, it's

631
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,920
Speaker 1: I've always struggled with that personally as just conceptually or

632
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 1: just as a you know, kind of as an ideology

633
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,600
Speaker 1: of you know, taking veterans outside to kill things as

634
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 1: a way to either it's not a reward, but as

635
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,760
Speaker 1: a way to um, you know, distract them or to

636
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,400
Speaker 1: take a you know, to give them something to draw

637
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,840
Speaker 1: all away from their negative experiences. I think it's something

638
00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 1: to focus in on. It's like it's a mission for them.

639
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: And like I was very much the same way. I

640
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 1: always needed like something I could just dive wholeheartedly into

641
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 1: and just engulf myself in. And that's that's what hunting

642
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: was when I was growing up. That's what the action

643
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 1: sports that I was working on in Colorado. Um. I mean,

644
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 1: when you're like class four, class five kayaking, you've got

645
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 1: to be in the moment. And that was a blast

646
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,960
Speaker 1: doing that. And then you know, coming back here and

647
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 1: now I'm in this place where I'm like creeping around

648
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,600
Speaker 1: in the woods and calling bulls and chasing ran animals

649
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,279
Speaker 1: with a stick and a bow and there's just a

650
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,319
Speaker 1: bow and arrow, and that's very much the same way.

651
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 1: It's just it's been a great journey getting to there. Yeah,

652
00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:21,839
Speaker 1: I mean that's uh, you're you know, if if we're

653
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 1: all lucky, we're not that far away through a lot

654
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,960
Speaker 1: of years left. But it sounds to me like those

655
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,480
Speaker 1: those years may have been tough, but those were important

656
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:36,120
Speaker 1: years of your life. UM. And I think the last

657
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,400
Speaker 1: podcast or one of the previous ones, we talked Adam

658
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,719
Speaker 1: green Tree, and Adam had similar or not. You know,

659
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,440
Speaker 1: he never had your experiences, but he had some traumatic

660
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,520
Speaker 1: experiences growing up and talked a lot about those traumatic

661
00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,480
Speaker 1: experiences being um. What drives him, like what allows him

662
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:58,319
Speaker 1: not to um, not to be lazy? What provides you know,

663
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 1: the drive to get things done and his his inner voice.

664
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:03,480
Speaker 1: It's like that we're just not gonna quit on this

665
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 1: because we're just not going to there's no option to quit.

666
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,080
Speaker 1: You got that perspective of what it looks like back there. Yeah,

667
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:11,480
Speaker 1: it's like I don't want to go back there. I

668
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 1: don't have any desire to go back there. I'm not

669
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,960
Speaker 1: going back there. And while I'm here, in the place

670
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 1: that's better than there, I'm going to succeed and I'm

671
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:23,360
Speaker 1: not gonna accept no for any answer. Yeah. Absolutely. So

672
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:25,479
Speaker 1: that's an important perspect and I think there's it's lost

673
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 1: in a lot of people in our society today. And

674
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 1: you got it in probably not a a desirable way,

675
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,239
Speaker 1: but you got it nonetheless, you know, I found it

676
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 1: one way or another thing. Yeah, I mean, I think

677
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,600
Speaker 1: sometimes it's very trivial that I would I come on

678
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: this podcast and talk about you know, I went hunting

679
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 1: and I learned all these things, and now I'm a

680
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,440
Speaker 1: better person and I have perspective that I was playing

681
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,920
Speaker 1: like it's playing these are this is playground. Sometimes you

682
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,400
Speaker 1: go outside, um, not that it doesn't allow, you know,

683
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,480
Speaker 1: when I went to Nepal or when I've gone to

684
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,319
Speaker 1: New Zealand and spend time outside doing very hard things.

685
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: That's perspective of gaming. But I'm still playing. Yeah, still playing.

686
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:04,960
Speaker 1: But it's as long as you're getting out there and

687
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,200
Speaker 1: you're looking for the lessons to be like that's that's

688
00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:10,719
Speaker 1: the big thing, instead of just taking it all for

689
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,400
Speaker 1: granted and just running around doing your thing. Man, No,

690
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 1: you're right about that too. And now but yeah, I

691
00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 1: think I always and talking to guys like you and

692
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,239
Speaker 1: you know, folks like Omara Vila and and even if

693
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:23,439
Speaker 1: you you know, in a very different way, Adam green Tree,

694
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: that struggle, real struggle, you know, inescapable struggle, like non

695
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,959
Speaker 1: voluntary involuntary struggle. Yeah, it's coming whether you wanted, it's telling,

696
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,440
Speaker 1: whether you wonder or not. It's in your face. It's

697
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:39,000
Speaker 1: just a different you know if if humans were mold,

698
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:40,759
Speaker 1: it was just it's just a different you're cut out

699
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 1: of a different mold. You're you're shaped from a different thing.

700
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,360
Speaker 1: And um, and you had you know, you had a choice,

701
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,880
Speaker 1: but once you're there, you had no choice. Once you

702
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 1: were in it, you had no choice. And so, um,

703
00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:55,520
Speaker 1: I just I would just say that, I it's something

704
00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:58,000
Speaker 1: that I respect and something that you know, I'm not.

705
00:36:58,040 --> 00:36:59,880
Speaker 1: I don't wish that I had that, but I know,

706
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,600
Speaker 1: oh that there's still a lot of good that comes

707
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,719
Speaker 1: from it. Yeah, even though that it even though that

708
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:10,000
Speaker 1: it's can be a you know, negative force to think about.

709
00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:11,560
Speaker 1: And you know, as you look back on it, but

710
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:14,680
Speaker 1: you're here today, I mean, you don't incorporated after all

711
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 1: that ship. Yeah, living a pretty good life right now. Yeah. Um,

712
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:23,440
Speaker 1: so a couple of podcasts ago, I'd say, well, it's

713
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,799
Speaker 1: only just ninely a month ago now. Um. We when

714
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 1: we launched the company, we talked about our Y and

715
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 1: I think we've probably covered a lot of your Y already.

716
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:37,239
Speaker 1: We've kind of gotten to the Y. But I think

717
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 1: every employee of this company has especially when something's new,

718
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: you have the opportunity to really, you know, you rightly

719
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,319
Speaker 1: give it what ninth employee, tenth employee or something like

720
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,400
Speaker 1: that like that. Yeah, pretty small team right now. Um,

721
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 1: we just added two dogs. We have ten plus two. Um,

722
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:59,200
Speaker 1: but we have the opportunity to really get up in

723
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,040
Speaker 1: the morning and say why am I doing this? Because

724
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,480
Speaker 1: we're not We're not cogs in a wheel. We're not

725
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,840
Speaker 1: you know, button pushers or leverpoolers, were not going to

726
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,960
Speaker 1: the factory and working on the line. We are in

727
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: positions where we can chart our course in whatever way

728
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 1: that it makes sense for us. So what's you know?

729
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 1: What is your why today after going through what you've

730
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:27,040
Speaker 1: been through and coming out on the other end. Good question. Um, Yeah,

731
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: I don't let you off of the bullshit podcast talk.

732
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:32,719
Speaker 1: We're going deep color. We're going deep here on the

733
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,120
Speaker 1: hunting collective. We always do. I would say, looking back

734
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: with hunting, looking at hunting as far as I can

735
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:44,360
Speaker 1: a lifestyle and industry to dive into, um and to

736
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 1: pursue it's with hunting itself. It's become this connection based

737
00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,640
Speaker 1: thing for me. Where so thankful that I have the

738
00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:58,200
Speaker 1: upbringing that I did and being able to understand the

739
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 1: connection to the dirt and the animals and the chemical

740
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,600
Speaker 1: composition of everything and like being so grounded, like going

741
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:07,920
Speaker 1: out and killing these animals but then eating them and

742
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,960
Speaker 1: becoming like not to sound to Granola, but like becoming

743
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 1: one with the land and like filling that absolute connection.

744
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 1: It's this primal thing that is it's so hard to describe,

745
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,319
Speaker 1: but it's I'm so thankful for of of feeling that

746
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,400
Speaker 1: and seeing that, and and knowing that I've got that

747
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,880
Speaker 1: connection to the earth and how that makes me feel mentally,

748
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:37,040
Speaker 1: and like how fulfilled I become with that, and and

749
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:41,960
Speaker 1: it's just this, man, it's not like a loss for

750
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:45,360
Speaker 1: words of how to describe it. But that's probably a

751
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:47,759
Speaker 1: good thing. It's probably the best way to describe at

752
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,839
Speaker 1: the loss of verbs. But yeah, I mean it's yeah,

753
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,759
Speaker 1: it's just going out there and it's it's fulfillment. Is

754
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: is an incredible way to describe it that I can

755
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,799
Speaker 1: see and just becoming it's like it's been kicked around

756
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,839
Speaker 1: the office here, but it's it's true. It's becoming a

757
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,919
Speaker 1: better person because of it, and that's what I'm looking

758
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,400
Speaker 1: for in life. And sitting around last winter with my

759
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 1: brother while we're chasing white tails and just kicking back

760
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:15,279
Speaker 1: on the sofa, and watching Meat Eater and just like

761
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: having conversations about what Steve's talking about and know they're

762
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 1: like I'm pushing forward in this realm. And then having

763
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:25,120
Speaker 1: it all come like circle to being here in the

764
00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,440
Speaker 1: office and working with you and Steve and and being

765
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:31,600
Speaker 1: a part of these conversations. Is that's just I'm so

766
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,680
Speaker 1: happy to be here. Yeah, and we're happy to have

767
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:37,480
Speaker 1: you know. I think that's important. And there's a big

768
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 1: part of me that's like, I'm it's just a regular dude,

769
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,240
Speaker 1: And there's this big part of me that it's wonders

770
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,439
Speaker 1: why I can't just get on the podcast and talk

771
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:51,839
Speaker 1: about calibers and talk about let's talk about seven mill

772
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:57,919
Speaker 1: or six man. I'm a Jack O'Connor fan there, six baby. Well, yeah,

773
00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,800
Speaker 1: I mean I think there's part of me the wonders

774
00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 1: why that. And there's a part of me that that

775
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:07,279
Speaker 1: is honestly and openly wondering whether trying to balance like

776
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:12,080
Speaker 1: the virtue signaling that can go on, like just saying

777
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,920
Speaker 1: the right thing because that gets the best reaction, but

778
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:20,720
Speaker 1: then really truly believing what I'm saying or what I'm writing.

779
00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,000
Speaker 1: And so I think that's in this day and it's

780
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,960
Speaker 1: essentially the struggle that we all have to go through

781
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,720
Speaker 1: to make sure we're openly and honestly delivering our message

782
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:33,640
Speaker 1: in a way that the best way that we can.

783
00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:36,919
Speaker 1: Not everybody's gonna like it. You can't. You really can't

784
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,040
Speaker 1: change your wife for someone else, but really make sure

785
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: your why is true and honest and not just some

786
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:49,480
Speaker 1: semblance of talking points that the advertisers are paying for. Yeah,

787
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:51,680
Speaker 1: that or this company came up with even you know

788
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,120
Speaker 1: or or like you said, it's something that you post

789
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,840
Speaker 1: on social media, everybody really likes. That can't then become

790
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:01,400
Speaker 1: your thing. You have to say down and decide what

791
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:03,400
Speaker 1: you want to do and then go and do it

792
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:05,360
Speaker 1: and hope it works for everyone else. And in the

793
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:08,680
Speaker 1: case of you know, editors at a company like this one,

794
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 1: I really hope everybody takes to it, doesn't think you're

795
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:16,600
Speaker 1: full of it, that you're an idiot, um you're and

796
00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:20,160
Speaker 1: and some folks, you know, Steve's really great at just

797
00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:22,960
Speaker 1: being Steve Man and not let anybody else into that

798
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:26,360
Speaker 1: would wreck that. And and that's a huge piece of

799
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,440
Speaker 1: why I was so eager to jump on board is

800
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,439
Speaker 1: because of the truth and like not chasing bullshit of

801
00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:35,719
Speaker 1: what needs to be said for this or that. It's

802
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 1: just it's truth and story and character and yeah, just

803
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:43,840
Speaker 1: like the whole psychology of it all. Yeah, it's a

804
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 1: hell of an opportunity to to get get down to

805
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,239
Speaker 1: communicate with everybody that likes to do what we like

806
00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:52,720
Speaker 1: to do and make them better. They make us better,

807
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,560
Speaker 1: and that's what really, that's what really like content should

808
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,040
Speaker 1: be about. I think I'm pretty sure we're going to

809
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:04,120
Speaker 1: try it anyway, betting on it. I'm betting that it's true.

810
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:06,480
Speaker 1: I'm betting that you know, you and I could sit

811
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:09,560
Speaker 1: in this little room here with these dogs and shoot

812
00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 1: the ship and talk about you know, sometimes talk about

813
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:14,319
Speaker 1: what calibers are the best, but a lot of times

814
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:17,399
Speaker 1: talk about like how we can you know, take other

815
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:19,560
Speaker 1: folks that are in this company that are creating content

816
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 1: to shape them in a way that makes sense right

817
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,319
Speaker 1: and tell them, hey, look this is let's make sure

818
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,040
Speaker 1: we go back to our why every once in a

819
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,040
Speaker 1: while and then then re examine what what we're doing

820
00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:32,640
Speaker 1: this for and why we're doing the creating content and yeah, man,

821
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:36,480
Speaker 1: we've gotta make money, but we're not here to sell widgets,

822
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:39,000
Speaker 1: sail or snake oil or here to to inform and

823
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:41,439
Speaker 1: educate and entertain people and do it in a way

824
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:44,920
Speaker 1: that's honest, and and do those things in you know,

825
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,640
Speaker 1: in the public forum where we're putting our ship out

826
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,680
Speaker 1: there and hoping that people like to, you know, click

827
00:43:51,719 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 1: on it. So please, everybody, we're begging you. We need

828
00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:58,320
Speaker 1: to feed the puppies. The puppies are hungry. They're not

829
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,840
Speaker 1: sleeping right now. Yep, they've been sleeping through this whole podcast.

830
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,600
Speaker 1: They don't even care. I love them. Do they come

831
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,400
Speaker 1: in here? Opinion comes in here and just rolls right

832
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:09,759
Speaker 1: on the concrete and as he goes to sleep, and

833
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:12,680
Speaker 1: then all the ladies of the office make cooing noises

834
00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,879
Speaker 1: and pet him. And he loves that ship too, as

835
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:19,040
Speaker 1: all dogs do. He's got to dial in. Man. He's

836
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,600
Speaker 1: got the life. He's with six months old right, just

837
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:24,719
Speaker 1: about six and a half months old, half well, and

838
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:27,799
Speaker 1: every office needs a dog like that. I'm glad we

839
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:30,520
Speaker 1: have one. So what are you looking forward to meeting? Or?

840
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:33,440
Speaker 1: Inc wise, now that I'm glad, everybody that listens to

841
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,719
Speaker 1: this podcast hopefully can get to, you know, introduced to

842
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:38,480
Speaker 1: you and who you are and what you're about. And

843
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:41,960
Speaker 1: start to read your stuff and experience the content you're

844
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:43,799
Speaker 1: gonna be able to create. But like, what's what's the

845
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:46,360
Speaker 1: thing do you look forward to? The thing that I

846
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: like chasing are the characters, like the folks that are

847
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:54,239
Speaker 1: out there, the the unknown stories of just some very

848
00:44:54,239 --> 00:44:58,160
Speaker 1: eccentric individual and their life and what that looks like

849
00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:00,840
Speaker 1: and a deeper look into it and into their why.

850
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:03,759
Speaker 1: And that's that's always been something that I've been fascinated

851
00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:05,439
Speaker 1: with and have done a little bit here and there,

852
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:09,839
Speaker 1: and definitely hoping that I can jump into that here. Yeah. Yeah,

853
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:13,759
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, we're part of the same generation.

854
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 1: And I would say, are we what generation? Are we

855
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:24,920
Speaker 1: generation X y Z. We're millennials, dude, Yeah, we're at

856
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:29,200
Speaker 1: the very beginning stage. We're like early on millennials. Um.

857
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,640
Speaker 1: I think our millennial generation that we're a part of

858
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:34,880
Speaker 1: is a lot about a lot about themselves, like a

859
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,400
Speaker 1: lot about me, not even a selfish me, but just

860
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:39,720
Speaker 1: that's kind of the content you see on social media.

861
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:41,960
Speaker 1: It's like turning that came around the point towards you. Yeah,

862
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,759
Speaker 1: that's the deal, right, That's what people do. So that's

863
00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:48,000
Speaker 1: why I agree with you, and I'm not doubting anybody

864
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,839
Speaker 1: who likes to turn the camera on themselves. That's totally fine,

865
00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:55,520
Speaker 1: awesome and many and many aspects of freaking awesome. But

866
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:59,719
Speaker 1: I'm with you man, my journalistic um tendencies and in

867
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:03,960
Speaker 1: the that part of my mind is excited to explore,

868
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,560
Speaker 1: you know, with a platform, with a bigger platform that

869
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:10,799
Speaker 1: we can all share explore some those people, you know,

870
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:12,560
Speaker 1: I've been able to, even through the short time of

871
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,399
Speaker 1: this podcast, talked to like rabbit hunters from Maryland and

872
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:21,080
Speaker 1: the kyote hunters from Texas and Cody Act bear guides

873
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:25,879
Speaker 1: and freaking famous Australian dudes and just all I mean,

874
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:32,359
Speaker 1: you know, Steve Ronella, CEOs of huge corporations, like all

875
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:35,520
Speaker 1: kinds of stuff. And that's not it's not that it's

876
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:39,399
Speaker 1: not that they're all one type of guests, but they're

877
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:42,080
Speaker 1: just interesting people with their own stories to tell, and

878
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:44,319
Speaker 1: all those stories kind of are grounded at hunting and

879
00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:46,640
Speaker 1: what hunting is about for all these people and hopefully

880
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,880
Speaker 1: you learn something along the way with that. So happy

881
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,439
Speaker 1: to add you into that group of people. Yeah. Absolutely, Oh,

882
00:46:53,719 --> 00:46:57,319
Speaker 1: I don't think, um, you know, I don't think it's

883
00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:00,000
Speaker 1: important that when you start creating concept for the come

884
00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 1: been and you had out the Kansas that people know

885
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:04,200
Speaker 1: everything about your life, but it's good for them to

886
00:47:04,239 --> 00:47:07,440
Speaker 1: have some background on who you are, little idea, a

887
00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:09,839
Speaker 1: little idea of what's going on, what's rattling around your

888
00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:15,400
Speaker 1: old brain? There? Good Kansas. Um, you're gonna kill a

889
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:18,120
Speaker 1: big white tail. You guys got any like trail cam

890
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:22,040
Speaker 1: images of giant bucks? Um, we don't have any trail

891
00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:25,520
Speaker 1: cam images. I've got my brothers down there. He lives there, um,

892
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:28,440
Speaker 1: and he's had eyes where has been told from a

893
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:31,839
Speaker 1: family friend of a decent one sixty class it's running around.

894
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 1: Then we're gonna try and get after. That's nice. You

895
00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:39,080
Speaker 1: guys hunting field edges? What's the what's the situation there? Um?

896
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:42,000
Speaker 1: A little bit more timber, yeah, Um, I mean everything

897
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,080
Speaker 1: is kind of field edges there. There's just strips of

898
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:47,280
Speaker 1: tember running through a little creek bottoms and and that stuff.

899
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,719
Speaker 1: But it's definitely borderlined with with agg everywhere. I gotta

900
00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:53,920
Speaker 1: tell you, I'm how many white tail tangs are I

901
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:57,439
Speaker 1: eating in Kansas? Or like five of them or something

902
00:47:57,440 --> 00:47:59,440
Speaker 1: like that. I've never killed a white tail in Kansas

903
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:03,360
Speaker 1: that I can remember. Over Oklahoma. Sure, Texas great the

904
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:07,000
Speaker 1: words gotten out on Kansas. Those white tails are getting pressured, yeah, man,

905
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,640
Speaker 1: for sure, and they know how to become ghosts. I

906
00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:11,640
Speaker 1: feel like I've hund it all around that state, and

907
00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:14,880
Speaker 1: I've never had any luck with white tails for whatever reason,

908
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:18,200
Speaker 1: I don't know why. Yeah, my brother got a really

909
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:20,120
Speaker 1: nice from last year, a thick body. I mean he

910
00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:24,040
Speaker 1: shot a horse of a white tail. Uh. A white

911
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:26,960
Speaker 1: tail is still my favorite thing, man. I don't know.

912
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,160
Speaker 1: It's something about but we leave in Montana. This place

913
00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:33,680
Speaker 1: is a paradise for growing outside. I mean a freaking paradise.

914
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 1: There's always something going on. People who live here so

915
00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:40,000
Speaker 1: fucking spoiled. It's a good place to be. That's very

916
00:48:40,080 --> 00:48:42,160
Speaker 1: much part of why I wanted to be here too. Yeah,

917
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:44,799
Speaker 1: I mean it's just it's a gluttony of outside things

918
00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:47,880
Speaker 1: to do. But for whatever reason, sitting in the timber

919
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:53,160
Speaker 1: and here in that and knowing it's coming up, nine

920
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:57,719
Speaker 1: times out of ten it's a squirrel walking up. I

921
00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:00,640
Speaker 1: hate squirrels for that reason. Um, you had or a

922
00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:04,759
Speaker 1: raccoon or some or a dough anything, what what you're

923
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:07,240
Speaker 1: actually there to shoot? But yeah, you can visually see

924
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:10,759
Speaker 1: your chest pocket like balancing out of your chest because

925
00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:12,839
Speaker 1: your heart rates going up. Yeah. And I've killed lots

926
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:15,160
Speaker 1: of deer in that scenario and still to this day,

927
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:18,080
Speaker 1: that's the moment. I last year hunt in Iowa and

928
00:49:18,200 --> 00:49:21,640
Speaker 1: Illinois and killed a buck in Illinois and Iowa with

929
00:49:21,719 --> 00:49:25,640
Speaker 1: John Dudley, and I'd spent most of the year hunting

930
00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:28,200
Speaker 1: in all these crazy places. But he filmed me. And

931
00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:29,880
Speaker 1: when I shot this deer or it wasn't like some

932
00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:33,759
Speaker 1: two buck. I mean, it's barely one fifty. I look like,

933
00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:35,239
Speaker 1: you know, all the stand pots when he used to

934
00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:38,960
Speaker 1: shoot his white tails, want eye fishing, one eye cut

935
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:41,239
Speaker 1: in bait, That's what I look like. I was looking

936
00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:43,520
Speaker 1: up at other holy should away showy yet and it

937
00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:46,280
Speaker 1: was just an archery buck that I shot him. And

938
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:48,359
Speaker 1: it wasn't you know, I just said, it wasn't any

939
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:50,680
Speaker 1: giant that anybody would have overly impressed by. But what

940
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:54,480
Speaker 1: for whatever reason that experienced every time freaking makes me

941
00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:56,920
Speaker 1: go nuts? Yeah I can. It's probably because how I

942
00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:59,520
Speaker 1: grew up, so you get to go do it, you

943
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,959
Speaker 1: bast yep. Yeah, I And like the great part about

944
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:06,320
Speaker 1: where I grew up is is it's a little wildlife

945
00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,319
Speaker 1: mecca down in Wakefield, Kansas. There's a little river that

946
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:13,239
Speaker 1: comes in called the Republican River. Tell everybody where it is.

947
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:19,400
Speaker 1: Everybody knows there's a huge lake there too. Um, and

948
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:23,360
Speaker 1: so we've got amazing waterfowl hunting there as well snowshine

949
00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:25,400
Speaker 1: and bottoms by any means. But it's a it's a

950
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,719
Speaker 1: great little refuge. Yeah, I mean you've got there's a

951
00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:35,160
Speaker 1: lot there. Yeah, there's that that culture, That Midwestern culture

952
00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:39,520
Speaker 1: is one that I enjoy ship tone because it's really

953
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:44,840
Speaker 1: that just back forty buddies farm. You know, everybody gets together,

954
00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:48,200
Speaker 1: communal type of life. I mean it's it's same here.

955
00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:50,919
Speaker 1: It's just you gotta walk a lot further. Yeah, It's

956
00:50:50,920 --> 00:50:53,279
Speaker 1: it's something special back there for me because I had

957
00:50:53,280 --> 00:50:56,000
Speaker 1: two sets of great grandparents in that town growing up,

958
00:50:56,760 --> 00:51:00,279
Speaker 1: and so our family just knew everybody is. It's a

959
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:02,239
Speaker 1: small town and so it's just you want to go

960
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,879
Speaker 1: hunt that field. You want to go hunt that field. Absolutely.

961
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:07,040
Speaker 1: What does your about your family say about your new

962
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:10,560
Speaker 1: new gig slash life in Montana? Because when I go home,

963
00:51:10,600 --> 00:51:15,520
Speaker 1: I get like certain comments. I mean my dad is

964
00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:22,520
Speaker 1: just like nice cool. Yeah, really that probably means like, yes,

965
00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:25,120
Speaker 1: yeah he should. Well no, last year, he's just like,

966
00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:28,080
Speaker 1: you're telling me you get to go hunt and fish

967
00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:32,120
Speaker 1: for work, you son of a bitch. It's like, I'm

968
00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:38,000
Speaker 1: your son. Does there many sense? My dad's my dad?

969
00:51:38,160 --> 00:51:40,160
Speaker 1: My early my career, my dad did say ship like that.

970
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:43,200
Speaker 1: But now he's just like malaise. He's like, oh yeah

971
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:47,680
Speaker 1: they're hunt there. That's great for you. Congratulations. Yeah, so

972
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 1: he's pretty pumped about it. Mom's happy for me, Like, dude,

973
00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:52,800
Speaker 1: like ants and uncles be like, who's that Stephen Renowly

974
00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:59,080
Speaker 1: tell me about him? He's on the Netflix. He's crazy. Yeah,

975
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:01,600
Speaker 1: that's what I get. Like, my dad calls, well, now,

976
00:52:01,680 --> 00:52:06,680
Speaker 1: my dad, I think corrected it. H Ronnelli is like Renelly,

977
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:10,920
Speaker 1: it's Renelly, Steve renow I'm surprised it's not like Scott Ronnelly.

978
00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:14,600
Speaker 1: But yeah, my mom will say that it's Reelly. It's Ronnelli.

979
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 1: There he in the office, the Renelly. Can you see

980
00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:21,080
Speaker 1: him from the TV? Yes? Mom, I got a lot

981
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:23,000
Speaker 1: of buddies asking me what's he like, what's he like,

982
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:27,279
Speaker 1: what's he like off the camera? What's should just make

983
00:52:27,360 --> 00:52:31,000
Speaker 1: stories up? Oh man rarely, if ever wears a shirt.

984
00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:35,080
Speaker 1: He's got a one seven five a beam and he

985
00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:39,440
Speaker 1: just walks around the tattoos, I mean full tattoos. You

986
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:42,440
Speaker 1: don't notice on the TV show Full Tattoos, they just

987
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,120
Speaker 1: put makeup over the face tattoos on Netflix. Well that's

988
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:50,279
Speaker 1: good man. I'm glad you're going home. Yeah, enjoy that. Uh,

989
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:54,920
Speaker 1: hopefully everybody can tune in or to or read or

990
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,399
Speaker 1: watch the content you're going to create for for our

991
00:52:57,440 --> 00:52:59,800
Speaker 1: company doing a little bit of all of that for sure.

992
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:02,960
Speaker 1: Enjoy all of that and uh now and in the

993
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:05,960
Speaker 1: future too. So click on the old meat Eater dot

994
00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:09,720
Speaker 1: com and there you'll find me and Morgan and Kenyan

995
00:53:09,719 --> 00:53:12,520
Speaker 1: and Ronella and Folky and a whole bunch of other

996
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:17,839
Speaker 1: talented folks in the months hopefully years to come, great

997
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:23,000
Speaker 1: years years to come. So thanks for falling along as

998
00:53:23,040 --> 00:53:26,680
Speaker 1: we build this and appreciate you sharing your story. Dude. Yeah, absolutely,

999
00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:33,120
Speaker 1: thanks for having me. That's it. That's all episode number

1000
00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:36,560
Speaker 1: thirty five in the books. Thanks to Morgan, Thanks to

1001
00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:42,600
Speaker 1: our Low and Pinion two pups for hanging out for

1002
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:45,879
Speaker 1: a great podcast on Austin day in the Meat Eator

1003
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:49,360
Speaker 1: offices here in Bozeman, and so hopefully enjoyed that story.

1004
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:52,839
Speaker 1: I know I did. Hopefully you can take your time

1005
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:55,439
Speaker 1: to read Morgan's articles on the meat Eator dot com

1006
00:53:55,760 --> 00:53:58,799
Speaker 1: and follow along as his journeys he starts to create

1007
00:53:58,840 --> 00:54:02,399
Speaker 1: content for us, all his story and and give give

1008
00:54:02,440 --> 00:54:04,520
Speaker 1: all of you a little insight into his expertise and

1009
00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:09,400
Speaker 1: his life as a hunter, angler and a person who

1010
00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:14,640
Speaker 1: enjoys going outside. So until next time, please go to

1011
00:54:14,680 --> 00:54:17,640
Speaker 1: the meat Eater dot com as we said, and go

1012
00:54:17,719 --> 00:54:20,680
Speaker 1: to the listen tap, and there you'll find this podcast

1013
00:54:20,800 --> 00:54:24,760
Speaker 1: all its episodes. You'll find all of the Meat Eater episodes,

1014
00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:28,080
Speaker 1: of course goes without saying, but you'll also find Mark

1015
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:32,120
Speaker 1: Kenyan Wired to Hunt. You will find anchored with April Folkey,

1016
00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:36,560
Speaker 1: and you'll find a ship ton of articles to read

1017
00:54:36,600 --> 00:54:39,800
Speaker 1: about wild foods, about conservation, and about hunting and fishing

1018
00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:42,200
Speaker 1: and how to be better at all of it. And

1019
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,640
Speaker 1: so if that's not enough, if you still need more

1020
00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:48,799
Speaker 1: stuff to do, go and sign up for the newsletter.

1021
00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:52,040
Speaker 1: The Meat Eater newsletter comes out every Wednesday morning and

1022
00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:57,480
Speaker 1: it is all things meat Eater related. So for now,

1023
00:54:57,520 --> 00:54:59,239
Speaker 1: that's all I have, but that should keep you busy

1024
00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:01,560
Speaker 1: until next two to day when we'll be back with

1025
00:55:01,640 --> 00:55:07,480
Speaker 1: another episode of This Year podcast, so thank you for joining.

1026
00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:15,200
Speaker 1: We'll see you then. Bye, m hm hm