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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for

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Speaker 1: deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host,

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Speaker 1: Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host, Mark Kenyan, and this is episode number three

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Speaker 1: nineteen in Today. In the show, Dan and I are

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Speaker 1: breaking down our two thousand nineteen rut hunts, my first

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Speaker 1: success on the back forty, our efforts to better balance

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Speaker 1: hunting and family, and are hard learned lessons from another

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Speaker 1: rut hunting grind. Okay, welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast,

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Speaker 1: brought to you by on X. This is for me,

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Speaker 1: the episode where I breathe this big sigh of relief,

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Speaker 1: like rut cation has passed. The grind for me has

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Speaker 1: come to an end. I've slept in an hour or

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Speaker 1: two later than I have been for most of the

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Speaker 1: last three weeks. I finally don't feel like a zombie.

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Speaker 1: I imagine you might be in the same place. Dan,

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Speaker 1: I am exactly the opposite, my friend, Like you're waking

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Speaker 1: up earlier. No, I'm not waking up earlier. I'm just

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Speaker 1: getting more sleep on my rout vacation because the kids kids. Yes,

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Speaker 1: when I was out hunting, you know, I'm spending time

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Speaker 1: at my mom's or at my my family home. That's

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Speaker 1: where my camp is, my you know, deer camp is.

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Speaker 1: And so when you go to bed at nine ten

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Speaker 1: o'clock and then you wake up at four every morning, uh,

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Speaker 1: you get seven to six hours of continuous sleep. Last night,

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Speaker 1: I went to bed at like ten and was woken

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Speaker 1: up multiple times and I had to wait. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's just it's crazy. But I I am now back

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Speaker 1: into zombie mode here at my house. I guess I'm lucky.

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Speaker 1: My son sleeps right through the night, and so I'll

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Speaker 1: be you usually get you know, he'll usual sleep till

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Speaker 1: seven in the morning, he'll go down to like eight,

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Speaker 1: sleep till seven. So you don't ever say that to

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Speaker 1: me within striking distance, because I'll probably punch your right

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Speaker 1: in your mouth. I hate it when other parents are like,

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Speaker 1: oh what your kids don't sleep to the night and

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Speaker 1: mind does it sounds like a parenting issue. That's gotta

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Speaker 1: be it, dude, I would doubt it. I wouldn't doubt it.

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Speaker 1: Uh So I will avoid making that comment anymore. But

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Speaker 1: the game plan for today, other than making you feel

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Speaker 1: really bad about not getting sleep, is uh talking about

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Speaker 1: what we've just been doing over the last two or

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Speaker 1: three weeks because we haven't gotten to check in since

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Speaker 1: that whole rut period began. So I wanted to walk through,

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Speaker 1: you know, our rut, talk through what went right, what

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Speaker 1: went wrong, what we learned from it, UM, tell the

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Speaker 1: stories of of the the exciting moments that you and

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Speaker 1: I had. UM. It's always fun for me to kind

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Speaker 1: of do this debrief, to take some time to really

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Speaker 1: kind of try to or process what happened, because, at

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Speaker 1: least for me, the rut is this like I don't know,

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Speaker 1: it's a marathon, but it's like a million miles of minutes,

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Speaker 1: go go, go, go, go, go go. I always need

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Speaker 1: something like this where I can sit back, think it through,

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Speaker 1: digest it, and and even appreciate it a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes just having a conversation like this helps me appreciate

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Speaker 1: what just happened. So that's what I'm thinking. If you're

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Speaker 1: up for it, I'm down, dude. So on a one

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Speaker 1: to ten scale, how would you rate your two thousand

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Speaker 1: nineteen rut cation. I'm telling you this right now. I

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Speaker 1: had so much fun it should be illegal, Like I

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Speaker 1: had such an absolute blast going Sure, your wife's not

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Speaker 1: listening to this. I don't want to want you to

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Speaker 1: get in trouble. No, we already had the argument about it,

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Speaker 1: so oh, you know, just like, well, you know, I

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Speaker 1: hope you had fun, but I was here with the

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Speaker 1: kids and blah blah blah blah blah. You know, I'm

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Speaker 1: just like, hey, whatever, Like you just at some point

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Speaker 1: you just stopped listening to him and you just say, hey,

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Speaker 1: this is this is what I'm gonna do. So you

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Speaker 1: go back this trip, come back to the trip like, oh,

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Speaker 1: it was horrible, honey, it was really awful. I'm I

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Speaker 1: can't do that though. It's I can't do that because

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Speaker 1: I walk into the house and I'm like, hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: how's it going. I'm refreshed, I'm being happy dad. You know,

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Speaker 1: let's do this, let's be a parent, let's go play,

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Speaker 1: let's color and all this. Uh and then here she is,

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Speaker 1: you know, she while we were on the rut or

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Speaker 1: while I was hunting, she you know, got sick, so

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Speaker 1: she got like a sore throat and just felt really

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Speaker 1: crappy and and all this stuff. And here I am.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's like I'm out ever my balls off,

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Speaker 1: but I got I'm doing it with a big smile

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Speaker 1: on my face, you know, So I don't know. Well, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's a that's a tricky one. We'll have to talk

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Speaker 1: about that a little bit more later too, because I

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Speaker 1: definitely had some of some of that same balance issue

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Speaker 1: that I had to think about too. But but sorry,

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Speaker 1: you were talking about how awesome it was and you

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Speaker 1: were at the time of your life. Dude. I needed

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Speaker 1: a rut like this though, because the last three years

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Speaker 1: I went into, UM, I felt like I got off easy,

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Speaker 1: you know, every the stars kind of a line the

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Speaker 1: last three years where see two thousand and sixteen. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I hunted one day and then a huge,

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Speaker 1: like twenty four hour rain storm came through. I'm like, ah,

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Speaker 1: I know what I need to do. I got some

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Speaker 1: trail out camera intel. I'm gonna pop into this fence row.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna climb up. Uh. I saw a buck stand

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Speaker 1: out of his bed, grunted, came in shot him right that.

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Speaker 1: That was two thousand sixteen. Two thousand seventeen, went into

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Speaker 1: a new farm that I had hunted one or two

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Speaker 1: times in early October. UH went into a run and

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Speaker 1: gun I wanted to set up in this terrain feature

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Speaker 1: that was leading to a really big crp field. As

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Speaker 1: I'm walking in, see a ton of scrapes set up

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Speaker 1: inside the timber, you know, outside of this betting area.

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Speaker 1: Deer walks through. He's at a range one grunt rat.

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Speaker 1: He turns around, comes in. I shoot him. Two thousand eighteen,

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Speaker 1: set up in another terrain feature inside of basically this

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Speaker 1: pinch point slash corridor behind a standing cornfield, not on

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Speaker 1: the food edge or not on the field edge. Um

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Speaker 1: it rained all day, waited for the rain to stop.

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Speaker 1: The second the last rain drop hit the ground, I

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Speaker 1: was already in the tree. But comes out shoot him.

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Speaker 1: Three years in a row, right, pretty much just you know,

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Speaker 1: I think, uh, three days, three days right, make us

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Speaker 1: sound really easy, And I wan, man, what I'm getting

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Speaker 1: at is, you know it's not. It's not easy, right.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like I just walked into a

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Speaker 1: fresh property and killed these deer. You know, this is

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Speaker 1: this is seven eight nine years of knowing this property,

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Speaker 1: knowing where the rain features are, scouting all this stuff,

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Speaker 1: and putting myself in the best possible position. This year

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Speaker 1: was a little bit different. Not only was I going

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Speaker 1: into a rut where I had my mindset on just

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Speaker 1: a handful of deer or a certain caliber of deer. Um.

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Speaker 1: I also was fighting things, like I would say, within

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Speaker 1: a half a mile of this farm, there was close

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Speaker 1: to a thousand acres of standing corn right, and close

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Speaker 1: to five acres of it were bordering the farm that

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Speaker 1: I hunt. So it was just I knew I had

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Speaker 1: some obstacles in front of me, but I knew I

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Speaker 1: also needed to fall into the routine like I always

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Speaker 1: do and and just get at it. It just took

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Speaker 1: longer this year, but that's what I needed. I didn't

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Speaker 1: want really an easy season. I wanted because there's something

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Speaker 1: happens to me anyway when you when you go and

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Speaker 1: you start to do you hunt that first week right

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Speaker 1: and you're just like, you know, I'm having fun. I'm

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Speaker 1: seeing some deer, not really what I want, but I'm

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Speaker 1: seeing them. And then there's a moment where the grind

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Speaker 1: kicks in and then some people bitch auld complain about it.

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Speaker 1: But for me, I really like to embrace it because

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Speaker 1: I love it. I love that point where you're just

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Speaker 1: you know, the first week you don't want to sleep in,

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Speaker 1: you're happy. The second week you're like, oh, man, I could,

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Speaker 1: I would really love to teen more minutes. Or it's

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Speaker 1: the one day it was negative ten with wind chill

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Speaker 1: and I'm walking in and I know I gotta, you know,

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Speaker 1: climb up in this stand and sit there an hour

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Speaker 1: before the sun comes up and I'm freezing my balls off.

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Speaker 1: But I loved it, you know what I mean. Like

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Speaker 1: you can bitch and complain or you can embrace it.

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Speaker 1: And I did a little bitch, and but I also

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Speaker 1: embraced it. And that's when you start to really For me,

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Speaker 1: I like, really enjoyed myself. So if I would have

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Speaker 1: tagged out in the first week of this season, it

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Speaker 1: would have just been, oh, I had fun. But I

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Speaker 1: hit that that grind point. I hit that the point

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Speaker 1: where you just you start to feel, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: there's something different about me when I get to that point,

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Speaker 1: and I I just am able to enjoy everything that

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Speaker 1: much more. Hopefully that makes sense. Well, I can't claim

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Speaker 1: to ever really understand your Dan, but but I can't

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Speaker 1: say that I get what you're saying in this case,

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Speaker 1: and and uh and and for me, I definitely appreciate

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Speaker 1: and end result much more when there had to be

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Speaker 1: struggled to lead up to it, and so I've always said, like,

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Speaker 1: I don't I don't want to have that hunt where

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Speaker 1: I killed a buck on the first day. Of course,

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Speaker 1: you know, if it happens, it happens, that's great. But

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Speaker 1: I always my favorite hunts are the ones where you

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Speaker 1: struggle for seven days or something like that and you

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Speaker 1: think it's not gonna happen, and you've almost lost hope

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Speaker 1: and then boom it comes through. Or you had hike

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Speaker 1: and hike and hike and hike and hike and you

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Speaker 1: were miserable and tired and the grind was wearing you down,

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Speaker 1: and then it finally pays off. Like that is the

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Speaker 1: payoff that's always the most meaningful. Um. So yeah, at

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Speaker 1: that point this year, yes, in a different kind of way. Um.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I mean absolutely, I definitely hit the grind

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Speaker 1: um and definitely was wearing and dogging down because my

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Speaker 1: kind of my marathon started earlier this year. Um because

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Speaker 1: basically it was basically from October, I think from October

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Speaker 1: until November fift I hunted all but four days. I think, um,

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Speaker 1: because I did like that mentor hunt for a weekend

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Speaker 1: and then I was home for a day and then

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Speaker 1: I left for the seven days of hunting in the

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Speaker 1: Boundary waters, and then I was Then I immediately started

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Speaker 1: hunting for Tran for like three days, and then I

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Speaker 1: immediately started filming an episode of the Back forty for

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Speaker 1: three days. And then I got back and immediately started

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Speaker 1: hunting in that late October time period for Train again,

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Speaker 1: and then went straight back to the Back forty for

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Speaker 1: a week and then straight back for Tran, and so

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Speaker 1: I didn't stop. I mean, it took just a couple

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Speaker 1: of days in between that whole basically a month long period.

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Speaker 1: I hunted I think twenty five or twenty six days. So, um,

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Speaker 1: so you were just the hunter too, you were you

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Speaker 1: also had to play guide for a little bit. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: So I mean there was two days of me guiding

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Speaker 1: a new hunter on that mentor hunt field the Hork event,

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Speaker 1: and then hunted myself in Minnesota, and then hunted for

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Speaker 1: a few days. And then on the Back forty I

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Speaker 1: hunted with Doug during and I hunted those days, but

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Speaker 1: also was was helping him get set up and giving

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Speaker 1: them the tour of the place and doing things like that,

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Speaker 1: and we hunted together one day and then hunted it

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Speaker 1: again on my own for a while, and then later

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Speaker 1: in the back forty I took my dad out and

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about this in some more detail later, but

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Speaker 1: I kind of guided my dad for a few days

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Speaker 1: hunting and just sat with him um and and tried

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Speaker 1: to get him a buck too. So that was really cool.

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Speaker 1: But yes, so it was. It was kind of a

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Speaker 1: mixture of me hunting and me taking other folks around,

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Speaker 1: me showing other folks around, which was which is fun

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Speaker 1: for a change, but it definitely added up to a

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Speaker 1: lot of days in the field, which is which is great.

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Speaker 1: I can't complain about it, but I mean, if we're

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Speaker 1: being honest, it does wear you down too. So by

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Speaker 1: the time by the time the fourteenth, the evening of

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Speaker 1: the fourteenth came and I was I was ready to

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Speaker 1: sleep in and just kind of recenter myself, which is

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Speaker 1: what I was able to do this past weekend. So yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: so there's a lot to cover. Though. In between all

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Speaker 1: that that we just talked about, I hit I hit

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Speaker 1: that point where it was like, oh man, I've been

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Speaker 1: at it a while, and I did take it. I

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Speaker 1: did take some time to go back home for you know,

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Speaker 1: a more afternoon in a morning hunt just to kind

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Speaker 1: of help the wife out because she had some plans.

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Speaker 1: But I started hitting that point within the grind where

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Speaker 1: it's just like, man, I'm a dad in a husband too.

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Speaker 1: I got I got things I probably should be doing.

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Speaker 1: You know, you start to second guess where you actually

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Speaker 1: need to be. Is that in the tree stand? Where

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Speaker 1: is that back at home? So yeah, I'm definitely starting

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Speaker 1: to get that more. There's definitely a change happening for

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Speaker 1: me with the family and everything. And you know, we've

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Speaker 1: got a toddler now he's almost two, and my wife's

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Speaker 1: pregnant with our second and and so yes, that's absolutely

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Speaker 1: coming up. And and I took a couple I did

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Speaker 1: take a couple of days off that I normally wouldn't have.

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Speaker 1: That I'm so glad I did. And that's kind of

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Speaker 1: changing my thoughts on on the Rutton Marathon for me

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Speaker 1: a little bit. I think in the future I will

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Speaker 1: probably do. In the past, it was like, you have

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Speaker 1: to hunt every single day. This is it. You got

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Speaker 1: to make ky when the sun shines, go go go

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Speaker 1: go go, don't be weak, be strong, go go, go

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Speaker 1: go go. This year, um, two things happened. Number One,

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Speaker 1: I realized what you just said there are some things

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Speaker 1: more important than killing a deer, and I need to

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Speaker 1: try to do better job of fulfilling those obligations to

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Speaker 1: so taking some time off another thing I did different

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Speaker 1: this year when I was hunting my closer to home spot. UM.

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Speaker 1: I didn't hunt all day on most of those hunts.

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Speaker 1: Some of them I did, but I realized that I

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Speaker 1: could come in and help out with my son a

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Speaker 1: little bit and give my wife a little break. And

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Speaker 1: I decided to know what, Yeah, the midday hunt can

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Speaker 1: be good. I've had some encounters. I like to do

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Speaker 1: it because it's you know, I like to always be

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Speaker 1: able to check that box which says I did everything

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Speaker 1: I possibly could. Um. But this year I realized, sometimes

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Speaker 1: you gotta make sure your priorities are right. So I

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Speaker 1: came in mid day and helped out more. I took

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Speaker 1: a few days off the middle to help out. And

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Speaker 1: I think that moving forward, I'm going to continue to

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Speaker 1: do that and maybe do it a little more. UM.

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Speaker 1: Because you you always say it, and I've always given

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Speaker 1: you a hard time about it, but this is a

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Speaker 1: selfish thing we do, and I think there's an interesting

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Speaker 1: balance you have to find as a as a dad

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Speaker 1: between giving it your all. If this is something that

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Speaker 1: matters you, you want to give it your all and

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Speaker 1: work hard, but at the same time balancing it with

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Speaker 1: your family and uh and so yeah, that was that

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Speaker 1: was something for me. And I will tell you though,

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Speaker 1: that taking that break. I took a couple of days

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Speaker 1: one weekend off and stayed home with the family. That

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Speaker 1: little break was a huge help with the grind, Like

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Speaker 1: giving myself a little break also revitalized me and maybe

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Speaker 1: maybe a more effective hunter over the final five six days, um,

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Speaker 1: because I wasn't so tired. So there might be something

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Speaker 1: to you know, saying all right, it's okay to sleep

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Speaker 1: in today, because if you sleep in that one day,

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Speaker 1: maybe it gives you that boost that gets you that

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Speaker 1: much more confident, that much stronger, that more more focused

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Speaker 1: for the rest of your trip. Um. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: That's something I started to think more and more about.

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Speaker 1: I was usually like hunt all fourteen days NonStop. Maybe

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Speaker 1: I'm maybe I'm just getting old, or maybe I'm getting

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Speaker 1: smarter or something. I'm not sure, but there might be

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Speaker 1: something to keeping your edge um being more important than

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Speaker 1: just being there every spare second. I don't know, maybe

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Speaker 1: you could make there and the other way too. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: these are things I've been thinking about. Yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's it's just what part of life you're in, right

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Speaker 1: Like for me, I got three kids and I got

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Speaker 1: a wife, and um, their life doesn't stop when I

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Speaker 1: go and when I go away. So I did the

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Speaker 1: same thing, you know, I took a afternoon in a

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Speaker 1: morning off and during the snowstorm that happened, came back

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Speaker 1: up here. Um, let my wife go and do the

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Speaker 1: event that she needed to go do next morning, got

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Speaker 1: the kids ready for school, took you know, took the

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Speaker 1: wife and the youngest son out for dinner or out

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Speaker 1: for breakfast. And then I came back and started up again.

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Speaker 1: And I think not only did she appreciate it, but

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Speaker 1: I you know, you start you start talking about checking boxes.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I felt good then going back and

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Speaker 1: saying I checked the box. I showed her that she

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Speaker 1: and the family are more important than hunting at that

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Speaker 1: time right there, right And now I can go back

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Speaker 1: and I feel confident that she's not gonna be near

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Speaker 1: as upset with me when you know, for week number

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Speaker 1: two going into week number two, and I don't know,

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Speaker 1: I felt I felt good about myself at that point. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean I think it's I think you mean you

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Speaker 1: hit the nail on the head. It's a new phase

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Speaker 1: in life for us. Um, I'm a little bit behind you,

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Speaker 1: but getting getting there and starting to understand where you're

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Speaker 1: coming from more and more often. And um, it's a transition.

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Speaker 1: It's something different, a whole new wrench that's thrown into

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Speaker 1: to RUT plans and RUT strategies and and all that.

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Speaker 1: But it's for the best possible reason, right, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't like to have my rut hunt screwed up

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Speaker 1: for anything more than forgetting to see my family. So

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Speaker 1: that's that's a pretty good reason to change the plans.

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Speaker 1: But let's let's start back at the beginning. Let's break

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Speaker 1: down how the hunts actually went. Um, because you and

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Speaker 1: I both found some success, but we both had some

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Speaker 1: struggles along the way. Uh. Let's talk through the highlights

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Speaker 1: of your rut caation first, maybe and uh and break

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Speaker 1: down some some things you have figured out along the

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Speaker 1: way that you learn some things that led to your

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Speaker 1: success and all that. Yeah, So it's kind of funny,

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Speaker 1: remember me talking to you this summer and earlier in

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Speaker 1: the fall where I was like, man, I'm not even

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Speaker 1: gonna start hunting until week number two of November because

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00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:55,080
Speaker 1: you're because of that buck, right, because of that buck. Yeah, well,

345
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Speaker 1: I thought all that went out the window right November one,

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Speaker 1: the evening of November one, I woke up, you know,

347
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Speaker 1: here at home, got ready left. November one was day

348
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Speaker 1: one of my rep vacation. And if anything, this year

349
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,880
Speaker 1: solidified that next year. And I know there's a whole

350
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,919
Speaker 1: bunch of different variables that go into this decision. But

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Speaker 1: next year, I I know for a fact that as

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Speaker 1: hard as it's gonna be, I I need to stay

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Speaker 1: out of the woods, like November one through the fourth

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Speaker 1: and and and just I would rather have those four

355
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Speaker 1: days on the back end to try to catch one

356
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Speaker 1: of these giant zombies that are walking you know that,

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Speaker 1: you know, walking through the timber, not even paying attention.

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Speaker 1: Then have a fresh you know, just watch a two

359
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,080
Speaker 1: year old praade basically like what I did this year. Interesting. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: So I really do think that next year it's probably

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Speaker 1: not even gonna start for me until my birthday November

362
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,280
Speaker 1: and grind it out until Thanksgiving and and and go

363
00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:07,320
Speaker 1: put the time on the back end of the rut

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Speaker 1: instead of the front end. It's an interesting situation you

365
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Speaker 1: guys have there in Iowa because you don't have a

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00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 1: gun season opens until December, so you get to hunt

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Speaker 1: that whole rut um. I've always been really jealous of

368
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Speaker 1: that because here it ends September four for US gun

369
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,720
Speaker 1: season opens, and then you know, you can of course

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Speaker 1: hunt through that. But it's very, very it's totally different.

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Speaker 1: The normal dear behavior ends on the fifteenth and then

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Speaker 1: it just becomes deer reacting to seven thousand hunters or

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Speaker 1: whatever it is. So I've never got to experience that

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Speaker 1: kind of that period of the year hunting here in

375
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Speaker 1: Michigan like you have. And I've heard and I've hunted

376
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Speaker 1: in Ohio a little bit during that time period and

377
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,920
Speaker 1: seen that it can be pretty darn good. Um, So

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Speaker 1: it makes sense from that perspective what you're saying. Yeah,

379
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Speaker 1: but it was cool to go see, you know, to

380
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Speaker 1: to just have encounters because the very first evening I

381
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Speaker 1: went into I had a perfect wind to go into

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Speaker 1: the best possible what what I'm gonna call, you know,

383
00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:13,119
Speaker 1: one A one B. It's it's the one A betting area.

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00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,359
Speaker 1: It's one of the best betting areas on the properties

385
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Speaker 1: that I hunt, and Um, I got what you would

386
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Speaker 1: call kind of down wind of it, UM, and just

387
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,719
Speaker 1: wanted to see what was working in It's it's this

388
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:31,280
Speaker 1: giant rectangle that sits on the top of a ridge

389
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,120
Speaker 1: with a couple of other smaller, smaller ridges leading up

390
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,200
Speaker 1: to it, right and Uh, that's where I wanted to

391
00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,040
Speaker 1: start off, and instantly I got in that night. UM,

392
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Speaker 1: and I just wanna reiterate how important and how much

393
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,280
Speaker 1: focus I put on exit and entry stray. You know,

394
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,920
Speaker 1: access was so key to the encounters that I had

395
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Speaker 1: this year and the success that I had this year.

396
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: You know, having to go out of your way, taking

397
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:05,240
Speaker 1: your time, really thinking through uh kind of led me

398
00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,439
Speaker 1: to put my stands in the right spot because I

399
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: had you know, I paid attention to the access. You've

400
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,919
Speaker 1: got to go take that extra step and go around

401
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:19,160
Speaker 1: or jay hook in or walk through some nasty creek

402
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,600
Speaker 1: bottom or whatever just to get to these spots. I

403
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,919
Speaker 1: think that is one of the key factors into the

404
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 1: success that I've had in the last four years, is

405
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: just access and not just blowing through the timber and

406
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,359
Speaker 1: taking the long way if needed. You know what I mean. Yeah,

407
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 1: so how do you How did you access this betting air? Yeah?

408
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,920
Speaker 1: So this is kind of foreshadowing too, because eventually it's

409
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:43,680
Speaker 1: the tree that I shot the deer out of this year.

410
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,679
Speaker 1: And so I park um in this little grass field,

411
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,119
Speaker 1: A walk a fence line in dropped down to the

412
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:57,320
Speaker 1: lowest point um basically a drainage between two ridges, and

413
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: I walk that drainage in and then take a hard

414
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,639
Speaker 1: ninety degree basically left up and walk straight to my

415
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,680
Speaker 1: tree stand. And it's a southwest wind, so my wind

416
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,919
Speaker 1: is kind of blowing down into the drainage and I

417
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,120
Speaker 1: have this I don't know if you follow my Instagram story,

418
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,679
Speaker 1: but uh, the title of that stand was kind of

419
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:25,280
Speaker 1: like risk verse reward. And as my scent would drop

420
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: down into this the lower spot of this drainage, the

421
00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 1: deer would kind of work that top third of the

422
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 1: ridge and come into this betting area from kind of

423
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:40,520
Speaker 1: from both sides. So I was hunting the the I

424
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 1: guess the north side of it, the top side of

425
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 1: this betting area. And what's cool about this betting area,

426
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 1: it's it's this giant rectangle, right, So I want you

427
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,119
Speaker 1: to take that rectangle and I want you to chop

428
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,440
Speaker 1: it into you know, chop it into three equal pieces.

429
00:23:56,119 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 1: The centerpiece of this betting area is almost hollow. There's

430
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,679
Speaker 1: two big oak trees that canopy out, so there's not

431
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: a lot of growth um on the forest floor there.

432
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 1: So it kind of opens up and it's it becomes

433
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,719
Speaker 1: this staging area for the deer before they work their

434
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 1: way through the bottom part of the betting area and

435
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,239
Speaker 1: head to uh, you know, out for the night. You know,

436
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 1: they go to an egg field. And once I found

437
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: this spot, I was just like, oh my god, now

438
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,280
Speaker 1: it's just a waiting game, right. The deer are there.

439
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 1: And the first night that I set up in this tree,

440
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 1: I saw seven bucks ranging from one years old to

441
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 1: possibly a four year old. It was hard for me

442
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 1: to tell, but he was a big nine pointer and

443
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,120
Speaker 1: and there was you know, a handful of doze in there.

444
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 1: And the first night is just a bunch of two

445
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: and three year old snort weeason at each other. It

446
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:01,159
Speaker 1: was awesome way to kick off the rut. Uh and

447
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,200
Speaker 1: the deer would just work through, you know, they'd work

448
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 1: through the area, they'd go to that staging area. They

449
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,119
Speaker 1: mill around a little bit, leave some scent you know,

450
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 1: they do some scrapes scent check. These does posture up

451
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 1: on each other and then as the evening starts to

452
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 1: fade away, they work their way out, which was awesome

453
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,199
Speaker 1: because then I didn't have to worry about staying in

454
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:27,320
Speaker 1: the tree stand longer because these deer were, um, you know,

455
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 1: these deer were coming sticking around right. And that's why

456
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: I love hunting staging areas because if you're hunting a

457
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 1: field edge at dark, as you're getting down out of

458
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,679
Speaker 1: the tree, here comes the deer. Right, I'm off the

459
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,440
Speaker 1: field edge into this, you know, through a betting area,

460
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 1: already into this staging area, like this staging area within

461
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,400
Speaker 1: a betting area, and the deer are working their way.

462
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,520
Speaker 1: So all I have to do is drop down out

463
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,439
Speaker 1: of my tree, go back to the bottom that I

464
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 1: walked in, walk the bottom all the way out to

465
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,119
Speaker 1: my truck, and it's just it's like it's just the

466
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,640
Speaker 1: perfect access entry and exit, you know what I mean.

467
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:10,119
Speaker 1: So so that tree stand stayed there because I had

468
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,880
Speaker 1: to take the sticks down, but that tree stands stayed

469
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 1: there because I was like, this is money. If they

470
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 1: come through. Uh, it's kind of fun. It kind of

471
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 1: pinches in tight where this opening is under this big

472
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,320
Speaker 1: canopy of this oak, and uh, my shot is going

473
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,480
Speaker 1: to arrange anywhere from fifteen to thirty two yards. And

474
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,399
Speaker 1: that's where I was like, okay, perfect, perfect, And I

475
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: hunted the backside of that a different angle on a

476
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 1: different wind of that betting area and saw some good

477
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 1: activity too, but not as good as that particular that

478
00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 1: particular spot. So and then from there that first night

479
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,320
Speaker 1: was awesome, and I had really high expectations going into

480
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: that the rest of the week. But what happened was

481
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,919
Speaker 1: is then you realize how much of a factor that

482
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 1: standing grain played on the rest of it, and it

483
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 1: just became doze and two year olds. I mean, that's

484
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 1: all I saw. For I had a couple encounters with

485
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: some three year olds that I decided I didn't want

486
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: to pass, but uh or that I that I did

487
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 1: want to pass because I had a long time to

488
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,080
Speaker 1: Oh my god, there's a big buck. Okay, okay, cool?

489
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:21,479
Speaker 1: What is he? What is he? Do I know him?

490
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 1: Do I recognize him? What is he? What is he doing? Okay? Man,

491
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 1: he looks good. Okay, it looks like a three year old.

492
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 1: His legs are long, legs look long. You know that

493
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to really observe some of these

494
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 1: deer um through the buyos. And then when they did

495
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,320
Speaker 1: work their way through, I was like, Okay, well I

496
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,400
Speaker 1: don't you know. You know, you know how we talked

497
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,879
Speaker 1: about it. He didn't make me go whoa, Yeah, you

498
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 1: know what I mean? So um. Other than and other

499
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 1: than that, there was hardly any sign on the property.

500
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,480
Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't run into hardly any scrapes at

501
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: all on this property. I mean I did, but not

502
00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:01,960
Speaker 1: like previous years. Man. Uh on the bottom, this was

503
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: a corn ear on the farm, and on the farm

504
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,240
Speaker 1: the corn was gone. They combined it and I saw

505
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: a ton of deer in the picked corn fields. But

506
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:16,040
Speaker 1: I'll tell you this, there was hardly any sign along

507
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 1: the the field edges this year, which blew my mind.

508
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: So another kind of man, what is going on? And

509
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:25,400
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it had to do with

510
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,240
Speaker 1: the deer were in the corn a lot, a lot.

511
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 1: I gotta believe a lot of people had similar experiences

512
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,880
Speaker 1: with that standing corn. We had the same issue here

513
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 1: still have it. Uh so much moisture, so wet, so

514
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: much rain that kept farmers from me get that corn out.

515
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 1: I still have standing corn all around most of my

516
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: spots right now. Yeah. Absolutely, And you know, based off

517
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 1: of people responding to my Instagram story, you nailed it.

518
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 1: They especially here in Iowa, and I think at one

519
00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,480
Speaker 1: point they said only forty of the cry ops were

520
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 1: out or the corn was out in the state. And

521
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: I think that was last week, early last week. So

522
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 1: I'm sure some some more's come out since then. But

523
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: I mean, it can really affect and I'm talking about

524
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 1: guys from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and northern Missouri, you know,

525
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 1: saying saying this, and that's for the most part, similar

526
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: terrain throughout you know, throughout all that, so um a

527
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 1: lot of people were fighting standing crops and um. Other

528
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 1: than that, you know, I just I started a I

529
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 1: started my routine. Right I started. I had a truck

530
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,160
Speaker 1: full of tree stands, and so when I would do

531
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 1: in my running guns, I would throw a tree stand

532
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:50,040
Speaker 1: up and what I thought was a really good area,

533
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: really good access, really good stand location, and then I

534
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 1: would leave it up, tear down the sticks, and move

535
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 1: to the next spot right and really try to hone

536
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: in on where the majority of the deer were moving,

537
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:11,280
Speaker 1: and and most of it was up high where my shooters,

538
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: my quote unquote hitlisters had been historically moving last year, right.

539
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,520
Speaker 1: And so I go through this routine of checking trail

540
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,880
Speaker 1: cameras and there is nothing on trail cameras, right. And

541
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 1: I hate to put a lot of weight on trail

542
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: camera data, but historically, if I'm catching, I got I

543
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 1: got some decent pinch points on the farm. So if

544
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,960
Speaker 1: they're not on one of these trail cameras throughout a

545
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: four or five day period, they're not on the farm,

546
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: right now, that's just how I that's how I feel, right,

547
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: And so it just wasn't So I decided to I

548
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 1: need to give this part of the farm a break.

549
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 1: This was like three or four days into it. Five

550
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 1: days into it, and then I decided to go down

551
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,560
Speaker 1: to a different part of the problem pretty just to

552
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: see what was moving. And it was another one of

553
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: the best betting areas on the farm, and just sat

554
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,880
Speaker 1: up and kind of in it's a crick crossing, but

555
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 1: I can I can see a long ways on both sides.

556
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 1: It's not a field edge set, but it's a it's

557
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 1: like a it's like a staging area on on top

558
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 1: of a betting area that I can see into one

559
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 1: of the betting areas, And sure enough, this is where

560
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 1: all the deer we're at there, all in the in

561
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 1: the picked picked corn. This is where I passed to

562
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 1: three year olds. This is where I passed or um

563
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,080
Speaker 1: a really small antword four year old. This is where

564
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:39,840
Speaker 1: I saw the first shooter of the year. But it

565
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 1: was like a thousand yards out and I only saw

566
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: him through my nose, and so I just, you know,

567
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 1: decided I needed to give that, give that a shot

568
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,360
Speaker 1: before I counted everything else, because you got to know

569
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 1: on the properties that you're hunting, you kind of you

570
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 1: got you gotta kind of know what is going on

571
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: on everything, right. But but I realized that the caliber

572
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 1: of the deer we're not really what I wanted. So

573
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 1: I had to then focus back on. So basically I

574
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: hunted off. I hunted off of the east side of

575
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 1: the farm through some attention on the south side of

576
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,720
Speaker 1: the farm, you know, a morning and afternoon another afternoon,

577
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 1: just to see what the deer movement was doing. A

578
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,959
Speaker 1: lot of does but also a lot of two year

579
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,680
Speaker 1: olds and a couple of three year olds. Saw one

580
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 1: four year old out in the distance, not necessarily the

581
00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 1: caliber that I was looking for, And then I could

582
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 1: then I knew, you know, okay, I'm doing the right

583
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 1: thing by staying on the east side of the farm

584
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 1: because the caliber of the deer that I want to

585
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:48,320
Speaker 1: go after are not on the west side of the

586
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: farm either. So then it just kind of became it's

587
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,280
Speaker 1: it's time to just wait him out. Right. You've you've

588
00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:00,440
Speaker 1: kind of gone through your stand rotation. Uh, You've looked

589
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,960
Speaker 1: for that deer movement, You've got your stands in the

590
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 1: best location. And then now I can chop my farm

591
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 1: in half and go into the east side of the

592
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 1: farm and only really pay attention. So now basically what

593
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: I've done is just cut the acreage in half almost

594
00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: and hold on. I want to make sure I got

595
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 1: this right. The side that you decided to focus on

596
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,080
Speaker 1: was the side where the picked corn fields was nearest to,

597
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 1: or the side of the standing corn, the side with

598
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: the standing corn, right, So do you think that most

599
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:35,520
Speaker 1: of the deer activity was over by the picked corn,

600
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 1: but you we're seeing the mature bucks on the standing

601
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 1: corn because that was just better cover over there. They

602
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 1: felt more comfortable on that in that area. So I

603
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: had at this point, I had yet to see any

604
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: mature bucks on the standing corn side, but the caliber

605
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: of the deer that I saw on the picked corn

606
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 1: side were not what what I was going at, even

607
00:33:58,120 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 1: though they were a four year old. Like I passed

608
00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 1: the one four year old, and I think he was

609
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 1: like one. He had a really huge body, but just

610
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,200
Speaker 1: not really what I was, you know. He didn't make

611
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:13,799
Speaker 1: me go up right, you know. So so it all

612
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 1: kind of leads into this one moment where I I'm like,

613
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 1: all right, I need this. So I go through this

614
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: the six days and this is all kind of happen.

615
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,919
Speaker 1: You know. I'm telling this story and I'm not going

616
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,880
Speaker 1: through it day by day because there are days where

617
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,439
Speaker 1: there there there are mornings where I'm not seeing any deer.

618
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,759
Speaker 1: Where there's an afternoon where I'm sitting and I didn't

619
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,239
Speaker 1: see a deer. Maybe I saw a spike come through

620
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:42,319
Speaker 1: or a two year old come through. But I'm I'm

621
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,360
Speaker 1: starting to you know, I'm starting to hone in on

622
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:48,839
Speaker 1: the deer movement on the where my headlisters have been

623
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,719
Speaker 1: historically right, and I set up on the you know,

624
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:55,120
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, I need an observation sit tonight. We

625
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:57,439
Speaker 1: got some fresh you know, we got some snow coming

626
00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 1: in tonight. Um, and I'm gonna get a tree stand

627
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,000
Speaker 1: in here, because historically the snow comes knocks a ton

628
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,400
Speaker 1: of leaves off. And if there's snow on the ground,

629
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,879
Speaker 1: you can see forever in the timber, right, you can.

630
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 1: Movement is really easy to spot out when you have

631
00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 1: a brown dot walking across the white background. Yeah, so

632
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:23,280
Speaker 1: I set up a stand that Um, that evening, I am,

633
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:27,480
Speaker 1: you know, watching you know, a couple two year olds chase,

634
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,399
Speaker 1: a couple of young doughs around, probably weren't hot. Um,

635
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:34,640
Speaker 1: still seeing dough groups, you know, maybe one or two

636
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:39,759
Speaker 1: individual uh, you know, stand alone does go back home,

637
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,279
Speaker 1: turn around, and and this is the coldest morning of everything.

638
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,799
Speaker 1: And I'm I'm I walk into the tree stand. It's

639
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:53,400
Speaker 1: already set up, and I'm literally I get there an

640
00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:57,080
Speaker 1: hour before daylight. I'm bundled up with all of my gear,

641
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 1: I was wearing everything. Uh, and it's so cold that

642
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,160
Speaker 1: I pulled my stocking cap over my face. And I'm

643
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:09,400
Speaker 1: not even looking at this point. Yeah, the sun's just

644
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,480
Speaker 1: coming up, and I'm I peek out every once in

645
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 1: a while, I'm looking around, and I was I started

646
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,000
Speaker 1: to shiver. So I'm like, this is typically what happens

647
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,839
Speaker 1: in in uh other years, where if I rattle, I'll

648
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,520
Speaker 1: warm up a little bit. So I did this. So

649
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:30,560
Speaker 1: I did this blind rattling sequence just to just to

650
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 1: kind of warm up, get the blood moving again, stood up,

651
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:41,759
Speaker 1: cracked the antlers together, and um this like two year

652
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: old one class comes in and he just kind of

653
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 1: mills around a little bit and hangs out, and then

654
00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 1: he works his way up the ridge. And this is

655
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:57,840
Speaker 1: here's the cool part. You know. For every time that

656
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:00,840
Speaker 1: me and you talk about how dear you terrain, we

657
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:05,920
Speaker 1: talk about how dear um you know, use the wind

658
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,239
Speaker 1: to their advantage and all this stuff. For every time

659
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 1: that we say that, I can show you an example

660
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,520
Speaker 1: like this, in an example like what I'm about to

661
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:18,719
Speaker 1: say of deer having the wind to their back, you

662
00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:21,719
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So, yes, it's it's good to

663
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 1: know that. You know, hey, deer like to quarter into

664
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 1: the wind, or they walk to the top third of

665
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 1: a of a ridge, or they do all these different things.

666
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,160
Speaker 1: And that's a good start. It's a tendency. It's a tendency, right,

667
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:42,480
Speaker 1: not right, exactly exactly. And these the deer, we're working

668
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,640
Speaker 1: these ridges with the wind to their back, so as

669
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:48,680
Speaker 1: they're going up there, they're relying on their eyes to

670
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:52,040
Speaker 1: see what's in front of them. But there so I'm

671
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 1: sitting on the on a south on a let's see

672
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,040
Speaker 1: a north facing ridge at this point with a north wind.

673
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,040
Speaker 1: So I'm looking at my topple map right here, and

674
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 1: it's blowing into a drainage right So at some point

675
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:08,920
Speaker 1: this deer is gonna cross my sense stream, but it's

676
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:13,640
Speaker 1: gonna be so far down that, you know, hopefully, you know,

677
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,920
Speaker 1: with help from the osonics and with help from him

678
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,480
Speaker 1: just being a long ways away. If he does catch

679
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,600
Speaker 1: my set, he's not gonna go bananas. He's just gonna,

680
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 1: you know, trot off or whatever. And the reason I

681
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:31,560
Speaker 1: sat in this particular ridge was they logged the tops.

682
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:36,239
Speaker 1: That has been a couple of years ago, three years ago,

683
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,640
Speaker 1: I think it was. And now we have this growth

684
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:41,480
Speaker 1: in here. It's about head high, six ft high of

685
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:45,879
Speaker 1: just thorns, and and what it's done is it's created edge,

686
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:48,360
Speaker 1: this giant edge on the top of this ridge, and

687
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,520
Speaker 1: the deer all stay down because they don't want to

688
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 1: walk on the top and they don't want to walk

689
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,279
Speaker 1: through this thickness. It's created, created this edge where it's

690
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,640
Speaker 1: almost just like a hallway that they walk through. And

691
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:02,960
Speaker 1: that's what this two year old did, and that's what

692
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that as they're coming out of the north

693
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,279
Speaker 1: side to check this south side of the farm where

694
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:14,960
Speaker 1: all the standing corns at, I'm hoping that they use this,

695
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:17,919
Speaker 1: this ridge and this travel system. Well this and you've

696
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,120
Speaker 1: been on the farm before. It's just a bunch of ridges, big,

697
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 1: just big timber and big timber yep. And so I'm

698
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:29,120
Speaker 1: hoping that this is where a majority of the movement

699
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:32,160
Speaker 1: has gone. I'm or has been over the years, and

700
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,480
Speaker 1: and this year I'm gonna sit on this ridge. So

701
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,400
Speaker 1: I'm bundled up. That deer works by, and all of

702
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,200
Speaker 1: a sudden I hear something raking, a tree like not

703
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,000
Speaker 1: a squirrel jumping around. And it's about seven thirty in

704
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:49,479
Speaker 1: the morning. Sun's coming up, shining right, it's bright day,

705
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:53,880
Speaker 1: you know, one of those no cloud mornings. And I

706
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 1: hear raking, and I stand up and I make my

707
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,200
Speaker 1: way around and put the binos up, and the there's

708
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 1: gnarly Charlie on on the second ridge, and I got

709
00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:08,040
Speaker 1: a about a thirty second look at him before he

710
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: started walking up the ridge towards uh, towards the standing cornfield.

711
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: And this is a morning hunt, right, so you're you're

712
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:21,360
Speaker 1: thinking that maybe, and my my thought was that hopefully

713
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,440
Speaker 1: I'm gonna catch these deer coming out of the cornfield

714
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 1: down back to a betting area. And that's why I'm

715
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:32,000
Speaker 1: hunting the north wind. So the they're gonna come, they're

716
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,720
Speaker 1: gonna come at a different angle and still have still

717
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,000
Speaker 1: have the wind to their advantage, but they're coming the

718
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 1: opposite way. All the deer were coming from the north

719
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:44,240
Speaker 1: to the south on a morning hunt. And Gnarlie, Charlie

720
00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,120
Speaker 1: is working his way up that the next ridge to me,

721
00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 1: and he's working his way. Um, let's see here working

722
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,360
Speaker 1: his way up up this ridge, which is he's walking

723
00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:59,279
Speaker 1: south with the north wind. And I got binos on him,

724
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,640
Speaker 1: so I'm like, Okay, that puts a dot on a

725
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:06,239
Speaker 1: map that's a physical location. Now I can't go in there.

726
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:08,879
Speaker 1: Hold on, hold on, hold on. Before you go any further,

727
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,160
Speaker 1: you need to tell me about this moment because you've

728
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,319
Speaker 1: been talking about Narlie Charlie for two years now you've

729
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:18,520
Speaker 1: been looking at these pictures of this pretty darn cool. Dear.

730
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,160
Speaker 1: You talked about this year even last year for a

731
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:23,799
Speaker 1: moment you said it might be this kind of year,

732
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,040
Speaker 1: and then this year you said it's gonna be hard

733
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 1: to you know, maybe I'm gonna have a year or

734
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,800
Speaker 1: I really chase this one buck um to a degree.

735
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,600
Speaker 1: At least now you finally see him in person. Yeah,

736
00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:36,719
Speaker 1: that's the first time you've seen in person, right, yep,

737
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 1: first time I've ever seen that, dear. And what was

738
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 1: that like? It was? I'll be honest, I was so

739
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:48,400
Speaker 1: cold that my brain. My brain wasn't thinking like yippie,

740
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:50,759
Speaker 1: I got him. My brain my brain was just like

741
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 1: strategy mode. Right. I think I texted you and I

742
00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 1: said I saw him, right, And then I think I

743
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:01,279
Speaker 1: was more excited you were than maybe because I was

744
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:06,200
Speaker 1: exclamation points. Yes, yeah, dude, it was fun. I mean,

745
00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:09,239
Speaker 1: it was awesome seeing a deer of that caliber um.

746
00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,840
Speaker 1: And of course I couldn't rattle at him or I

747
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:17,759
Speaker 1: couldn't call to him because he was he was down

748
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,120
Speaker 1: WINDO me. If he would have came, if I would

749
00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:22,640
Speaker 1: have done that, he would have came all the way

750
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:24,920
Speaker 1: around you know he would have had to come all

751
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,680
Speaker 1: the way around and eventually would have crossed through my

752
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,719
Speaker 1: um my sent stream, and I didn't want to risk it.

753
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,759
Speaker 1: I didn't want to risk blowing him out of the farm, right,

754
00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 1: So I watched him disappear, and I stand there for

755
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:44,600
Speaker 1: another five minutes basically just eg lying my ridge, hoping,

756
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:48,359
Speaker 1: hoping he circles around the drainage and comes back down,

757
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: maybe just on a cruise, or to see if he

758
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:55,840
Speaker 1: pops up on the second, the third ridge over and

759
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:58,680
Speaker 1: and I'm just trying to just trying to observe everything

760
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:01,040
Speaker 1: to see if he's kicking a dough up, if he's

761
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:04,839
Speaker 1: following a dough whatever. But it looked like he was alone, right,

762
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:07,719
Speaker 1: So my mind goes to strategy mode. And now I'm

763
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 1: accents and I'm thinking, I'm looking on my phone. Um

764
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 1: you know, I'm looking at on X about Okay, where

765
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:17,160
Speaker 1: can I set every Every little ridge top or spur

766
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:21,560
Speaker 1: ridge in this area is now getting uh, basically a

767
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:25,799
Speaker 1: test run on it. Okay, tomorrow's too. This afternoon's wind

768
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,919
Speaker 1: is going to be here Tomorrow. Tomorrow's wind is gonna

769
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:31,680
Speaker 1: be here. And so what I did, just like I

770
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:34,000
Speaker 1: did last year, I was like, Okay, I found his

771
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:36,920
Speaker 1: shed here, I had a sighting of him here, I

772
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 1: got trail camera pictures of him here, and I basically

773
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:45,000
Speaker 1: drew a line between where the last trail camera pictures

774
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:49,640
Speaker 1: that I've had of him, which was November thirty one

775
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,560
Speaker 1: or excuse me, uh October thirty one, in the middle

776
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:56,440
Speaker 1: of the night, and to where he was, and looked

777
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:02,200
Speaker 1: at these travel like the travel patterns between there, and

778
00:44:02,239 --> 00:44:05,360
Speaker 1: instead of decide, you know, instead of deciding, hey, I

779
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:09,960
Speaker 1: want to hunt right here where he's at currently, I

780
00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:12,760
Speaker 1: kind of thought, I'm gonna sloop all the way around

781
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:17,120
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna hunt now the south facing ridge in

782
00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:20,960
Speaker 1: hopes that I'll see him on the north side again.

783
00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,120
Speaker 1: And not necessarily, you know, potentially I could kill him

784
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,879
Speaker 1: in the in a spot like this, but I just

785
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,799
Speaker 1: want to get a secondary sighting of him and know

786
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:35,240
Speaker 1: where these other little travel corridors are and and um

787
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:40,200
Speaker 1: and and in having this, uh what am I trying

788
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:43,480
Speaker 1: to say here? Uh? Where my buck was traveling last year,

789
00:44:44,719 --> 00:44:47,640
Speaker 1: predict where he was going to be exactly trying to

790
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:50,319
Speaker 1: write And as we all know, that doesn't work so

791
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:54,080
Speaker 1: uh every time. So I'm just trying to think of

792
00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: where this is moving, because um, there's another little farm

793
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:01,160
Speaker 1: on top of this ridge, um, in between these standing

794
00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:03,919
Speaker 1: corn fields. And I thought to myself, Man, I don't

795
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,680
Speaker 1: think he's gonna go out there in the morning in

796
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:11,239
Speaker 1: broad daylight and expose himself, right, I think he's just

797
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:14,160
Speaker 1: gonna hug these ridges on on these the edge of

798
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,000
Speaker 1: the timber where it meets the standing corn in this

799
00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:19,719
Speaker 1: egg fields, and he's just gonna cruise around looking for

800
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:22,359
Speaker 1: a dough to come back to, you know, to go

801
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:24,560
Speaker 1: or come back or whatever. So I stayed in there

802
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,359
Speaker 1: for quite a while, and then finally I got down,

803
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:30,200
Speaker 1: went back to my truck, went back home, and just

804
00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:35,719
Speaker 1: studied the area. And then basically the next uh that afternoon,

805
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:39,240
Speaker 1: I dropped down in on the opposite side of the ridge,

806
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:43,960
Speaker 1: further east on a really main travel corridor, hoping to

807
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:46,920
Speaker 1: get him, you know, get a sighting of him, or

808
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,600
Speaker 1: have him work where all these doughs were coming through

809
00:45:50,239 --> 00:45:56,279
Speaker 1: on on a different set that I saw oh three

810
00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:59,360
Speaker 1: days previous. Right, I didn't see him, but I you know,

811
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,239
Speaker 1: all these do as we're working through, And I said, okay,

812
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:05,040
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get in shooting lane with all these shooting

813
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 1: range of where all these does are at. And basically

814
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:13,520
Speaker 1: I dropped down off the south facing ridge and caught

815
00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:16,399
Speaker 1: them coming out of the corn field working their way through.

816
00:46:16,719 --> 00:46:19,439
Speaker 1: Well that worked. A whole bunch of does came through.

817
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:24,440
Speaker 1: A couple of bucks came through that night going to food.

818
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:27,160
Speaker 1: And then the next morning I hunted that again and

819
00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:31,080
Speaker 1: they were coming away from food and no other sightings.

820
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:33,880
Speaker 1: So that time of year, anything could happen, right, he

821
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,760
Speaker 1: could hook up with a dough. He just was cruising

822
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:39,080
Speaker 1: in that area and he decided to go. You know,

823
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:43,120
Speaker 1: he zigged when I zagged, and and now it just becomes,

824
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:47,720
Speaker 1: you know, hunt that location again. Well now we're talking.

825
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:52,879
Speaker 1: Now we're going back to that uh, that betting area

826
00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:55,040
Speaker 1: that we discussed earlier where I left the tree stand

827
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:59,279
Speaker 1: at right A one A, right betting area one A.

828
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:03,640
Speaker 1: So now I'm just like, Okay, I saw him. Now

829
00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:07,960
Speaker 1: I can even chop more area off this farm because

830
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,680
Speaker 1: historically he doesn't go through the main pinch on the farm.

831
00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:15,279
Speaker 1: So now I'm just chopping hundred more acres off the farm.

832
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:17,880
Speaker 1: And I'm like, okay, now I'm I can really focus

833
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:24,160
Speaker 1: on this. I want to say acres and really focus

834
00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:26,399
Speaker 1: on it, check trail cameras, bring more. I brought more

835
00:47:26,480 --> 00:47:31,960
Speaker 1: trail cameras in, and hopefully get to a point where, um,

836
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:35,280
Speaker 1: I'm just you know, uh, Bill Winkie talks about casting

837
00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:38,839
Speaker 1: a net with trail cameras and then bringing all these

838
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:43,520
Speaker 1: other trail cameras in and and and basically just tightening

839
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:47,520
Speaker 1: down on this bucks area and hopefully you start, even

840
00:47:47,560 --> 00:47:49,360
Speaker 1: though it's the rut, you can still see a pattern

841
00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:52,239
Speaker 1: of where these deer moving and that that's kind of

842
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:54,400
Speaker 1: what I was hoping to do. And I think, I

843
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,160
Speaker 1: know we've talked about this in the past, but studies

844
00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:00,399
Speaker 1: have shown that that is true that tip of these

845
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 1: bucks will have a handful of hot spots, usually doe

846
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:05,239
Speaker 1: betting areas or doe feating areas that they will kind

847
00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:08,279
Speaker 1: of rotate through as they're checking for hot doughs during

848
00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:11,960
Speaker 1: the rut. So it might not be as clear as

849
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,000
Speaker 1: an early season bed defeating pattern where they're going from

850
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:17,200
Speaker 1: A to B, A to B, but during the rut

851
00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:20,960
Speaker 1: they do kind of circle, sometimes in varying ways, but

852
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:22,719
Speaker 1: they'll go to A to B, two C, two D

853
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:24,880
Speaker 1: too E, then from A to B two C, D

854
00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:27,319
Speaker 1: to E and they'll kind of slowly work in that

855
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:31,239
Speaker 1: kind of way. At least I've I've come to see that, right, Yeah,

856
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:35,440
Speaker 1: absolutely absolutely, they go through this, you know, they it's

857
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:38,919
Speaker 1: almost like they they're doing the same thing that I'm

858
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:44,000
Speaker 1: doing there, except their locations are the betting areas within

859
00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:47,800
Speaker 1: or the dough groups within this range. So they're walking

860
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:50,920
Speaker 1: in a big circle basically until they find a dough

861
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 1: and they decide to chase the dough reader, come offer,

862
00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:57,839
Speaker 1: and then go back into that rotation again until they

863
00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:00,880
Speaker 1: find the next one. And that that's what I was

864
00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:06,080
Speaker 1: hoping that he was gonna start to do because last year, um,

865
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:08,080
Speaker 1: I got him on a handful of trail cameras in

866
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,520
Speaker 1: somewhat of a circle. Right, He hits a trail camera,

867
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:13,160
Speaker 1: and then a couple of days later he it's another one,

868
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:16,000
Speaker 1: and then maybe a day later it's another one. It's

869
00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:18,960
Speaker 1: all all within there. And so that was that triangle

870
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:23,759
Speaker 1: that I talked about, right, Uh, Remember I said I

871
00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:25,880
Speaker 1: had this triangle that I feel I'm gonna kill him.

872
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:29,319
Speaker 1: He's gonna be within there. And now I'm in this triangle, right,

873
00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:34,200
Speaker 1: And so I just really wanted to focus on the ridges,

874
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:37,360
Speaker 1: the travel corridors, the staging areas, the betting areas within

875
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:44,919
Speaker 1: this triangle, the zone zone YEP so on betting Area

876
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:48,239
Speaker 1: one A, I hunted the south side one morning and

877
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:52,919
Speaker 1: one afternoon and within this time frame, and he didn't

878
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:58,520
Speaker 1: show up. A couple other deer came through, and then

879
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:03,600
Speaker 1: I'd see it was November, and I'm just like, Okay,

880
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,160
Speaker 1: maybe he's gonna I had had a big wind shift.

881
00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:11,120
Speaker 1: We had like two days of uh northwest winds which

882
00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:15,280
Speaker 1: prevented me from hunting the north side of this betting area,

883
00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:19,200
Speaker 1: betting Area one A that I talked about, right, and

884
00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:22,840
Speaker 1: it had been and it had been like five or

885
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:25,840
Speaker 1: six days since I had hunted that stand because I

886
00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:28,720
Speaker 1: had other winds or I decided to check out different

887
00:50:28,719 --> 00:50:31,560
Speaker 1: parts of the farm. And now this wind shifted to

888
00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:35,400
Speaker 1: a south southwest, which opened the door for betting the

889
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:38,000
Speaker 1: north side of betting Area one A. And I'm like,

890
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:40,160
Speaker 1: I got I'm going in there. I gotta see if

891
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:44,240
Speaker 1: he's working in there. And so same part my truck,

892
00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:48,080
Speaker 1: same access route in and I get and get to

893
00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:50,640
Speaker 1: the base of my stand. I only put three sticks high,

894
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:53,399
Speaker 1: so I'm sitting at about twelve or thirteen feet right,

895
00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:56,239
Speaker 1: But I had an awesome back cover with this pine tree,

896
00:50:57,360 --> 00:51:01,640
Speaker 1: and I get too sticks up, getting ready to hang

897
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:06,359
Speaker 1: the third one, and there's a dough staring right at me,

898
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:11,160
Speaker 1: like right at me, and so I had to creep

899
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:16,600
Speaker 1: down back to the ground and she had to win.

900
00:51:16,840 --> 00:51:19,480
Speaker 1: So she really couldn't tell what I was. She's, you know,

901
00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:23,040
Speaker 1: trying to figure out what I am. And all of

902
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:27,640
Speaker 1: a sudden, this like one thirty class four year old

903
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:31,880
Speaker 1: just brap brab brap like starts chasing her around this

904
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:34,960
Speaker 1: betting area and and this is ground level within twenty

905
00:51:35,040 --> 00:51:39,359
Speaker 1: yards of me, and kicks up another dough and they

906
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:43,280
Speaker 1: kind of work their way away, which thank god, because

907
00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:44,839
Speaker 1: I was thinking I was gonna have to shoot this

908
00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:48,840
Speaker 1: dough just so she wouldn't bust out like low at me.

909
00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:53,359
Speaker 1: So thank god that buck came through. And I'd say,

910
00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:55,960
Speaker 1: is one thirty class? I think it was a nine

911
00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:59,040
Speaker 1: or ten or a A. I really couldn't tell. Um.

912
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:01,919
Speaker 1: I think I think city was an eight, but um,

913
00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:06,640
Speaker 1: he could have been something different. And so I get

914
00:52:06,719 --> 00:52:10,799
Speaker 1: up set up and instantly there's deer moving. I can

915
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,440
Speaker 1: see deer moving through through this these betting areas in

916
00:52:13,480 --> 00:52:18,560
Speaker 1: the staging area. Button buck comes through, spike buck comes through,

917
00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:24,200
Speaker 1: another like hundred ten point two year old starts coming,

918
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:26,640
Speaker 1: you know, coming through. They're all working their way. Dough

919
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:32,200
Speaker 1: comes through. Eventually these two doughs that this one four

920
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:35,759
Speaker 1: year old had chased out of there come back and

921
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:38,719
Speaker 1: they begin to feed under this big oak tree for

922
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:41,120
Speaker 1: an hour or so. They've just kind of playing in

923
00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:43,799
Speaker 1: their flag there and and have made this home. And

924
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:48,080
Speaker 1: I'm just sitting there watching watching these doughs, uh come through.

925
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:54,960
Speaker 1: And now it's starting to get to somewhere around four o'clock,

926
00:52:55,640 --> 00:52:59,200
Speaker 1: so I stand up, and the doughs are still sitting there.

927
00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:05,120
Speaker 1: I feel, you know, every everything is relaxed. Another spike

928
00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:09,480
Speaker 1: buck or young buck comes through and walks right in

929
00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:11,600
Speaker 1: front of me, and he goes into the betting area

930
00:53:11,640 --> 00:53:13,960
Speaker 1: and set checks them. He's pushing these doughs around a

931
00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:19,040
Speaker 1: little bit. Eventually he leaves, and somewhere around four fifty

932
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:25,839
Speaker 1: four o'clock fift this dough on the opposite ridge just sprints.

933
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 1: She's sprinting right at me and she jumps up onto

934
00:53:31,640 --> 00:53:34,160
Speaker 1: my on the ridge that I was hunting, comes into

935
00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:38,080
Speaker 1: about thirty yards and just chills and she's looking over

936
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:40,040
Speaker 1: her shoulder and looking over her shoulder and looking over

937
00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:45,680
Speaker 1: her shoulder eventually exactly, and I'm just like, oh, something

938
00:53:45,800 --> 00:53:49,279
Speaker 1: is right behind her. Something is right behind her. And

939
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:53,799
Speaker 1: nothing came, and I was like, what's going on here?

940
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:55,759
Speaker 1: Like that is the that is the sign of a

941
00:53:55,800 --> 00:54:00,799
Speaker 1: dog getting chased. And so I she and feeds with

942
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:04,800
Speaker 1: these other two does and she's her body language changes,

943
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:07,920
Speaker 1: she calms down, she just goes into feed mode, and

944
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:13,120
Speaker 1: then she stops looking behind her. Then I hear something

945
00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:18,560
Speaker 1: behind me, and so I turned around, thinking, okay, maybe

946
00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:22,759
Speaker 1: this a different buck is looped and checking this, you know,

947
00:54:22,840 --> 00:54:25,879
Speaker 1: this part of the betting area behind me, and I'm

948
00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:28,719
Speaker 1: looking and I'm looking, and so I'm turned around in

949
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:31,839
Speaker 1: the stand at this point and it's a I think

950
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:33,880
Speaker 1: it was like a spike buck, just kind of milling

951
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:37,720
Speaker 1: around doing something behind me. And all of a sudden

952
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:43,279
Speaker 1: it's b and I hear something running in towards me,

953
00:54:44,040 --> 00:54:47,279
Speaker 1: and sure enough it's this, it's the buck. I you know,

954
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:50,960
Speaker 1: I get a shot at but she's coming in and

955
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:53,239
Speaker 1: the first thing that went through my head is dork.

956
00:54:53,880 --> 00:54:58,239
Speaker 1: It's dork, Like are you kidding me? Finally, like the

957
00:54:58,320 --> 00:55:01,080
Speaker 1: first ever encounter I'm gonna have with this deer, and

958
00:55:01,280 --> 00:55:05,000
Speaker 1: so I grabbed my bow and I then get like

959
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:07,600
Speaker 1: a one second look at him. I'm like, okay, his

960
00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:10,880
Speaker 1: brows are too short. He's not dork, but he's a shooter.

961
00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:16,880
Speaker 1: And drew back and he's trotting, and you know, this

962
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:21,160
Speaker 1: all happens within like a thirty second window. I drew

963
00:55:21,200 --> 00:55:24,160
Speaker 1: back and he bul rushes into where the does were.

964
00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:28,440
Speaker 1: Luckily he stopped right where there a little bit behind him,

965
00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:33,399
Speaker 1: but right where they were at. And he stops, puts

966
00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:36,080
Speaker 1: his head down, and I let the arrow go and

967
00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:39,560
Speaker 1: I smoked him and just a hair back, but I

968
00:55:39,640 --> 00:55:42,160
Speaker 1: knew I hit. I hit long. You know, you get

969
00:55:42,200 --> 00:55:44,680
Speaker 1: some of these shots. We are just like, dude, that

970
00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:48,000
Speaker 1: dear is gonna die like very You're very confident. Unlike

971
00:55:48,080 --> 00:55:51,520
Speaker 1: last year where I didn't see the impact. Um I

972
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:54,560
Speaker 1: I didn't have to. I was low in the stand whatever.

973
00:55:54,600 --> 00:55:59,960
Speaker 1: This was a standing, perfect form anchor. Everything took my breath,

974
00:56:00,160 --> 00:56:04,040
Speaker 1: pulled the trigger, hit him, mule kicked, and and this

975
00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:06,239
Speaker 1: was at about four thirty, so it's starting to get

976
00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:11,239
Speaker 1: dark in the timber and he does the mule kick.

977
00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:15,040
Speaker 1: He doesn't run and he starts walking away into this

978
00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:18,200
Speaker 1: thick thickness, right, and then you have you know, why

979
00:56:18,280 --> 00:56:22,319
Speaker 1: isn't he running right? And you're like, oh Jesus man,

980
00:56:22,520 --> 00:56:25,360
Speaker 1: Hopefully I didn't really gut shoot him. But I was

981
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:28,600
Speaker 1: confident in it, right, So I'm I'm scanning, I'm scanning,

982
00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:33,400
Speaker 1: I'm scanning, and I can't see him. So wait until

983
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:36,239
Speaker 1: a little bit before dark, right, and I get out

984
00:56:36,239 --> 00:56:38,560
Speaker 1: of my tree. I don't even go looking for him.

985
00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,239
Speaker 1: I just go back to the house, get dressed, get

986
00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:45,759
Speaker 1: my stepdad, and I'm like, dude, this is I feel

987
00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:49,759
Speaker 1: very confident. I feel I got I got double double

988
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:51,839
Speaker 1: lunged him, just back of hair, but I double lunged

989
00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:58,160
Speaker 1: him and grab my stepdad. We get ready, come back out,

990
00:56:58,239 --> 00:57:02,400
Speaker 1: and we start scanning and there's no blooded impact, which

991
00:57:02,520 --> 00:57:06,440
Speaker 1: is kind of to be expected at this point unless

992
00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:08,879
Speaker 1: you just like smoke a heart, you know, you give

993
00:57:08,960 --> 00:57:11,640
Speaker 1: him a couple of jumps before they start, and we

994
00:57:11,640 --> 00:57:14,120
Speaker 1: weren't finding a ton of blood within the first ten

995
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:19,760
Speaker 1: yards of this and um, and then by this time

996
00:57:19,760 --> 00:57:22,800
Speaker 1: it's pitch black. So we got like five big flashlights.

997
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:25,440
Speaker 1: We're trying to scan everything, and eventually we run up

998
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:29,920
Speaker 1: on some blood and it's dark, and I'm like, maybe

999
00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:32,280
Speaker 1: it was further back than I thought, and I hit liver,

1000
00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:35,760
Speaker 1: but still, and that might explain why he didn't take

1001
00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:40,080
Speaker 1: off running because historically for me, uh, if you hit liver,

1002
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:44,280
Speaker 1: they just hunch up and they just creep away. Right,

1003
00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:48,480
Speaker 1: they don't. They don't run unless you you double on them,

1004
00:57:48,640 --> 00:57:54,160
Speaker 1: or you you spook them somehow. And and I mean,

1005
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:56,880
Speaker 1: here's the short of it. And in another fifteen yards

1006
00:57:56,920 --> 00:57:59,760
Speaker 1: there he was laying dead and I had this huge

1007
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:03,080
Speaker 1: mile on my face. And long story short, the way

1008
00:58:03,120 --> 00:58:05,680
Speaker 1: he came in, he was just a hair quartering towards me.

1009
00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:10,200
Speaker 1: So I hit front side long backside liver. But and

1010
00:58:10,200 --> 00:58:12,200
Speaker 1: then he started to open up and he was he

1011
00:58:12,280 --> 00:58:15,600
Speaker 1: was dead from in twenty yards from where I shot him,

1012
00:58:15,640 --> 00:58:18,640
Speaker 1: and um, I really didn't know what he was at

1013
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:21,960
Speaker 1: the time. And as I walk up to him, I'm like, ah,

1014
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:24,919
Speaker 1: I shot a three year old. And that's what even

1015
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:26,480
Speaker 1: I mean, if even if you look at the pictures,

1016
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:27,920
Speaker 1: you're like, dude, that that looks like a three year

1017
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:32,080
Speaker 1: old deer. But this was here's what was amazing of this.

1018
00:58:32,440 --> 00:58:34,960
Speaker 1: Um he didn't look like he had a huge body.

1019
00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:37,720
Speaker 1: And then I walk up on him you know, picked

1020
00:58:37,720 --> 00:58:39,840
Speaker 1: the head up and I started to observe the animal,

1021
00:58:40,440 --> 00:58:44,520
Speaker 1: and he was so worn down. I don't know if

1022
00:58:44,600 --> 00:58:49,440
Speaker 1: this deer was sick or if he had just already

1023
00:58:49,480 --> 00:58:54,440
Speaker 1: been through a hard rut. But his back end was

1024
00:58:54,760 --> 00:58:58,200
Speaker 1: bones like, his spine was sticking out, his hips were

1025
00:58:58,200 --> 00:59:02,840
Speaker 1: sticking out um his front, his front shoulders were kind

1026
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:06,640
Speaker 1: of scooped in. His his neck was big, and he

1027
00:59:06,720 --> 00:59:11,040
Speaker 1: had an absolutely huge head, but it was thin like

1028
00:59:11,200 --> 00:59:13,360
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, It just looked like someone

1029
00:59:14,880 --> 00:59:22,520
Speaker 1: deflated a deer a little bit. And so but you

1030
00:59:22,520 --> 00:59:26,240
Speaker 1: know what, I'm just sucked there was when we cleaned him,

1031
00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:29,240
Speaker 1: there was no fat on his body at all. So

1032
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:33,800
Speaker 1: I don't know if he was stick or or there's

1033
00:59:33,840 --> 00:59:36,000
Speaker 1: no like big bruise on him to get hit by

1034
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:41,080
Speaker 1: a car. It was another puncture wound on his side,

1035
00:59:41,200 --> 00:59:43,240
Speaker 1: but it wasn't a broadhead. It was maybe from it

1036
00:59:43,320 --> 00:59:45,480
Speaker 1: was probably from fighting, if I had to guess, because

1037
00:59:45,480 --> 00:59:48,440
Speaker 1: he he had a broken time and then he knocked

1038
00:59:48,440 --> 00:59:50,920
Speaker 1: another time off when he ran into a tree. It

1039
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:55,440
Speaker 1: looked like when he fell, so uh, never seen this

1040
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:59,440
Speaker 1: deer before. He was a beautiful like if he had

1041
00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:01,800
Speaker 1: all his alders on him. He would have been like

1042
01:00:01,800 --> 01:00:05,080
Speaker 1: a main frame nine. He has uh split brows and

1043
01:00:05,120 --> 01:00:07,439
Speaker 1: then one split G two and he has a ton

1044
01:00:07,440 --> 01:00:10,000
Speaker 1: of mass around his main beams. He has a lot

1045
01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:12,480
Speaker 1: of mass on that buck has a lot of mass

1046
01:00:12,560 --> 01:00:16,360
Speaker 1: and uh he made me go, uh so I shot

1047
01:00:16,440 --> 01:00:19,160
Speaker 1: him and uh so there's a chance he's a three

1048
01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:21,680
Speaker 1: year old, but I honestly think he's a four year old.

1049
01:00:22,200 --> 01:00:27,360
Speaker 1: Um And I could not be happier with this outcome

1050
01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:31,640
Speaker 1: from the pure fact that you know, you get into

1051
01:00:31,640 --> 01:00:33,480
Speaker 1: a routine. Now it's like, this is my fourth this

1052
01:00:33,560 --> 01:00:36,040
Speaker 1: is the first time in my entire life that I've

1053
01:00:36,080 --> 01:00:38,960
Speaker 1: gone on a run this long, right four years in

1054
01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:43,800
Speaker 1: a row, shot four different bucks using my kind of

1055
01:00:43,840 --> 01:00:47,960
Speaker 1: my own personal philosophy and my own personal strategy on

1056
01:00:48,040 --> 01:00:52,520
Speaker 1: how I approach hunting this season, and I've been observing,

1057
01:00:52,560 --> 01:00:54,920
Speaker 1: I've been learning, I've been changing when I need to,

1058
01:00:55,520 --> 01:00:59,320
Speaker 1: and I've got found success out of that and that

1059
01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:02,960
Speaker 1: on you know that the deer is always the cherry

1060
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:05,880
Speaker 1: on top. But my strategy worked again, even though it

1061
01:01:05,960 --> 01:01:10,640
Speaker 1: took longer than you know, longer than what it has

1062
01:01:10,640 --> 01:01:14,360
Speaker 1: in the past. I just I'm very happy with the

1063
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:17,320
Speaker 1: outcome of this season. And I don't know. I'm just

1064
01:01:17,400 --> 01:01:21,040
Speaker 1: I'm Jackman. It's a good feeling. That's a great feeling.

1065
01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:25,040
Speaker 1: So so what was your biggest takeaway, your your number

1066
01:01:25,040 --> 01:01:27,160
Speaker 1: one lesson or something that really hit home for you

1067
01:01:27,200 --> 01:01:30,880
Speaker 1: after this whole thing came together. Yeah, So the lesson

1068
01:01:30,920 --> 01:01:36,040
Speaker 1: I would, I would say, would be when I started

1069
01:01:36,120 --> 01:01:39,400
Speaker 1: hitting the obstacles like no mature deer on trail camera,

1070
01:01:39,560 --> 01:01:44,200
Speaker 1: no mature deer sightings. Um. You know. Now I had

1071
01:01:44,200 --> 01:01:46,640
Speaker 1: a hard stop of the seventeen. I had five days

1072
01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:49,520
Speaker 1: left to hunt. You know, I was going through a

1073
01:01:49,560 --> 01:01:53,440
Speaker 1: couple of these sits without seeing any deer. I started

1074
01:01:53,480 --> 01:01:58,200
Speaker 1: to realize that, hey, I might need to change what

1075
01:01:58,320 --> 01:02:01,760
Speaker 1: I want the outcome to be, right. I I may

1076
01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:05,320
Speaker 1: not be holding out for Narley Charlie anymore. Because although

1077
01:02:05,360 --> 01:02:07,600
Speaker 1: I did see him, I think it was like three

1078
01:02:07,680 --> 01:02:12,400
Speaker 1: days previous. I I knew that I had a freezer

1079
01:02:12,440 --> 01:02:16,080
Speaker 1: to fill, and I knew saw, to be honest with you,

1080
01:02:16,280 --> 01:02:18,640
Speaker 1: I was I was possibly gonna start shooting does on

1081
01:02:18,720 --> 01:02:21,280
Speaker 1: some of my sets if they offered me really good

1082
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:23,280
Speaker 1: shots and if if it was slow, and if they

1083
01:02:23,320 --> 01:02:27,520
Speaker 1: weren't getting chased. So I still wanted to fill my freezer,

1084
01:02:27,920 --> 01:02:30,800
Speaker 1: but I still wanted to shoot a mature buck, and

1085
01:02:32,640 --> 01:02:37,240
Speaker 1: I I felt like I did the right thing by

1086
01:02:37,680 --> 01:02:42,320
Speaker 1: changing my goal based off of what I was seeing

1087
01:02:42,760 --> 01:02:48,240
Speaker 1: from the timber, and still continuing to go with my

1088
01:02:48,360 --> 01:02:51,280
Speaker 1: game plan and change my game plan as needed, and

1089
01:02:51,360 --> 01:02:55,000
Speaker 1: not just get into a woe is me, I'm not

1090
01:02:55,040 --> 01:02:58,760
Speaker 1: seeing anything, boo hoo. You just keep grinding, and you

1091
01:02:58,880 --> 01:03:02,080
Speaker 1: keep grinding, and you you look at your maps and

1092
01:03:02,320 --> 01:03:06,040
Speaker 1: you think about all the data and intel that you've had,

1093
01:03:06,080 --> 01:03:08,480
Speaker 1: not from that year, but through all the years, and

1094
01:03:08,560 --> 01:03:11,680
Speaker 1: that helps me put my tree stands in the position

1095
01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:13,680
Speaker 1: that I wanted to. I had the encounters that I

1096
01:03:13,720 --> 01:03:18,240
Speaker 1: wanted to, and eventually that routine led me to this

1097
01:03:18,400 --> 01:03:23,520
Speaker 1: encounter and the harvest of a great deer. Do you

1098
01:03:23,560 --> 01:03:26,600
Speaker 1: do anything different next year? Is there anything that happened

1099
01:03:26,640 --> 01:03:29,720
Speaker 1: that you now will say, you know what, Okay, this

1100
01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:32,080
Speaker 1: is something that even though it worked out this year,

1101
01:03:32,120 --> 01:03:33,920
Speaker 1: this is something that has to change next time around,

1102
01:03:34,720 --> 01:03:39,960
Speaker 1: at the time frame, the time frames shifting it later

1103
01:03:40,040 --> 01:03:42,960
Speaker 1: a week later. I want to hunt up until Thanksgiving,

1104
01:03:43,640 --> 01:03:48,240
Speaker 1: um and I want I think that just like we've

1105
01:03:48,240 --> 01:03:50,600
Speaker 1: already talked about, I think if it's not hot, go

1106
01:03:50,680 --> 01:03:56,080
Speaker 1: away for a day, come back I've I've found now

1107
01:03:56,520 --> 01:04:00,600
Speaker 1: through these because I think a lot of people what

1108
01:04:00,600 --> 01:04:02,120
Speaker 1: what they what they do is they sit in a

1109
01:04:02,160 --> 01:04:05,720
Speaker 1: tree stand and they look at things in blind with blinders.

1110
01:04:05,920 --> 01:04:09,280
Speaker 1: They're like they're in a tree stand and they say, Okay,

1111
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:12,720
Speaker 1: this is what's happening today when you need to think

1112
01:04:12,760 --> 01:04:15,720
Speaker 1: not only about last year, but next year as well.

1113
01:04:16,080 --> 01:04:20,160
Speaker 1: So now I know, like, hopefully Narie Charlie makes it

1114
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:22,440
Speaker 1: through the season, right, that would be awesome if he does.

1115
01:04:22,480 --> 01:04:24,240
Speaker 1: If he does, he does, if he doesn't, If he doesn't,

1116
01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:27,800
Speaker 1: he doesn't, But if he does, I got intel on

1117
01:04:27,880 --> 01:04:32,320
Speaker 1: him on this spur ridge. I got intel, more intel

1118
01:04:32,400 --> 01:04:37,320
Speaker 1: from him on trail cameras. So now I got a

1119
01:04:37,360 --> 01:04:39,720
Speaker 1: straight line now between point A and point B that

1120
01:04:39,800 --> 01:04:42,000
Speaker 1: I'm really going to focus on next year. I'm gonna

1121
01:04:42,040 --> 01:04:44,680
Speaker 1: bring more trail cameras in, I'm gonna bring more tree

1122
01:04:44,720 --> 01:04:47,120
Speaker 1: stands in. I'm gonna be scouting more in the within

1123
01:04:47,200 --> 01:04:51,840
Speaker 1: this line late season, and hopefully I can set up

1124
01:04:52,800 --> 01:04:58,800
Speaker 1: so I got him trapped next year. If that makes sense. Yeah,

1125
01:04:58,880 --> 01:05:05,000
Speaker 1: So it's it's basically now, dude, It's so crazy. I

1126
01:05:05,040 --> 01:05:10,400
Speaker 1: celebrated this harvest, but my mind is already going it's

1127
01:05:10,400 --> 01:05:14,120
Speaker 1: just how I operate. The end is also the beginning, man,

1128
01:05:14,720 --> 01:05:18,120
Speaker 1: And it's just you'd never for me. I never stop.

1129
01:05:18,240 --> 01:05:21,000
Speaker 1: I can't stop. I'm already thinking about like right now,

1130
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:23,120
Speaker 1: I'm looking on a map on this top of map

1131
01:05:23,200 --> 01:05:25,240
Speaker 1: of where I want to have a tree stand next year,

1132
01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:29,160
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm thinking about crop rotation, and I'm

1133
01:05:29,160 --> 01:05:32,640
Speaker 1: thinking about what I want to do next year to

1134
01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:36,480
Speaker 1: hopefully put all the odds of my favor for another

1135
01:05:36,480 --> 01:05:39,320
Speaker 1: successful season. So well, we talked about all the time.

1136
01:05:39,360 --> 01:05:43,240
Speaker 1: It's it's it's really the process. Yeah, that absolutely gets us.

1137
01:05:43,560 --> 01:05:46,720
Speaker 1: It's the end result, of course is important, and we

1138
01:05:46,760 --> 01:05:49,000
Speaker 1: strive for it, but it's everything that leads us to

1139
01:05:49,080 --> 01:05:52,960
Speaker 1: that moment that makes this thing so damn addicting. Um

1140
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:55,160
Speaker 1: and that I've been talking a long time, but I

1141
01:05:55,200 --> 01:05:58,480
Speaker 1: just want to I really want to reiterate how much

1142
01:05:58,560 --> 01:06:02,760
Speaker 1: fun I had this year because I didn't get stressed out.

1143
01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:08,000
Speaker 1: I went in with low expectations. I knew I had

1144
01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:10,959
Speaker 1: to put my process in, like you said, and once

1145
01:06:11,000 --> 01:06:15,280
Speaker 1: I do that, it's almost like it becomes autopilot. And

1146
01:06:15,320 --> 01:06:18,920
Speaker 1: I had Once it becomes autopilot, you can take the

1147
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:23,280
Speaker 1: time to not just worry about deer hunting. But man,

1148
01:06:23,360 --> 01:06:25,440
Speaker 1: I saw three bobcats this year. One of them was

1149
01:06:25,520 --> 01:06:28,760
Speaker 1: hunting while I was in the stand. I gotta watch

1150
01:06:28,800 --> 01:06:31,800
Speaker 1: him hunt. That was sweet. I saw a badger, I

1151
01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:36,440
Speaker 1: saw birds, I saw you know. It's just you can.

1152
01:06:36,600 --> 01:06:40,920
Speaker 1: You can be a sponge and just absorbed nature. And

1153
01:06:40,960 --> 01:06:45,160
Speaker 1: that's what I do this all for anyway. And uh man,

1154
01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:47,240
Speaker 1: and the fact that now I have meat in the

1155
01:06:47,560 --> 01:06:50,640
Speaker 1: like I got meat in the freezer because of this too,

1156
01:06:51,080 --> 01:06:52,800
Speaker 1: that's just a win. It's like I had so many

1157
01:06:52,800 --> 01:06:57,200
Speaker 1: wins this season that, um, I don't know. I just

1158
01:06:58,840 --> 01:07:02,040
Speaker 1: I had an absolute asked and it just it reminded

1159
01:07:02,080 --> 01:07:04,320
Speaker 1: me why I love doing it so much. So are

1160
01:07:04,360 --> 01:07:06,280
Speaker 1: you done? Are you gonna shoot some doughs? Are you're

1161
01:07:06,280 --> 01:07:09,800
Speaker 1: gonna go out of stage and keep it rolling? Like,

1162
01:07:10,160 --> 01:07:12,280
Speaker 1: if I get the opportunity to go maybe shoot a dough,

1163
01:07:12,320 --> 01:07:15,120
Speaker 1: I'll do it. Um. I'm gonna check trail cameras before

1164
01:07:15,200 --> 01:07:20,440
Speaker 1: late season maybe. But as you know, and as everybody

1165
01:07:20,440 --> 01:07:25,840
Speaker 1: else with family knows, there comes a time where the

1166
01:07:25,840 --> 01:07:29,880
Speaker 1: brownie points are done right there, they are used up,

1167
01:07:30,560 --> 01:07:33,640
Speaker 1: and I want to maybe go out and shoot a

1168
01:07:33,680 --> 01:07:35,960
Speaker 1: dough because I got three more dough tags left, but

1169
01:07:37,880 --> 01:07:40,920
Speaker 1: I also don't want to burn any bridges, And honestly,

1170
01:07:40,960 --> 01:07:42,440
Speaker 1: I just want to hang with a fam for a

1171
01:07:42,440 --> 01:07:46,880
Speaker 1: while and uh, enjoy what I have, and then maybe

1172
01:07:46,880 --> 01:07:50,280
Speaker 1: I'll get out. Maybe I won't. But I've already had

1173
01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:52,760
Speaker 1: so much fun and success as a selfish bow hunter

1174
01:07:52,840 --> 01:07:54,480
Speaker 1: this year that I think I need to turn some

1175
01:07:54,520 --> 01:07:56,840
Speaker 1: attention back towards the family for a little bit. And

1176
01:07:57,440 --> 01:08:00,560
Speaker 1: after a week or two, maybe I'll it out again,

1177
01:08:00,960 --> 01:08:03,560
Speaker 1: or maybe I'll get out late season. But now it's

1178
01:08:03,600 --> 01:08:05,760
Speaker 1: time to focus on the family and back to business.

1179
01:08:05,920 --> 01:08:11,400
Speaker 1: And uh, dude, yeah, I hear you. I hear you. So, dude,

1180
01:08:11,400 --> 01:08:14,680
Speaker 1: I talked way too much. You're right, that's right here

1181
01:08:14,720 --> 01:08:16,320
Speaker 1: to do. We're here to talk, and I want to

1182
01:08:16,320 --> 01:08:17,960
Speaker 1: hear about your rut. But I have to ask you

1183
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:21,639
Speaker 1: a question because I saw you in a ground blind

1184
01:08:21,680 --> 01:08:26,680
Speaker 1: with your dad, right, Yeah, I do not come from

1185
01:08:26,920 --> 01:08:30,120
Speaker 1: a quote unquote hunting family, Like I learned all this,

1186
01:08:30,600 --> 01:08:33,240
Speaker 1: all this stuff on my own kind of, and I don't.

1187
01:08:33,280 --> 01:08:36,120
Speaker 1: I didn't really have I've had somewhat of a mentor.

1188
01:08:36,640 --> 01:08:40,519
Speaker 1: But like, what's it like hunting with your dad? It's

1189
01:08:40,560 --> 01:08:43,519
Speaker 1: really cool, man, It's uh, it was a really fun

1190
01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:46,400
Speaker 1: thing to get to do because I grew up hunting

1191
01:08:46,439 --> 01:08:48,559
Speaker 1: with my dad. We were we've got a really interesting

1192
01:08:48,600 --> 01:08:52,479
Speaker 1: kind of hunting dynamic though, um And it was fun

1193
01:08:52,640 --> 01:08:55,280
Speaker 1: to be able to do this, and I've got to

1194
01:08:55,280 --> 01:08:58,000
Speaker 1: do a few times over the last handful of years

1195
01:08:58,040 --> 01:08:59,920
Speaker 1: because growing up with my dad, right we'd go out,

1196
01:09:00,160 --> 01:09:02,360
Speaker 1: We've got this family deer camp up in northern Michigan.

1197
01:09:02,400 --> 01:09:04,160
Speaker 1: We didn't see him any deer ever, but we always

1198
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:08,519
Speaker 1: had a great time just sitting out there together, telling stories. Um,

1199
01:09:08,560 --> 01:09:10,439
Speaker 1: just being up there. That was a really fun thing

1200
01:09:10,439 --> 01:09:11,880
Speaker 1: for me to do. For the I don't know, from

1201
01:09:11,880 --> 01:09:13,600
Speaker 1: the time I was four till the time I was

1202
01:09:14,439 --> 01:09:17,200
Speaker 1: I don't know, ten, eleven, twelve. At some point around

1203
01:09:17,200 --> 01:09:20,040
Speaker 1: there is when I started hunting on my own. Um.

1204
01:09:20,080 --> 01:09:22,760
Speaker 1: But the unique thing with my dad is that he

1205
01:09:22,880 --> 01:09:27,840
Speaker 1: is significantly visually impaired. UM. So he's got a just

1206
01:09:28,080 --> 01:09:30,400
Speaker 1: a real challenge when it comes to hunting as far

1207
01:09:30,400 --> 01:09:33,479
Speaker 1: as seeing things. Um. So because of that, he had

1208
01:09:33,520 --> 01:09:37,439
Speaker 1: only killed one deer his whole life. When he was

1209
01:09:37,479 --> 01:09:40,080
Speaker 1: sixteen he killed a buck, and then all the way

1210
01:09:40,320 --> 01:09:42,360
Speaker 1: through the whole time we hunted together, he never shot

1211
01:09:42,360 --> 01:09:44,839
Speaker 1: a buck all the way until I became an adult,

1212
01:09:44,880 --> 01:09:47,479
Speaker 1: he never shot a deer of any kind, um, except

1213
01:09:47,479 --> 01:09:50,840
Speaker 1: for that very first one. UM. I remember there's a

1214
01:09:50,840 --> 01:09:52,240
Speaker 1: story back when I was a little kid, and I

1215
01:09:52,280 --> 01:09:54,880
Speaker 1: might have told us before, but I was eight or

1216
01:09:54,960 --> 01:09:57,000
Speaker 1: nine and we were hunting together and I saw buck.

1217
01:09:57,240 --> 01:09:59,040
Speaker 1: Me and my dad are sitting together. I see a buck,

1218
01:09:59,360 --> 01:10:01,040
Speaker 1: and I tell him there's a buck. There's a buck,

1219
01:10:01,479 --> 01:10:05,320
Speaker 1: and he can't see it. And as a kid, not

1220
01:10:05,400 --> 01:10:08,080
Speaker 1: being very sensitive to the issue, I got mad at him, like,

1221
01:10:08,160 --> 01:10:10,240
Speaker 1: Daddy's right there, he's right there. Just just give me

1222
01:10:10,240 --> 01:10:12,679
Speaker 1: the gun. I'll shoot him. Just give me the gun. UM.

1223
01:10:12,880 --> 01:10:15,760
Speaker 1: So we joke about it today, but you know, it was.

1224
01:10:15,800 --> 01:10:18,240
Speaker 1: It was something that um My dad has been a

1225
01:10:18,280 --> 01:10:20,439
Speaker 1: hell of a trooper to keep on hunting all these years,

1226
01:10:20,520 --> 01:10:22,960
Speaker 1: given the fact that, um, it's a lot more difficult

1227
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:25,559
Speaker 1: for him than a lot of people. So over the

1228
01:10:25,600 --> 01:10:27,800
Speaker 1: last decade or so, I've been able to try to

1229
01:10:27,840 --> 01:10:29,320
Speaker 1: give back to him a little bit and take him

1230
01:10:29,320 --> 01:10:32,200
Speaker 1: out and hunt some of the places that I can hunt. UM.

1231
01:10:32,240 --> 01:10:34,080
Speaker 1: And so, I don't know, five or six years ago,

1232
01:10:34,680 --> 01:10:37,000
Speaker 1: I know we told this story back then, but I

1233
01:10:37,040 --> 01:10:39,000
Speaker 1: set him up on one of my main Michigan spots

1234
01:10:39,000 --> 01:10:40,880
Speaker 1: and he killed a little buck with me and him

1235
01:10:40,880 --> 01:10:42,600
Speaker 1: sitting together in a ground in a box blind, and

1236
01:10:42,600 --> 01:10:44,639
Speaker 1: that was awesome. First buck he killed, the first deer

1237
01:10:44,640 --> 01:10:48,400
Speaker 1: he killed since he was sixteen, um. And then we

1238
01:10:48,600 --> 01:10:51,360
Speaker 1: he shot one a few years after that on his own,

1239
01:10:51,680 --> 01:10:53,880
Speaker 1: when I was hunting up at deer camp with him.

1240
01:10:54,640 --> 01:10:56,880
Speaker 1: So that was really cool thing. But now I wanted

1241
01:10:56,920 --> 01:10:58,920
Speaker 1: to try to get him a shot at his first

1242
01:10:59,040 --> 01:11:00,840
Speaker 1: buck older than a year and a half, because it's

1243
01:11:00,880 --> 01:11:02,599
Speaker 1: three bucks he killed up to that point, we're all

1244
01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:05,680
Speaker 1: year and a half olds. Um. I'm not even sure

1245
01:11:05,680 --> 01:11:07,600
Speaker 1: he's even seen a buck older than a year and

1246
01:11:07,600 --> 01:11:12,200
Speaker 1: a half, um, because right up north we almost never

1247
01:11:12,200 --> 01:11:13,880
Speaker 1: see anything other than year and a half old bucks.

1248
01:11:14,000 --> 01:11:15,840
Speaker 1: And then the only other place he'd ever hunted other

1249
01:11:15,880 --> 01:11:18,040
Speaker 1: than when he came with me was our three acre

1250
01:11:18,120 --> 01:11:20,479
Speaker 1: property behind the house that I grew up him, so

1251
01:11:20,520 --> 01:11:23,040
Speaker 1: he would bow hunt back there sometimes and and he's

1252
01:11:23,160 --> 01:11:26,160
Speaker 1: seen a few bucks back there. Uh. So this year

1253
01:11:26,200 --> 01:11:28,080
Speaker 1: we thought, let's bring him out to the back forty

1254
01:11:28,120 --> 01:11:29,320
Speaker 1: for a few days. He could get a couple of

1255
01:11:29,360 --> 01:11:32,160
Speaker 1: days off work during the rut and get his first

1256
01:11:32,280 --> 01:11:34,840
Speaker 1: bow hunting rut. You know, the peak of the rut

1257
01:11:34,880 --> 01:11:37,960
Speaker 1: hopefully on this property is hopefully gonna be really good

1258
01:11:38,520 --> 01:11:40,639
Speaker 1: and get him a shot at his first like two

1259
01:11:40,720 --> 01:11:43,240
Speaker 1: year old or older buck. I really thought like, oh gosh,

1260
01:11:43,280 --> 01:11:44,720
Speaker 1: it should be easy to get a shot at a

1261
01:11:45,240 --> 01:11:46,800
Speaker 1: you know, nice two ye old eight point that he

1262
01:11:46,800 --> 01:11:48,599
Speaker 1: would think is the biggest buck in the world, and

1263
01:11:48,720 --> 01:11:51,679
Speaker 1: it'd be such a cool way to give back to him. Um.

1264
01:11:52,040 --> 01:11:55,400
Speaker 1: So we're kind of skipping towards like the middle end

1265
01:11:55,479 --> 01:11:57,960
Speaker 1: of my rutcation. But but I'll finish off this portion

1266
01:11:58,000 --> 01:12:00,719
Speaker 1: of it. Then I'll rewind back to the beginning because

1267
01:12:01,720 --> 01:12:04,800
Speaker 1: it was kind of this this story is sort of

1268
01:12:04,800 --> 01:12:10,439
Speaker 1: a microcosm for my whole rut um. The process was

1269
01:12:10,520 --> 01:12:15,439
Speaker 1: the fun part. The end result wasn't there. Um. It

1270
01:12:15,520 --> 01:12:17,120
Speaker 1: was great to get to spend a couple of days

1271
01:12:17,120 --> 01:12:19,320
Speaker 1: with my dad out there hunting. We took him out.

1272
01:12:19,520 --> 01:12:21,519
Speaker 1: I had set up a handful of ground blinds in

1273
01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:24,960
Speaker 1: the summer, knowing that he was going to come out. Um,

1274
01:12:25,160 --> 01:12:27,639
Speaker 1: but things just did not pan out on the This

1275
01:12:27,680 --> 01:12:29,280
Speaker 1: was in the back forty we took him so that

1276
01:12:29,320 --> 01:12:31,880
Speaker 1: new farm. Um, things in the back forty did not

1277
01:12:32,040 --> 01:12:34,320
Speaker 1: pan out at all how I thought they would. As

1278
01:12:34,400 --> 01:12:37,840
Speaker 1: far as deer numbers dear activity, the way they used

1279
01:12:37,840 --> 01:12:41,960
Speaker 1: the property. Um, it was just very, very very different

1280
01:12:42,000 --> 01:12:45,639
Speaker 1: than I expected. I've it's as a stands right now,

1281
01:12:45,680 --> 01:12:48,639
Speaker 1: it's the slowest I've ever seen a property in southern

1282
01:12:48,640 --> 01:12:50,400
Speaker 1: Michigan that I've ever hunted. I found a lot of

1283
01:12:50,439 --> 01:12:53,719
Speaker 1: spots in Michigan. In southern Michigan, you always see deer,

1284
01:12:53,760 --> 01:12:56,280
Speaker 1: you always see young bucks at least. Um, we had

1285
01:12:56,320 --> 01:12:59,800
Speaker 1: a hard time seeing anything on the back forty this, this,

1286
01:13:00,000 --> 01:13:01,840
Speaker 1: you're in total they were They were a handful of

1287
01:13:01,840 --> 01:13:03,680
Speaker 1: good hunts and I had a brief moment that I'll

1288
01:13:03,720 --> 01:13:08,960
Speaker 1: talk about of of some things coming together. But overall

1289
01:13:09,280 --> 01:13:12,000
Speaker 1: it was pretty tough sledding, and unfortunately for my dad

1290
01:13:12,160 --> 01:13:15,200
Speaker 1: that continued. We had a couple of fun days sitting

1291
01:13:15,200 --> 01:13:19,559
Speaker 1: in the blind together, just telling stories, reminiscent, laughing, giving

1292
01:13:19,600 --> 01:13:22,280
Speaker 1: each other a hard time. And that was one of

1293
01:13:22,360 --> 01:13:24,920
Speaker 1: the best parts of my entire rut. You know, three

1294
01:13:24,960 --> 01:13:29,120
Speaker 1: weeks that was that was tops right there. Um, he

1295
01:13:29,240 --> 01:13:31,479
Speaker 1: had an opportunity at a year and a half old buck.

1296
01:13:31,600 --> 01:13:33,960
Speaker 1: We had a one buck come in and it's a

1297
01:13:33,960 --> 01:13:36,439
Speaker 1: little five pointer, and my dad got excited about it.

1298
01:13:36,520 --> 01:13:38,679
Speaker 1: I said, Hey, if you wanna if you wanna take cracking,

1299
01:13:38,840 --> 01:13:40,680
Speaker 1: take crack at it. He's never killed a deal with

1300
01:13:40,760 --> 01:13:43,920
Speaker 1: his bow and this he's using a crossbow. Um. He's

1301
01:13:43,920 --> 01:13:45,920
Speaker 1: never killed a buck with any kind of deer with

1302
01:13:45,960 --> 01:13:48,679
Speaker 1: the archer equipment, so that would be awesome if he did.

1303
01:13:49,439 --> 01:13:52,200
Speaker 1: But he decided to pass on it because you know,

1304
01:13:52,320 --> 01:13:54,599
Speaker 1: we had these high hopes and I've shown him pictures

1305
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:56,000
Speaker 1: of some of the deer that we had gotten on

1306
01:13:56,080 --> 01:13:59,640
Speaker 1: camera and that we're hopefully somewhere around. Um, So we

1307
01:13:59,680 --> 01:14:01,800
Speaker 1: decided pass on it, which I think is the first

1308
01:14:01,840 --> 01:14:06,160
Speaker 1: time he's ever passed on a buck, which is cool. Um. Unfortunately,

1309
01:14:06,160 --> 01:14:08,200
Speaker 1: we just didn't get any more opportunities. That was it.

1310
01:14:08,439 --> 01:14:10,840
Speaker 1: We had. We had some fun times out there, some

1311
01:14:10,880 --> 01:14:14,120
Speaker 1: good stories, but just the deer did not cooperate. So

1312
01:14:14,160 --> 01:14:18,160
Speaker 1: that was that was the hunt with him. UM. Overall though,

1313
01:14:18,800 --> 01:14:23,000
Speaker 1: it was about the quality time and a great reminder

1314
01:14:23,080 --> 01:14:25,800
Speaker 1: for me of of what matters most. And I think

1315
01:14:25,880 --> 01:14:28,479
Speaker 1: that came back time and time again throughout this whole rut,

1316
01:14:28,600 --> 01:14:31,120
Speaker 1: is reminding myself of what really matters. Yes, I want

1317
01:14:31,120 --> 01:14:33,200
Speaker 1: to kill the mature buck, Yes I want to have

1318
01:14:33,240 --> 01:14:35,639
Speaker 1: this end result in the end, does that really matter?

1319
01:14:36,120 --> 01:14:38,760
Speaker 1: Not that much? So spending that time with my dad,

1320
01:14:38,920 --> 01:14:41,479
Speaker 1: That's what really mattered. Taking a few days off to

1321
01:14:41,520 --> 01:14:43,360
Speaker 1: help out my wife and be there for my son,

1322
01:14:43,920 --> 01:14:47,400
Speaker 1: that's what really matters. Taking some time midday when I

1323
01:14:47,640 --> 01:14:50,280
Speaker 1: usually tell myself I should be hunting, taking some of

1324
01:14:50,280 --> 01:14:53,080
Speaker 1: that time off to to help out. That probably is

1325
01:14:53,120 --> 01:14:56,880
Speaker 1: what really matters. Um, when you put in, you know,

1326
01:14:56,920 --> 01:14:59,000
Speaker 1: three weeks of hunting really really hard, and you try

1327
01:14:59,080 --> 01:15:01,040
Speaker 1: so much for one year and it doesn't come together,

1328
01:15:01,080 --> 01:15:03,439
Speaker 1: and he's probably gonna get shot by somebody else, and

1329
01:15:03,439 --> 01:15:06,880
Speaker 1: that's frustrating. Ah, And then you have to take a

1330
01:15:06,880 --> 01:15:09,360
Speaker 1: step back and realize, you know what, it's just a deer.

1331
01:15:09,840 --> 01:15:12,320
Speaker 1: You've got a healthy family, You've got a roof over

1332
01:15:12,360 --> 01:15:15,280
Speaker 1: your head. Um. Those are the things I kept coming

1333
01:15:15,280 --> 01:15:17,200
Speaker 1: back to time and time again over the course of

1334
01:15:17,240 --> 01:15:21,120
Speaker 1: the last three weeks. So that's the ending of my story,

1335
01:15:21,320 --> 01:15:24,840
Speaker 1: is that those worthy sentiments that I was left with

1336
01:15:24,960 --> 01:15:28,400
Speaker 1: after my two thousand nineteen rutation. Now, let me take

1337
01:15:28,439 --> 01:15:32,000
Speaker 1: you back to the beginning and explain how it got there. Right. So,

1338
01:15:33,200 --> 01:15:35,600
Speaker 1: you know, we talked last somewhere in I don't know,

1339
01:15:35,680 --> 01:15:39,719
Speaker 1: middle or late October. Basically I had that Minnesota hunt,

1340
01:15:39,760 --> 01:15:42,840
Speaker 1: awesome experience but we didn't see any deer. Um. I

1341
01:15:42,880 --> 01:15:45,559
Speaker 1: had that really cool mentor hunt experience that was fun.

1342
01:15:46,040 --> 01:15:48,800
Speaker 1: But once I got back from Minnesota and we got

1343
01:15:48,800 --> 01:15:52,000
Speaker 1: to the pre rut time periods like late twenties in October,

1344
01:15:52,520 --> 01:15:55,280
Speaker 1: started to shift my focus to try and to kill

1345
01:15:55,280 --> 01:15:58,120
Speaker 1: this buck tram, that one deer that I knew for sure,

1346
01:15:58,120 --> 01:15:59,880
Speaker 1: it's four and a half years old on my main

1347
01:16:00,040 --> 01:16:02,679
Speaker 1: Chigan property. I'd seen him a bunch of last year.

1348
01:16:02,680 --> 01:16:05,559
Speaker 1: I passed on him. Coming into this year, it was, Hey,

1349
01:16:05,560 --> 01:16:07,760
Speaker 1: it's all about tran And you know me, I get

1350
01:16:07,840 --> 01:16:11,559
Speaker 1: really excited about these one target, that one deer and

1351
01:16:11,680 --> 01:16:14,280
Speaker 1: I've got this one main farm where I've been really

1352
01:16:14,360 --> 01:16:16,760
Speaker 1: lucky to have an opportunity where these deer have a

1353
01:16:16,880 --> 01:16:19,719
Speaker 1: chance of making it back. So it seems like almost

1354
01:16:19,760 --> 01:16:21,599
Speaker 1: every year there's at least one deer that I had

1355
01:16:21,640 --> 01:16:25,720
Speaker 1: history with in past years, and um, that just is

1356
01:16:25,760 --> 01:16:27,559
Speaker 1: the funnest. The most fun for me is when I

1357
01:16:27,560 --> 01:16:29,040
Speaker 1: get to know a deer like we talked about, You

1358
01:16:29,160 --> 01:16:32,000
Speaker 1: get to know a deer, get to put together those pieces, uh,

1359
01:16:32,080 --> 01:16:35,800
Speaker 1: figure out the chess moves. That's that is just so cool.

1360
01:16:35,920 --> 01:16:37,439
Speaker 1: So I get hung up on that and really excited

1361
01:16:37,439 --> 01:16:39,160
Speaker 1: about it, and Tran was the one deer I knew

1362
01:16:39,160 --> 01:16:41,639
Speaker 1: for sure fit that bill, so he was my target

1363
01:16:41,640 --> 01:16:46,280
Speaker 1: buck this year. Um. Now, there was two other really

1364
01:16:46,360 --> 01:16:48,759
Speaker 1: nice deer that I had been seeing through the summer.

1365
01:16:49,240 --> 01:16:50,800
Speaker 1: There's one deer I just kind of called him the

1366
01:16:50,800 --> 01:16:55,479
Speaker 1: big nine, really nice big nine pointer, um, probably one

1367
01:16:55,520 --> 01:16:58,800
Speaker 1: thirty class in that ballpark, and I saw him quite

1368
01:16:58,800 --> 01:17:00,479
Speaker 1: a bit during the summer when I'm glass in the

1369
01:17:00,560 --> 01:17:04,080
Speaker 1: soybean fields and he ends up. Though, after looking at

1370
01:17:04,160 --> 01:17:06,639
Speaker 1: him and looking at trail camera pictures, I'm really pretty

1371
01:17:06,720 --> 01:17:09,240
Speaker 1: darn certain. I'm certain he can't be older than three.

1372
01:17:09,360 --> 01:17:11,640
Speaker 1: So I decided I'm gonna pass on him. And so

1373
01:17:11,680 --> 01:17:14,280
Speaker 1: I think we talked about this. I saw him on

1374
01:17:14,280 --> 01:17:16,120
Speaker 1: October two and I passed on him. I had a

1375
01:17:16,120 --> 01:17:17,519
Speaker 1: shot at him, like a ten yard shot, and I

1376
01:17:17,560 --> 01:17:20,400
Speaker 1: passed on him on October two. First time I'd ever

1377
01:17:20,439 --> 01:17:23,519
Speaker 1: passed on a buck of that caliber in Michigan. So

1378
01:17:23,600 --> 01:17:26,439
Speaker 1: that was cool. Um, But then I also feel like, man,

1379
01:17:26,439 --> 01:17:29,320
Speaker 1: am I crazy? Like people in Michigan don't pass on

1380
01:17:29,360 --> 01:17:31,479
Speaker 1: bucks like that and my nuts, but I really want

1381
01:17:31,479 --> 01:17:33,679
Speaker 1: to get a shot Tram. So I did it. Now

1382
01:17:33,960 --> 01:17:37,400
Speaker 1: fast forward, it's late October UM, I hunted the back

1383
01:17:37,439 --> 01:17:39,439
Speaker 1: Ford with Doug during for a couple of days. I

1384
01:17:39,479 --> 01:17:41,760
Speaker 1: thought we'd be having some activity. I had. I was

1385
01:17:41,760 --> 01:17:43,840
Speaker 1: starting to get some more pictures of this buck I

1386
01:17:43,920 --> 01:17:46,479
Speaker 1: was calling the wide eight on that farm, so I

1387
01:17:46,479 --> 01:17:47,960
Speaker 1: thought we were gonna be getting into it. But it

1388
01:17:48,040 --> 01:17:50,760
Speaker 1: was just dead. We saw just like a button buck

1389
01:17:50,800 --> 01:17:52,080
Speaker 1: in the year and a half old buck, and I

1390
01:17:52,120 --> 01:17:54,479
Speaker 1: think a doe. You know. That's of course the three

1391
01:17:54,560 --> 01:17:56,880
Speaker 1: days of hunting out there. So it was really disappointed

1392
01:17:56,880 --> 01:18:01,320
Speaker 1: in that. I'm wanna ask you a quick question, why

1393
01:18:01,479 --> 01:18:04,280
Speaker 1: did you think why? Why do you feel that farm

1394
01:18:04,320 --> 01:18:07,759
Speaker 1: was dead? Because you had this moment of excitement about

1395
01:18:07,760 --> 01:18:11,519
Speaker 1: the back forty that you started having some good deer

1396
01:18:11,560 --> 01:18:13,799
Speaker 1: show up on camera, and you felt that the closer

1397
01:18:13,880 --> 01:18:17,160
Speaker 1: you get to the rut late October time frame, you

1398
01:18:17,200 --> 01:18:19,120
Speaker 1: felt it was going to start getting better and pick up.

1399
01:18:19,479 --> 01:18:23,600
Speaker 1: What changed? So I still don't know if I know

1400
01:18:24,600 --> 01:18:28,200
Speaker 1: for sure, I can only theorize right um, but my

1401
01:18:28,280 --> 01:18:31,280
Speaker 1: thoughts are this. I think that there's a ton of

1402
01:18:31,320 --> 01:18:33,320
Speaker 1: activity in the summer. We were there all over the place,

1403
01:18:33,439 --> 01:18:35,519
Speaker 1: filming all these things, having all these people see it.

1404
01:18:35,880 --> 01:18:37,320
Speaker 1: We were all over the place, so there was there

1405
01:18:37,360 --> 01:18:39,799
Speaker 1: was a whole lot of action there during the summer

1406
01:18:39,840 --> 01:18:43,200
Speaker 1: because of that. Then September comes, we get one mature

1407
01:18:43,240 --> 01:18:45,320
Speaker 1: buck that starts showing up on trail camera. That's the

1408
01:18:45,360 --> 01:18:49,439
Speaker 1: wide eight big body. Definitely an older deer, just a

1409
01:18:49,439 --> 01:18:52,240
Speaker 1: wide apart, not very much going from an antler girth standpoint,

1410
01:18:52,240 --> 01:18:54,559
Speaker 1: but I was stoked because it was definitely a mature

1411
01:18:54,640 --> 01:18:58,360
Speaker 1: deer and that's what I was shooting for. So we

1412
01:18:58,439 --> 01:19:02,519
Speaker 1: had tried to do one basic improvement, basically weren't able

1413
01:19:02,560 --> 01:19:04,880
Speaker 1: to and we talked about this already, but UM, just

1414
01:19:04,920 --> 01:19:07,120
Speaker 1: to recap, just did not have time to do any

1415
01:19:07,240 --> 01:19:10,200
Speaker 1: really significant changes to the property because of the filming

1416
01:19:10,240 --> 01:19:13,000
Speaker 1: schedule and the logistics of everything. So all we basically

1417
01:19:13,040 --> 01:19:15,880
Speaker 1: got to do. We're plant some food plots, and the

1418
01:19:15,920 --> 01:19:18,320
Speaker 1: food plots were supposed to be a blend of a

1419
01:19:18,439 --> 01:19:21,639
Speaker 1: variety of different things UM that would provide a lot

1420
01:19:21,640 --> 01:19:24,360
Speaker 1: of attraction over the course of the whole hunting season

1421
01:19:24,439 --> 01:19:28,559
Speaker 1: and beyond UM. But I was trying a new way

1422
01:19:28,560 --> 01:19:30,800
Speaker 1: of planting. I was trying to do everything no till

1423
01:19:31,000 --> 01:19:33,720
Speaker 1: this year. So without diving too deep into that, it

1424
01:19:33,840 --> 01:19:36,519
Speaker 1: just it just amounted to a very different way of planning.

1425
01:19:36,560 --> 01:19:38,679
Speaker 1: Stuff that's better for the soil, better for the environment,

1426
01:19:39,040 --> 01:19:41,519
Speaker 1: better hopefully in a lot of different ways. But what

1427
01:19:41,640 --> 01:19:43,479
Speaker 1: ended up happening is that it didn't turn out very

1428
01:19:43,520 --> 01:19:46,519
Speaker 1: good for me. In the back fort you most most

1429
01:19:46,560 --> 01:19:48,960
Speaker 1: of the blend that I planted did not come up.

1430
01:19:49,280 --> 01:19:54,240
Speaker 1: I basically just got some cereal grains like oats came up, um,

1431
01:19:54,280 --> 01:19:57,320
Speaker 1: and that was kind of it. And oats are attractive

1432
01:19:57,360 --> 01:20:00,240
Speaker 1: earlier in the year, they're typically not very track div

1433
01:20:00,400 --> 01:20:02,599
Speaker 1: later in the year. Now that can be different based

1434
01:20:02,600 --> 01:20:06,479
Speaker 1: on where you're at. But for me, um, that's it's

1435
01:20:06,520 --> 01:20:10,560
Speaker 1: just not a home run once you get into November later. Well,

1436
01:20:10,600 --> 01:20:12,320
Speaker 1: that's all we had though so early in the season,

1437
01:20:12,320 --> 01:20:14,720
Speaker 1: Early in October, there was a decent number of does

1438
01:20:14,800 --> 01:20:17,320
Speaker 1: feeding in those fields. I got some trail camera pictures

1439
01:20:17,320 --> 01:20:19,519
Speaker 1: of the Wide eight feeding in those fields. I thought

1440
01:20:19,560 --> 01:20:22,320
Speaker 1: it was gonna be good. Like you said, I was feeling, okay,

1441
01:20:22,400 --> 01:20:24,120
Speaker 1: we're coming along. Stuff is only going to get better

1442
01:20:24,160 --> 01:20:26,559
Speaker 1: as we get into the rut. But as we got

1443
01:20:26,640 --> 01:20:28,760
Speaker 1: towards the rut, as the pre rud arrived, and once

1444
01:20:28,800 --> 01:20:32,840
Speaker 1: the rut got cranking, fewer and fewer and fewer deer

1445
01:20:32,880 --> 01:20:36,799
Speaker 1: being sighted. UM just did not seem any deer at all. Now,

1446
01:20:37,000 --> 01:20:39,360
Speaker 1: we never saw a ton of deer out there. Um,

1447
01:20:39,400 --> 01:20:42,000
Speaker 1: But I think here's the things that could be to blame.

1448
01:20:42,920 --> 01:20:45,840
Speaker 1: Number One, we just didn't have enough good food on

1449
01:20:45,880 --> 01:20:49,120
Speaker 1: the farm. We had that basically those oats, we didn't

1450
01:20:49,120 --> 01:20:52,040
Speaker 1: have a lot of implanted, and they very quickly went

1451
01:20:52,080 --> 01:20:54,439
Speaker 1: from like a decent food source to a food source

1452
01:20:54,479 --> 01:20:56,519
Speaker 1: that deer weren't really hitting very much at all. I'm

1453
01:20:56,600 --> 01:20:59,160
Speaker 1: used to hunting spots with, you know, food source that

1454
01:20:59,160 --> 01:21:00,800
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a good umber of deer, a good

1455
01:21:00,880 --> 01:21:02,960
Speaker 1: number of dos passing through every day in the morning,

1456
01:21:02,960 --> 01:21:04,599
Speaker 1: every day and the evening, coming in and out, coming

1457
01:21:04,600 --> 01:21:08,840
Speaker 1: in and out. Um. Something here you would hunt what

1458
01:21:09,000 --> 01:21:12,000
Speaker 1: looks like a terrific food source and you see one

1459
01:21:12,040 --> 01:21:15,160
Speaker 1: dear day or something like that, and and we're I'm

1460
01:21:15,200 --> 01:21:17,439
Speaker 1: hunting it as much as I possibly can. Notice is

1461
01:21:17,880 --> 01:21:19,799
Speaker 1: this is a new thing for me. It's hard because

1462
01:21:20,120 --> 01:21:22,960
Speaker 1: it's not just me hunting. It's me and a cameraman.

1463
01:21:23,320 --> 01:21:25,519
Speaker 1: And on all of our hunts so far, there's also

1464
01:21:25,560 --> 01:21:28,960
Speaker 1: been a guest and a cameraman every time. So you've

1465
01:21:28,960 --> 01:21:31,160
Speaker 1: got four guys going in and out of this property

1466
01:21:31,160 --> 01:21:35,840
Speaker 1: every time you hunt. Um, which made an impact. I'm

1467
01:21:35,880 --> 01:21:39,000
Speaker 1: sure we did everything I possibly could to reduce the impact,

1468
01:21:39,280 --> 01:21:41,519
Speaker 1: but I'm sure it made an impact. So that's happening.

1469
01:21:42,240 --> 01:21:43,800
Speaker 1: And then we're just not seeing these deer like I

1470
01:21:43,840 --> 01:21:45,720
Speaker 1: thought we would. And I think it's number one. The

1471
01:21:45,760 --> 01:21:48,120
Speaker 1: food source we have was not very attractive compared to

1472
01:21:48,160 --> 01:21:50,720
Speaker 1: what was around us. Around me is a lot of

1473
01:21:50,760 --> 01:21:53,200
Speaker 1: good properties with a lot of guys that are managing

1474
01:21:53,240 --> 01:21:55,559
Speaker 1: deer I've come to find, and a lot of people

1475
01:21:55,560 --> 01:21:58,599
Speaker 1: with great food plots. And then secondly, just like you

1476
01:21:58,640 --> 01:22:02,519
Speaker 1: have thought, thousands of acres of standing corn all around us,

1477
01:22:03,400 --> 01:22:07,200
Speaker 1: so on three different sides are standing corn fields just

1478
01:22:07,280 --> 01:22:10,000
Speaker 1: off of the neighboring property sort of, so I can't

1479
01:22:10,080 --> 01:22:11,720
Speaker 1: hunt the edge of the standing corn where you might

1480
01:22:11,760 --> 01:22:14,559
Speaker 1: be able to take advantage of something, um, but it's there,

1481
01:22:14,920 --> 01:22:17,400
Speaker 1: so there's not much betting on our farm. Our farm

1482
01:22:17,800 --> 01:22:20,639
Speaker 1: secondly has these big open fields that I was hoping

1483
01:22:20,840 --> 01:22:23,639
Speaker 1: would grow in and be thick and hopefully still get

1484
01:22:23,720 --> 01:22:26,080
Speaker 1: used by deer even this year before we get to

1485
01:22:26,080 --> 01:22:30,240
Speaker 1: improve them. Turns out there pretty much deer deserts right now. Um,

1486
01:22:30,400 --> 01:22:34,040
Speaker 1: no deer betting in them. Very few deer passed through them,

1487
01:22:34,120 --> 01:22:37,840
Speaker 1: so more than fifty the farm is this desert. All

1488
01:22:37,880 --> 01:22:41,600
Speaker 1: we had is this swamp, um And and so I

1489
01:22:41,640 --> 01:22:43,479
Speaker 1: could hunt the swamp some and I did, and that's

1490
01:22:43,479 --> 01:22:47,320
Speaker 1: where I ultimately had some success. But I couldn't take

1491
01:22:47,320 --> 01:22:48,840
Speaker 1: the guests in there because all the guests had to

1492
01:22:48,920 --> 01:22:52,800
Speaker 1: hunt from ground blinds. Um. You can't see anything in

1493
01:22:52,840 --> 01:22:55,719
Speaker 1: there from a ground blind. So there was different challenges

1494
01:22:55,760 --> 01:22:57,080
Speaker 1: like that as I was trying to balance all the

1495
01:22:57,080 --> 01:22:59,679
Speaker 1: different things going on. But I think the standing corner

1496
01:22:59,760 --> 01:23:02,240
Speaker 1: was a was a big factor. I think not having

1497
01:23:02,320 --> 01:23:05,040
Speaker 1: quality food on the farm was a factor, because there's

1498
01:23:05,040 --> 01:23:07,920
Speaker 1: so much of it everywhere else. Um, the old fields

1499
01:23:07,920 --> 01:23:11,200
Speaker 1: being a desert were a factor. Having this increased amount

1500
01:23:11,240 --> 01:23:13,559
Speaker 1: of impact compared to what I typically do was probably

1501
01:23:13,600 --> 01:23:17,880
Speaker 1: a factor. And then I don't know, maybe it's just

1502
01:23:18,840 --> 01:23:20,920
Speaker 1: I honestly don't know. I honestly don't know what else

1503
01:23:20,920 --> 01:23:22,400
Speaker 1: it could be. But those are the theories I have

1504
01:23:22,520 --> 01:23:26,559
Speaker 1: so far. Um. That led me to the point where October,

1505
01:23:28,160 --> 01:23:30,880
Speaker 1: which are historically pretty darn good days around here, at

1506
01:23:30,920 --> 01:23:33,719
Speaker 1: least for seeing young bucks bumping around and doing things,

1507
01:23:33,840 --> 01:23:39,439
Speaker 1: we saw almost nothing. Yeah. That was very disappointing. Yeah,

1508
01:23:39,479 --> 01:23:42,439
Speaker 1: so that whole thing was frustrating. But then so that happened.

1509
01:23:42,439 --> 01:23:44,160
Speaker 1: But I said, okay, that's all right. It's back to

1510
01:23:44,360 --> 01:23:47,640
Speaker 1: my other main Michigan property, which in late October it's

1511
01:23:47,720 --> 01:23:50,000
Speaker 1: usually the very best time of year on this farm.

1512
01:23:50,240 --> 01:23:52,719
Speaker 1: I've had all sorts of good encounters with mature bucks

1513
01:23:52,840 --> 01:23:55,360
Speaker 1: at that time of year on this farm. Feeling good,

1514
01:23:55,760 --> 01:23:57,479
Speaker 1: I just said, okay, it's time to get serious about

1515
01:23:57,479 --> 01:23:59,680
Speaker 1: trying to kill Tran. I basically left him alone the

1516
01:23:59,720 --> 01:24:01,960
Speaker 1: whole month of October other than the very the very

1517
01:24:02,040 --> 01:24:06,519
Speaker 1: very beginning. Now it's time to get after him. Um,

1518
01:24:06,720 --> 01:24:09,720
Speaker 1: and I will fast forward through the whole last week

1519
01:24:09,720 --> 01:24:12,519
Speaker 1: of October and basically tell you that nothing worked out.

1520
01:24:12,560 --> 01:24:15,040
Speaker 1: I didn't see him, wasn't seeing him, wasn't seeing any

1521
01:24:15,040 --> 01:24:16,680
Speaker 1: of the mature bucks, wasn't seeing any kind of pre

1522
01:24:16,760 --> 01:24:20,360
Speaker 1: rep behavior. UM. I wasn't diving into betting years or anything.

1523
01:24:20,400 --> 01:24:23,920
Speaker 1: I was still playing it safer. Um. But that was

1524
01:24:23,960 --> 01:24:27,560
Speaker 1: disappointing as well. Just wasn't happening for me. Around the

1525
01:24:27,600 --> 01:24:30,479
Speaker 1: same time, I also started looking at some more pictures

1526
01:24:30,520 --> 01:24:33,040
Speaker 1: of this other buck I was seeing on the farm.

1527
01:24:33,080 --> 01:24:34,600
Speaker 1: So I told you about that big nine point I

1528
01:24:34,640 --> 01:24:37,120
Speaker 1: passed on. I know about Tran He's the four and

1529
01:24:37,160 --> 01:24:38,679
Speaker 1: a half year old that I definitely want to shoot.

1530
01:24:38,760 --> 01:24:40,920
Speaker 1: He's a four year old, big eight porn er, two

1531
01:24:41,000 --> 01:24:44,040
Speaker 1: years of history. But then there's a third deer, and

1532
01:24:44,080 --> 01:24:45,880
Speaker 1: this third deer showed up a lot during the summer.

1533
01:24:45,880 --> 01:24:47,559
Speaker 1: He was the first buck I got on trail camera

1534
01:24:47,560 --> 01:24:51,000
Speaker 1: in the summer, may probably the most consistent on camera,

1535
01:24:51,240 --> 01:24:54,920
Speaker 1: most consistent to see out in the fields. And we

1536
01:24:54,960 --> 01:24:58,440
Speaker 1: started calling him r B, which is short for risky business,

1537
01:24:58,479 --> 01:25:00,720
Speaker 1: because he was going to be he was gonna be

1538
01:25:00,760 --> 01:25:02,400
Speaker 1: a buck that came in and you'd really want to

1539
01:25:02,400 --> 01:25:04,559
Speaker 1: shoot him, but he's probably just a three year old,

1540
01:25:04,760 --> 01:25:07,040
Speaker 1: and I really wanted to try to hold out for

1541
01:25:07,040 --> 01:25:09,800
Speaker 1: four year old this year, specifically Tran. If not Tran,

1542
01:25:09,880 --> 01:25:12,000
Speaker 1: then a buck that's like a no brainer. Yes, he's

1543
01:25:12,000 --> 01:25:15,800
Speaker 1: a mature four year older buck. Um in this buck

1544
01:25:15,960 --> 01:25:18,479
Speaker 1: in the summer, I'm thinking, Okay, he's three. But then

1545
01:25:18,479 --> 01:25:21,599
Speaker 1: I'm looking at trail camera pictures in middle and late October,

1546
01:25:21,720 --> 01:25:23,439
Speaker 1: and now I'm thinking, man, he looks like he's got

1547
01:25:23,439 --> 01:25:26,880
Speaker 1: a bigger body. Maybe he is four. And I'm thinking

1548
01:25:26,880 --> 01:25:31,479
Speaker 1: I'm back and forth, back and forth, and basically this

1549
01:25:31,520 --> 01:25:33,799
Speaker 1: whole last week of October, I keep on looking at pictures.

1550
01:25:33,840 --> 01:25:35,400
Speaker 1: I'm like, if he shows up and if he looks

1551
01:25:35,439 --> 01:25:37,799
Speaker 1: like a tank, I might have to shoot him, um,

1552
01:25:37,840 --> 01:25:40,000
Speaker 1: because he might be I don't know. And then I

1553
01:25:40,040 --> 01:25:42,080
Speaker 1: go back and I look at other trail camera pictures

1554
01:25:42,080 --> 01:25:44,400
Speaker 1: from last year, and I see a buck last year

1555
01:25:45,040 --> 01:25:46,840
Speaker 1: that really looks like it could be this dear, But

1556
01:25:46,880 --> 01:25:49,040
Speaker 1: he was definitely two year old last year. There's no

1557
01:25:49,080 --> 01:25:50,559
Speaker 1: way he could be a three year old last year.

1558
01:25:50,800 --> 01:25:52,599
Speaker 1: So now I'm thinking, Okay, no, he's got to be three.

1559
01:25:53,000 --> 01:25:54,479
Speaker 1: But then you know the next day that I'm like,

1560
01:25:54,520 --> 01:25:56,000
Speaker 1: but maybe it's not him, And so I just had

1561
01:25:56,000 --> 01:25:59,240
Speaker 1: this whole thing going on in my head. Halloween arrives,

1562
01:25:59,720 --> 01:26:02,599
Speaker 1: snow storm hits. I see Tran for the first time

1563
01:26:02,720 --> 01:26:06,160
Speaker 1: during hunting season. Basically, he's on the neighbors. He chases

1564
01:26:06,200 --> 01:26:08,680
Speaker 1: a dough towards me. The dough turns runs out into

1565
01:26:08,680 --> 01:26:13,280
Speaker 1: a field across the way. He follows her. Very exciting. Uh,

1566
01:26:13,439 --> 01:26:16,040
Speaker 1: finally got to see the buck I'm after, But you know,

1567
01:26:16,120 --> 01:26:19,360
Speaker 1: it wasn't really in the thread of actually shooting him.

1568
01:26:19,439 --> 01:26:21,920
Speaker 1: November one arrives. Now it's time to get serious about

1569
01:26:21,960 --> 01:26:24,120
Speaker 1: getting into those betting areas. And I will say one

1570
01:26:24,120 --> 01:26:27,400
Speaker 1: of the nice things for me, um over the last

1571
01:26:27,479 --> 01:26:30,400
Speaker 1: year or two, definitely this year, sort of like you said,

1572
01:26:30,400 --> 01:26:33,080
Speaker 1: that good feeling you get when you start to realize,

1573
01:26:33,080 --> 01:26:37,360
Speaker 1: like my strategy works, things are clicking, I'm figuring things out. Um.

1574
01:26:37,400 --> 01:26:39,720
Speaker 1: So this property I've talked about, I talked about a

1575
01:26:39,800 --> 01:26:42,559
Speaker 1: lot over the years, but it's it's an eighties seven

1576
01:26:42,600 --> 01:26:44,960
Speaker 1: acre farm, of which about half of it is the

1577
01:26:44,960 --> 01:26:48,160
Speaker 1: big open fields. So I've got like forty acres of

1578
01:26:48,160 --> 01:26:52,519
Speaker 1: like huntable stuff that's either some swamp or edges of

1579
01:26:52,560 --> 01:26:54,240
Speaker 1: the little of the edges of the field that I

1580
01:26:54,240 --> 01:26:58,120
Speaker 1: can hunt, or some grassy stuff or some kind of

1581
01:26:58,600 --> 01:27:00,920
Speaker 1: thin strips of timber that poke out into that field.

1582
01:27:00,960 --> 01:27:03,920
Speaker 1: That's what this farm looks like. Um. The early years

1583
01:27:03,920 --> 01:27:06,599
Speaker 1: I hunted here, I hunted a lot of field edge,

1584
01:27:06,880 --> 01:27:09,400
Speaker 1: some of the food plots, and you know, it had

1585
01:27:09,439 --> 01:27:11,680
Speaker 1: some sightings, has some encounters, but wasn't getting a lot

1586
01:27:11,680 --> 01:27:14,000
Speaker 1: of shot opportunities at the old buck or two that

1587
01:27:14,080 --> 01:27:17,280
Speaker 1: might be out there. Finally I started realizing where these

1588
01:27:17,320 --> 01:27:19,800
Speaker 1: best dough betting areas are on the back of the farm.

1589
01:27:19,920 --> 01:27:22,960
Speaker 1: And now every year for the past few years, I've

1590
01:27:22,960 --> 01:27:24,879
Speaker 1: been putting my time in back there. In the mornings

1591
01:27:25,200 --> 01:27:28,080
Speaker 1: and I'm having encounters and getting shots at better deer.

1592
01:27:28,479 --> 01:27:30,599
Speaker 1: And so that's what happened on the morning November one.

1593
01:27:30,720 --> 01:27:34,240
Speaker 1: I sat back at the down one side of one

1594
01:27:34,240 --> 01:27:36,240
Speaker 1: of these doe betting ears, kind of where a whole

1595
01:27:36,240 --> 01:27:38,120
Speaker 1: lot of movement pinches in where there's kind of a

1596
01:27:38,160 --> 01:27:41,000
Speaker 1: chunk of timber and swamp on the south side, and

1597
01:27:41,040 --> 01:27:43,040
Speaker 1: then a thin strip of timber in the middle with

1598
01:27:43,200 --> 01:27:44,960
Speaker 1: its some dough betting in it, and then a bigger

1599
01:27:45,040 --> 01:27:47,400
Speaker 1: chunk of timber to the north. And so it's it's

1600
01:27:47,439 --> 01:27:49,799
Speaker 1: down wine of a doe betting ear and a pinch,

1601
01:27:50,520 --> 01:27:53,800
Speaker 1: and it's it's dynamite because of that. So I see

1602
01:27:53,800 --> 01:27:56,320
Speaker 1: a lot of young bucks coming through. Everything that passes

1603
01:27:56,320 --> 01:27:58,879
Speaker 1: through this area comes within range. I mean, it's perfect.

1604
01:27:59,360 --> 01:28:02,599
Speaker 1: And I see a big set of antlers coming through

1605
01:28:02,640 --> 01:28:05,360
Speaker 1: the timber towards me, but kind of angling away. I

1606
01:28:05,400 --> 01:28:07,840
Speaker 1: fire off a grunt, and that deer turns and starts

1607
01:28:07,840 --> 01:28:11,800
Speaker 1: walking right at me and look back. Best feeling that

1608
01:28:11,960 --> 01:28:15,320
Speaker 1: is the best feeling where that contact grunt and they're

1609
01:28:15,360 --> 01:28:21,479
Speaker 1: just like that over there, crap here we go. Um.

1610
01:28:21,600 --> 01:28:23,360
Speaker 1: And so that's exactly what happened. I pull a buy

1611
01:28:23,439 --> 01:28:25,720
Speaker 1: nose to get a better looking like, oh, it's RB.

1612
01:28:26,520 --> 01:28:28,439
Speaker 1: And then the next thought I have is, oh, ship,

1613
01:28:28,560 --> 01:28:31,479
Speaker 1: what am I gonna do? And he's coming on a string,

1614
01:28:31,560 --> 01:28:34,120
Speaker 1: and I'm like, ah, what am I doing right now?

1615
01:28:34,800 --> 01:28:36,439
Speaker 1: Should I shoot him? Should I pass him? Shuld I

1616
01:28:36,439 --> 01:28:38,360
Speaker 1: shoot him? Shory to pass him? I grabbed my bow.

1617
01:28:38,560 --> 01:28:41,360
Speaker 1: He's getting closer. I get set, I get lined up.

1618
01:28:41,439 --> 01:28:43,479
Speaker 1: Should I shoot him? Should I pass him? Should shoot him?

1619
01:28:43,479 --> 01:28:46,000
Speaker 1: Should I pass him? He's at thirty yards, he's at

1620
01:28:46,000 --> 01:28:48,120
Speaker 1: twenty five yards. He steps into my shooting lane. At

1621
01:28:48,160 --> 01:28:50,320
Speaker 1: twenty yards. I draw back. I put the pin behind

1622
01:28:50,320 --> 01:28:54,639
Speaker 1: his shoulder. Should I shoot him? Should I pass him?

1623
01:28:54,680 --> 01:28:57,080
Speaker 1: And I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger

1624
01:28:57,400 --> 01:28:59,400
Speaker 1: because if I pull the trigger, I'm done. I'm not.

1625
01:28:59,439 --> 01:29:02,280
Speaker 1: I don't ever want to take two bucks off this farm,

1626
01:29:02,320 --> 01:29:04,320
Speaker 1: and I know I wanted to save a tag for

1627
01:29:04,360 --> 01:29:07,080
Speaker 1: the back forty still, so I was basically, I've got

1628
01:29:07,080 --> 01:29:09,160
Speaker 1: one buck on this property, and if I shoot RB,

1629
01:29:09,360 --> 01:29:11,320
Speaker 1: that means the hunt for trains done. And I just

1630
01:29:11,920 --> 01:29:14,200
Speaker 1: in that moment, I just couldn't. I didn't want that

1631
01:29:14,240 --> 01:29:16,720
Speaker 1: to be case. So I let him go and he

1632
01:29:16,760 --> 01:29:18,840
Speaker 1: walks through, and man does he looked good. Though. As

1633
01:29:18,880 --> 01:29:21,600
Speaker 1: he walks away, I'm like, oh my gosh, you know

1634
01:29:21,760 --> 01:29:25,120
Speaker 1: he he's He's got a pretty good sized body on him.

1635
01:29:25,520 --> 01:29:28,519
Speaker 1: He's a really nice ten pointer. He might be like

1636
01:29:28,600 --> 01:29:33,360
Speaker 1: mid one thirties ten pointer in Michigan. He'd be one

1637
01:29:33,360 --> 01:29:36,120
Speaker 1: of my biggest bucks in Michigan ever, a buck that

1638
01:29:36,240 --> 01:29:39,200
Speaker 1: pretty much anyone in this state would you know, their

1639
01:29:39,320 --> 01:29:42,439
Speaker 1: draw dropped for most guys. Um. And So I'm sitting

1640
01:29:42,479 --> 01:29:45,880
Speaker 1: there thinking, am I the stupidest person in the world?

1641
01:29:46,120 --> 01:29:48,680
Speaker 1: I just do that? But at the same time, you know,

1642
01:29:49,600 --> 01:29:56,240
Speaker 1: I just I wanted to still hunt Tram. So that happened. Um.

1643
01:29:56,280 --> 01:29:58,919
Speaker 1: I will fast forward from there. That great encounter happened,

1644
01:29:59,240 --> 01:30:02,599
Speaker 1: still chasing Ran. Next day, have an encounter with Tran.

1645
01:30:02,960 --> 01:30:05,280
Speaker 1: This was my best encounter with Trand up to that point,

1646
01:30:05,320 --> 01:30:08,240
Speaker 1: and really for the rest of the season. I move

1647
01:30:08,680 --> 01:30:11,360
Speaker 1: about a hundred yards from that location to the down

1648
01:30:11,439 --> 01:30:14,160
Speaker 1: one side of another betting area that's kind of there's

1649
01:30:13,960 --> 01:30:16,400
Speaker 1: a sort of a line of dough betting ears on

1650
01:30:16,400 --> 01:30:19,040
Speaker 1: this property and I just hunt on the downwind side

1651
01:30:19,040 --> 01:30:21,800
Speaker 1: of this line, and in various points you're gonna get

1652
01:30:21,800 --> 01:30:23,519
Speaker 1: bucks to come cruising through there. And there's a few

1653
01:30:23,640 --> 01:30:27,000
Speaker 1: kind of pinches where the travel gets narrowed down a

1654
01:30:27,000 --> 01:30:29,640
Speaker 1: little bit more. I hunted one where I had that

1655
01:30:29,760 --> 01:30:32,400
Speaker 1: RB encounter. I moved up to the next one for

1656
01:30:32,439 --> 01:30:35,640
Speaker 1: the next day. And first thing in the morning, I

1657
01:30:35,800 --> 01:30:38,240
Speaker 1: hear some noise behind me. I look. I see Tran

1658
01:30:38,439 --> 01:30:40,960
Speaker 1: like forty yards away in this really thick stuff. I

1659
01:30:41,000 --> 01:30:42,960
Speaker 1: can't shoot into it, it's not even shooting like yet,

1660
01:30:42,960 --> 01:30:46,600
Speaker 1: but I see him on the Colie crab. Um. The

1661
01:30:46,640 --> 01:30:48,959
Speaker 1: basic gist of this, I think I think I mentioned

1662
01:30:49,320 --> 01:30:53,599
Speaker 1: this story already to Spencer on a rut Fresh radio episode. Um.

1663
01:30:53,640 --> 01:30:57,200
Speaker 1: Basically gist of it is that he ended up being

1664
01:30:57,200 --> 01:31:00,120
Speaker 1: in this thick, nasty stuff just behind me with a oh,

1665
01:31:00,960 --> 01:31:04,479
Speaker 1: and he popped out eventually, maybe twenty minutes later, and

1666
01:31:04,520 --> 01:31:06,719
Speaker 1: I can see him now. Finally he's at like forty

1667
01:31:06,720 --> 01:31:09,080
Speaker 1: five or fifty yards and he's locked on a doll

1668
01:31:10,040 --> 01:31:12,120
Speaker 1: and nothing I could do was going to get him

1669
01:31:12,160 --> 01:31:14,240
Speaker 1: to come the next ten fifty yards to get closer

1670
01:31:14,280 --> 01:31:16,400
Speaker 1: to me. And he followed that dough off into the

1671
01:31:16,439 --> 01:31:20,639
Speaker 1: neighbors and then he circled back and chased, surprisingly, chased

1672
01:31:20,640 --> 01:31:23,360
Speaker 1: a group of four doughs towards me. Got to like

1673
01:31:23,560 --> 01:31:28,720
Speaker 1: forty five forty and but no shot opportunity and then

1674
01:31:28,720 --> 01:31:31,120
Speaker 1: stopped and turned and went back towards that original doll

1675
01:31:31,680 --> 01:31:34,200
Speaker 1: and and that was that was this one really close

1676
01:31:34,240 --> 01:31:36,639
Speaker 1: and call with tray and I thought, man, it's gonna happen.

1677
01:31:36,640 --> 01:31:39,200
Speaker 1: When he came in that second time, he looks amazing.

1678
01:31:39,320 --> 01:31:43,280
Speaker 1: I mean, just a huge mainframe eight pointer um at

1679
01:31:43,320 --> 01:31:47,240
Speaker 1: least for around here. And it was really exciting. Not

1680
01:31:47,280 --> 01:31:51,439
Speaker 1: click close enough and uh and then you know I

1681
01:31:51,479 --> 01:31:56,040
Speaker 1: re positioned. Was this a like that was the closest

1682
01:31:56,080 --> 01:31:58,560
Speaker 1: that you got to him? That was the closest I

1683
01:31:58,640 --> 01:32:02,200
Speaker 1: ever did end up getting to him. So like yards

1684
01:32:02,280 --> 01:32:05,439
Speaker 1: is probably about where he was at um at forty

1685
01:32:05,439 --> 01:32:08,120
Speaker 1: five yards at all? Did he have an opening? Oh

1686
01:32:08,240 --> 01:32:12,000
Speaker 1: could have shot him at forty five years? No, because

1687
01:32:12,040 --> 01:32:15,240
Speaker 1: he came he came running in facing me and then

1688
01:32:15,280 --> 01:32:17,880
Speaker 1: immediately spun away and went the other way. Um because

1689
01:32:17,920 --> 01:32:20,240
Speaker 1: he was chasing those four doors and so ran behind

1690
01:32:20,240 --> 01:32:22,679
Speaker 1: the doors, stopped turning, ran right back towards the original

1691
01:32:22,720 --> 01:32:26,479
Speaker 1: though he was with UM. So no, I think the

1692
01:32:26,479 --> 01:32:28,200
Speaker 1: only time I really could taken a shot, and I

1693
01:32:28,280 --> 01:32:30,080
Speaker 1: would never shoot this far. But he like he was

1694
01:32:30,120 --> 01:32:32,600
Speaker 1: broadside at sixty just standing there with the dough for

1695
01:32:32,640 --> 01:32:36,320
Speaker 1: a long time, um, but never presented a real shot

1696
01:32:36,439 --> 01:32:40,880
Speaker 1: um within my range. So I moved that next day.

1697
01:32:40,920 --> 01:32:43,840
Speaker 1: That day, I got down from the tree, ran back,

1698
01:32:44,520 --> 01:32:46,960
Speaker 1: got went to my house, got a got a saddle

1699
01:32:46,960 --> 01:32:50,719
Speaker 1: and sticks, came back in there and repositioned thirty yards

1700
01:32:50,760 --> 01:32:52,840
Speaker 1: to get to where those deer had been coming in

1701
01:32:52,840 --> 01:32:54,800
Speaker 1: and out. I hoped that that same dough would start

1702
01:32:54,920 --> 01:32:57,200
Speaker 1: cycle back in and give me a shot. This time

1703
01:32:57,360 --> 01:33:02,439
Speaker 1: didn't happen. Um. Then I had to leave the next day.

1704
01:33:02,640 --> 01:33:04,800
Speaker 1: I think it was because that was when we were

1705
01:33:04,800 --> 01:33:08,439
Speaker 1: gonna start filming on the back forty um. So that

1706
01:33:08,520 --> 01:33:10,920
Speaker 1: was a bummer. But I'll skip what happened in the

1707
01:33:10,920 --> 01:33:13,840
Speaker 1: back for you to continue the trans story. Um. So

1708
01:33:13,880 --> 01:33:16,759
Speaker 1: I took a seven day break in the middle because

1709
01:33:16,800 --> 01:33:18,840
Speaker 1: we had a scheduled time with the camera crew to

1710
01:33:18,840 --> 01:33:21,320
Speaker 1: be at the back forty um. So I told you

1711
01:33:21,360 --> 01:33:23,439
Speaker 1: what happened with my dad. Had that happened, I had

1712
01:33:23,560 --> 01:33:25,719
Speaker 1: four or five days. I got to hunt myself and

1713
01:33:25,760 --> 01:33:28,439
Speaker 1: another guy that O'Brien was there hunting too, So that

1714
01:33:28,479 --> 01:33:34,960
Speaker 1: all happens I come back. It's maybe the I don't know. Um. Well, no,

1715
01:33:35,120 --> 01:33:36,680
Speaker 1: this is when I took two days off to get

1716
01:33:36,720 --> 01:33:40,080
Speaker 1: back with the family. Took two days, tried to you know,

1717
01:33:40,120 --> 01:33:42,479
Speaker 1: help our around the house, just get the family feeling good.

1718
01:33:43,960 --> 01:33:48,040
Speaker 1: And one of those nights I was of course there

1719
01:33:48,080 --> 01:33:49,639
Speaker 1: were the family, but I had to at least try

1720
01:33:49,640 --> 01:33:52,320
Speaker 1: to glass one of the fields one night. So I

1721
01:33:52,360 --> 01:33:54,639
Speaker 1: get out there in glass of field and Tran comes

1722
01:33:54,640 --> 01:33:56,960
Speaker 1: out on the night of the tenth bumping does around.

1723
01:33:57,040 --> 01:34:00,240
Speaker 1: I'm like, ah, he's there, and I was exciting of

1724
01:34:00,280 --> 01:34:03,280
Speaker 1: one of your stands. Let me think about this, Nah,

1725
01:34:03,640 --> 01:34:07,559
Speaker 1: not really. Um, if I had sat that infamous hay

1726
01:34:07,560 --> 01:34:10,880
Speaker 1: bail blind, I probably could have maybe kind of if

1727
01:34:10,920 --> 01:34:12,400
Speaker 1: I shot, if I sat in the poop blind and

1728
01:34:12,439 --> 01:34:15,400
Speaker 1: maybe would have had a long shot at him. Um,

1729
01:34:15,439 --> 01:34:18,360
Speaker 1: but not like a gimme shot. But he was definitely

1730
01:34:18,360 --> 01:34:21,599
Speaker 1: in the zone. UM. So then I get back out

1731
01:34:21,640 --> 01:34:25,360
Speaker 1: there the next day and I have now four days

1732
01:34:25,439 --> 01:34:29,800
Speaker 1: left before guns season, and I go back in the

1733
01:34:29,800 --> 01:34:32,640
Speaker 1: next morning to one of his betting areas and I

1734
01:34:32,680 --> 01:34:35,240
Speaker 1: see this dough behind me, and there's a whole bunch

1735
01:34:35,280 --> 01:34:37,320
Speaker 1: of different box kind of young bucks passing through and

1736
01:34:37,400 --> 01:34:39,599
Speaker 1: dos passing through. I'm down wind of this bedding dough

1737
01:34:39,640 --> 01:34:42,400
Speaker 1: betting here again, and I see this one dough behind me,

1738
01:34:42,680 --> 01:34:47,200
Speaker 1: and she's maybe forty five yards away, and I noticed her.

1739
01:34:47,720 --> 01:34:50,080
Speaker 1: She's just standing there, still kind of looking around, and

1740
01:34:50,120 --> 01:34:52,439
Speaker 1: so I looked a glass around or try to see

1741
01:34:52,479 --> 01:34:56,360
Speaker 1: is there is there buck falling behind hers? There buck there? Nothing? Nothing? Nothing, Okay,

1742
01:34:56,600 --> 01:34:58,800
Speaker 1: keep looking, there's other activity in front of me. I'm

1743
01:34:58,800 --> 01:35:01,360
Speaker 1: watching this. I'm watching this. I look back that dough

1744
01:35:01,479 --> 01:35:04,760
Speaker 1: still standing there. What's she doing? Look around, look around,

1745
01:35:04,880 --> 01:35:07,400
Speaker 1: can't see anything. Okay, Now I gotta focus back on

1746
01:35:07,439 --> 01:35:11,040
Speaker 1: the front again. Another young buck passes through. Well, I

1747
01:35:11,040 --> 01:35:13,639
Speaker 1: don't know how long this went on for maybe forty

1748
01:35:13,720 --> 01:35:16,240
Speaker 1: five minutes, an hour. Um. I look back there and

1749
01:35:16,280 --> 01:35:18,920
Speaker 1: that damn dough is still there, and I think, golly,

1750
01:35:20,120 --> 01:35:23,400
Speaker 1: that dough is acting like a locked down dough. She's

1751
01:35:23,439 --> 01:35:25,800
Speaker 1: acting like she's just standing here. The only time I

1752
01:35:25,840 --> 01:35:28,040
Speaker 1: ever see a dough just stand kind of in the open.

1753
01:35:28,680 --> 01:35:31,520
Speaker 1: She was right in the edge of the thicket. Um,

1754
01:35:31,720 --> 01:35:33,400
Speaker 1: is if she's you know, if a bucket the door

1755
01:35:33,479 --> 01:35:36,479
Speaker 1: locked down and she's just standing there, and I keep thinking, man,

1756
01:35:36,800 --> 01:35:38,240
Speaker 1: is there a buck standing with her? And I just

1757
01:35:38,280 --> 01:35:40,720
Speaker 1: can't see her. And as I have this thought, I

1758
01:35:40,760 --> 01:35:44,000
Speaker 1: pulled my binos again to look one more time, and

1759
01:35:44,040 --> 01:35:47,080
Speaker 1: there's a buck right behind her and it's tran and like,

1760
01:35:47,120 --> 01:35:50,000
Speaker 1: holy crap, there he is right there. But they're directly

1761
01:35:50,040 --> 01:35:52,639
Speaker 1: down wind of me. This is like the one area.

1762
01:35:52,680 --> 01:35:54,880
Speaker 1: Why not directly downwinded me, I guess it would be,

1763
01:35:54,880 --> 01:35:59,439
Speaker 1: but sort of downwind of me. And he she's been

1764
01:35:59,479 --> 01:36:02,760
Speaker 1: standing as whole time he is. I don't know if

1765
01:36:02,760 --> 01:36:04,160
Speaker 1: I don't What I don't know is if he had

1766
01:36:04,200 --> 01:36:06,439
Speaker 1: been there, was he standing with her but just inside

1767
01:36:06,439 --> 01:36:08,479
Speaker 1: the thick stuff this whole time and I never knew it,

1768
01:36:08,600 --> 01:36:10,680
Speaker 1: or was he just cruising through? And I happened to

1769
01:36:10,720 --> 01:36:12,519
Speaker 1: look that time that he passed through. I don't know

1770
01:36:12,560 --> 01:36:15,320
Speaker 1: which it was, but he I see him there for

1771
01:36:15,320 --> 01:36:18,719
Speaker 1: a second and he's walking straight away into the next

1772
01:36:18,760 --> 01:36:21,760
Speaker 1: betting area down and I can't grunt, h or do

1773
01:36:21,800 --> 01:36:24,120
Speaker 1: anything because just like you said, he's down winded me

1774
01:36:24,200 --> 01:36:26,200
Speaker 1: or very close to being down winto me. I don't

1775
01:36:26,200 --> 01:36:30,120
Speaker 1: want to encourage him to get spooped anymore. He disappears,

1776
01:36:30,680 --> 01:36:35,120
Speaker 1: um I continue to try to take stabs at him.

1777
01:36:35,160 --> 01:36:37,759
Speaker 1: I hunt these betting areas in the mornings in the evenings.

1778
01:36:37,760 --> 01:36:40,240
Speaker 1: There's two main food sources. There's a cut bean field

1779
01:36:40,360 --> 01:36:42,360
Speaker 1: on one side, of the farm. There's a standing corn

1780
01:36:42,360 --> 01:36:44,680
Speaker 1: field on the other side. I kind of bounced back

1781
01:36:44,680 --> 01:36:47,280
Speaker 1: and forth. If I saw him like those days, I

1782
01:36:47,280 --> 01:36:50,080
Speaker 1: saw him up in the north betting area, I would say, Okay,

1783
01:36:50,439 --> 01:36:52,000
Speaker 1: best chances he's gonna be with a do on the

1784
01:36:52,040 --> 01:36:54,320
Speaker 1: north side, they'll go to bean field. If I saw

1785
01:36:54,400 --> 01:36:56,280
Speaker 1: him in the south betting area, there's a slightly better

1786
01:36:56,400 --> 01:36:58,400
Speaker 1: chance he might come out with her to the south

1787
01:36:58,640 --> 01:37:00,360
Speaker 1: field there in the corn fields to try to hunt

1788
01:37:00,400 --> 01:37:03,320
Speaker 1: closer to that. I ended up seeing him one more night,

1789
01:37:03,720 --> 01:37:08,200
Speaker 1: um off the north field in the neighbor's betting area

1790
01:37:09,040 --> 01:37:13,040
Speaker 1: and nothing that I could possibly take a shot at.

1791
01:37:13,080 --> 01:37:15,920
Speaker 1: I actually saw him on the neighbor's betting area game

1792
01:37:16,000 --> 01:37:19,479
Speaker 1: a grunt and he circled several hundred yards, and I

1793
01:37:19,520 --> 01:37:22,040
Speaker 1: can I can see him multiple different times because he's

1794
01:37:22,080 --> 01:37:26,160
Speaker 1: passing through brushes and uh autumnile bushes and different crap

1795
01:37:26,240 --> 01:37:28,559
Speaker 1: like that. So he disappears and he shows up, the disappears,

1796
01:37:28,560 --> 01:37:30,280
Speaker 1: shows up, and you could see him go all the

1797
01:37:30,320 --> 01:37:32,840
Speaker 1: way from almost due north of me to all the

1798
01:37:32,840 --> 01:37:36,479
Speaker 1: way almost due south to get down wind, so he

1799
01:37:36,560 --> 01:37:38,880
Speaker 1: passes towards last time I saw him, he was heading

1800
01:37:38,920 --> 01:37:40,920
Speaker 1: towards my down one side. I couldn't see my down

1801
01:37:40,960 --> 01:37:45,120
Speaker 1: one side, um because there's some thick stuff there and uh,

1802
01:37:45,280 --> 01:37:49,000
Speaker 1: he probably went down windo me. I don't know. UM,

1803
01:37:49,040 --> 01:37:52,639
Speaker 1: So that was disappointing. And this takes me to my

1804
01:37:52,880 --> 01:38:00,240
Speaker 1: last morning, my last day, I think, and maybe I

1805
01:38:00,479 --> 01:38:02,240
Speaker 1: can't remember if the encounter I'm about to tell you

1806
01:38:02,280 --> 01:38:04,439
Speaker 1: what happened on the morning of the thirteenth, of the

1807
01:38:04,479 --> 01:38:07,000
Speaker 1: morning of the fourteen. But um, there's basically two more

1808
01:38:07,080 --> 01:38:11,280
Speaker 1: encounters worth mentioning. This one is back down window that

1809
01:38:11,360 --> 01:38:14,000
Speaker 1: doughe betting year that I first talked about, um, where

1810
01:38:14,000 --> 01:38:17,679
Speaker 1: I passed on RB on November one. I go back

1811
01:38:17,720 --> 01:38:20,599
Speaker 1: there again. It's I think, probably my best spot because

1812
01:38:20,600 --> 01:38:22,519
Speaker 1: it's down one of the Doe betting year and it's

1813
01:38:22,520 --> 01:38:24,599
Speaker 1: the best little pinch I have their sorts. So I've

1814
01:38:24,960 --> 01:38:27,519
Speaker 1: kind of came to see this year that there's if

1815
01:38:28,040 --> 01:38:29,680
Speaker 1: if it's gonna happen, that's one of the very best

1816
01:38:29,760 --> 01:38:31,720
Speaker 1: chances of where it might happen. So I'm sitting there

1817
01:38:31,720 --> 01:38:35,000
Speaker 1: again and I look behind me and I see a

1818
01:38:35,000 --> 01:38:37,880
Speaker 1: big rack coming my way. I get excited, pulled the

1819
01:38:37,880 --> 01:38:42,920
Speaker 1: buyos it's r B again and sure as ship, here

1820
01:38:42,960 --> 01:38:47,840
Speaker 1: he comes. And now I'm thinking, uh, should I shoot him?

1821
01:38:47,920 --> 01:38:50,760
Speaker 1: Should I pass him? Should I shoot him? It's now,

1822
01:38:50,960 --> 01:38:56,120
Speaker 1: you know, almost both seasons almost done. Uh ah, he's

1823
01:38:56,120 --> 01:38:58,479
Speaker 1: a pretty nice buck. I still don't know. I still

1824
01:38:58,479 --> 01:39:00,719
Speaker 1: hadn't made a decision up to this point. Even over

1825
01:39:00,840 --> 01:39:02,479
Speaker 1: this whole time, I kept thinking about it, and still

1826
01:39:02,600 --> 01:39:04,640
Speaker 1: was like I would go. I would say, no, you

1827
01:39:04,680 --> 01:39:07,160
Speaker 1: passed on him once. You want to kill tran, just

1828
01:39:07,200 --> 01:39:10,040
Speaker 1: stick with it. And then a day later though, I'd

1829
01:39:10,080 --> 01:39:14,799
Speaker 1: be like, man, your wife's pregnant and tired, your son's

1830
01:39:15,320 --> 01:39:16,720
Speaker 1: you know, would love to see his dad. If you

1831
01:39:16,760 --> 01:39:19,320
Speaker 1: shot this buck, you'd be done. You wouldn't you wouldn't

1832
01:39:19,320 --> 01:39:21,160
Speaker 1: feel the pressure to keep hunting anymore. And maybe it's

1833
01:39:21,160 --> 01:39:22,600
Speaker 1: just end the season, just get it done with it.

1834
01:39:22,680 --> 01:39:24,920
Speaker 1: And then I go back and I say, man, if

1835
01:39:24,920 --> 01:39:27,639
Speaker 1: you shoot this buck, you're gonna feel a little let down.

1836
01:39:27,720 --> 01:39:29,920
Speaker 1: You're gonna you're gonna walk up to and be like, ah,

1837
01:39:29,960 --> 01:39:32,560
Speaker 1: he's a nice buck. Um. But in the back of

1838
01:39:32,640 --> 01:39:34,559
Speaker 1: your mind, you know you're gonna be bummed that you're

1839
01:39:34,560 --> 01:39:36,960
Speaker 1: not chasing train. You'll be bummed that you gave in

1840
01:39:37,120 --> 01:39:40,360
Speaker 1: or that you settled. Um. So this whole thing has

1841
01:39:40,400 --> 01:39:41,880
Speaker 1: been playing on my head over and over and over again.

1842
01:39:41,920 --> 01:39:46,000
Speaker 1: So he passes by like twenty yards and I don't

1843
01:39:46,000 --> 01:39:48,519
Speaker 1: even grab my bow at this time. I just film

1844
01:39:48,640 --> 01:39:51,200
Speaker 1: him with my phone and say, you know what, you

1845
01:39:51,520 --> 01:39:54,439
Speaker 1: made your decision. You're not gonna settle, You're not gonna

1846
01:39:54,520 --> 01:39:57,800
Speaker 1: change your goal. He's an awesome buck hopefully makes it

1847
01:39:57,840 --> 01:40:00,400
Speaker 1: to next year. You really want to keep killed trans

1848
01:40:00,439 --> 01:40:02,479
Speaker 1: stick with it, and so I let to watch him go.

1849
01:40:02,960 --> 01:40:07,760
Speaker 1: He passes by easy, chip shot goes on through. Now

1850
01:40:07,800 --> 01:40:09,720
Speaker 1: I have the same feelings. I'm like, gosh, are you

1851
01:40:09,800 --> 01:40:11,479
Speaker 1: an idiot? Mark? What are you doing? Go through the

1852
01:40:11,479 --> 01:40:15,120
Speaker 1: whole thing. Twenty minutes later, I hear snap Curious again

1853
01:40:15,720 --> 01:40:18,400
Speaker 1: walking right through, and this time I grabbed my bow,

1854
01:40:20,560 --> 01:40:23,320
Speaker 1: like damn it, damnit, Mark, just get it done with

1855
01:40:23,400 --> 01:40:26,320
Speaker 1: so not grabbed my bow, and I start to get

1856
01:40:26,360 --> 01:40:28,000
Speaker 1: in position like maybe I should just shoot him. I'm

1857
01:40:28,040 --> 01:40:29,960
Speaker 1: about to draw back, and then a dope pops and

1858
01:40:30,000 --> 01:40:32,640
Speaker 1: he jogs off after and I didn't have to I

1859
01:40:32,680 --> 01:40:36,240
Speaker 1: didn't have to make the decision again. So that was

1860
01:40:36,320 --> 01:40:39,599
Speaker 1: that I was there this year too, with that three

1861
01:40:39,680 --> 01:40:41,760
Speaker 1: year old, at that eleven point three year old that

1862
01:40:41,800 --> 01:40:44,920
Speaker 1: I passed probably a low one fifties. I passed him

1863
01:40:44,960 --> 01:40:48,800
Speaker 1: like high one furtiest one fifties. I passed him three

1864
01:40:48,800 --> 01:40:51,200
Speaker 1: different times this year, and I mean like at ten

1865
01:40:51,320 --> 01:40:55,840
Speaker 1: yards three different times. And the first time was like, okay,

1866
01:40:55,920 --> 01:40:58,200
Speaker 1: we're not gonna pass. The second time was like, well

1867
01:40:58,320 --> 01:41:00,840
Speaker 1: the rut is kind of we're in the middle of

1868
01:41:00,840 --> 01:41:03,160
Speaker 1: the rout. And then the last time was like it

1869
01:41:03,200 --> 01:41:05,679
Speaker 1: could be over right now. It could all be over

1870
01:41:05,800 --> 01:41:10,040
Speaker 1: right now. Man, It's it's a tough one. I don't know.

1871
01:41:10,120 --> 01:41:14,400
Speaker 1: I still have been debating back and forth, you know,

1872
01:41:14,520 --> 01:41:17,080
Speaker 1: what's the right thing. So there's all these different things

1873
01:41:17,160 --> 01:41:18,920
Speaker 1: going through your mind, Like I just mentioned a whole

1874
01:41:18,960 --> 01:41:20,720
Speaker 1: bunch of them. I had this original goal I want

1875
01:41:20,760 --> 01:41:25,200
Speaker 1: to shoot for sure, mature buck now and trans really

1876
01:41:25,240 --> 01:41:26,920
Speaker 1: really the one I want to shoot. But if if

1877
01:41:26,920 --> 01:41:28,840
Speaker 1: a mystery buck came through that I saw there was

1878
01:41:28,880 --> 01:41:31,240
Speaker 1: no dat about a tanker, I would have taken a

1879
01:41:31,280 --> 01:41:33,680
Speaker 1: cracking into probably at this point. But I still just

1880
01:41:33,680 --> 01:41:36,479
Speaker 1: so unsure about him, Like I could convince myself one

1881
01:41:36,520 --> 01:41:38,200
Speaker 1: day maybe he's four, and then the next day like, no,

1882
01:41:38,320 --> 01:41:42,519
Speaker 1: he's probably three, and and I just didn't want to

1883
01:41:42,520 --> 01:41:44,439
Speaker 1: do that. But on the other hand, you know, I

1884
01:41:44,479 --> 01:41:47,280
Speaker 1: posted on social media, and then you got all these guys,

1885
01:41:47,479 --> 01:41:49,200
Speaker 1: oh my god, why would you shot? Why would shoot?

1886
01:41:49,200 --> 01:41:50,920
Speaker 1: What are you doing? And then for a half second

1887
01:41:50,960 --> 01:41:53,360
Speaker 1: you let that influence you. You're like, should I have shot?

1888
01:41:53,360 --> 01:41:55,160
Speaker 1: Am I an idiot? And like, no, you can't. You

1889
01:41:55,160 --> 01:41:57,320
Speaker 1: can't listen to people. And then your buddies text you,

1890
01:41:57,320 --> 01:41:59,160
Speaker 1: and your buddies say, dude, what do you think? And

1891
01:41:59,160 --> 01:42:01,120
Speaker 1: you're not gonna see another buck like that in Michigan.

1892
01:42:01,200 --> 01:42:03,599
Speaker 1: That'd be your, you know, second biggest archery buck in Mischigan.

1893
01:42:03,600 --> 01:42:05,439
Speaker 1: You gotta shoot that deer. And then's that No, No,

1894
01:42:05,720 --> 01:42:08,200
Speaker 1: I gotta stick with what you want to do. Um.

1895
01:42:08,280 --> 01:42:10,479
Speaker 1: And then this other weird side of you says, man,

1896
01:42:11,160 --> 01:42:14,840
Speaker 1: you know you you work in the hunting industry. People

1897
01:42:14,840 --> 01:42:16,840
Speaker 1: are wanting to see that you know what you're talking about.

1898
01:42:16,880 --> 01:42:19,040
Speaker 1: You never shoot anything because you're passed on these deer.

1899
01:42:19,360 --> 01:42:21,200
Speaker 1: And then I said, no, you can't let that influence you.

1900
01:42:21,280 --> 01:42:23,960
Speaker 1: But like that debate, all these different voices, the angel

1901
01:42:24,000 --> 01:42:26,760
Speaker 1: and the devil on your shoulder saying do this, do that,

1902
01:42:26,840 --> 01:42:29,640
Speaker 1: do this? Do that? Um? That was very much the

1903
01:42:29,680 --> 01:42:34,000
Speaker 1: story for my rut with this deer, um, having those opportunities,

1904
01:42:34,040 --> 01:42:36,840
Speaker 1: having another big nine I passed on. I passed on

1905
01:42:36,840 --> 01:42:39,320
Speaker 1: a really nice eight pointer or my first day in

1906
01:42:39,320 --> 01:42:42,720
Speaker 1: North Dakota. I passed on more bucks this year of

1907
01:42:42,800 --> 01:42:45,040
Speaker 1: like nice nice bucks for me than I ever have.

1908
01:42:45,240 --> 01:42:48,400
Speaker 1: I've never done that. I had four shot opportunities this

1909
01:42:48,479 --> 01:42:50,760
Speaker 1: year in Michigan at a three and a half year

1910
01:42:50,760 --> 01:42:53,920
Speaker 1: old buck in Michigan, um with my bow, which is

1911
01:42:53,920 --> 01:42:56,200
Speaker 1: a big deal around here. Um, and I passed on

1912
01:42:56,200 --> 01:42:58,120
Speaker 1: them all. You know, just a few years ago a

1913
01:42:58,200 --> 01:43:00,280
Speaker 1: three and a half year old was my target around here.

1914
01:43:00,560 --> 01:43:04,200
Speaker 1: So it's part of me is like, what are you doing?

1915
01:43:04,240 --> 01:43:06,280
Speaker 1: And part of me says, hey, that's pretty damn cool,

1916
01:43:06,360 --> 01:43:07,920
Speaker 1: mark that you can pass that. You don't need to

1917
01:43:07,920 --> 01:43:12,200
Speaker 1: shoot that deer anymore. Keep it going, keep keep pushing yourself. Um,

1918
01:43:12,240 --> 01:43:16,600
Speaker 1: that's fun. So that all said, though, I had this

1919
01:43:16,720 --> 01:43:20,280
Speaker 1: like roller coaster of emotions of like, wow, this is

1920
01:43:20,320 --> 01:43:22,519
Speaker 1: awesome seeing really nice deer and passing it too. Then

1921
01:43:23,000 --> 01:43:25,720
Speaker 1: are you making a mistake? Are you just out here

1922
01:43:25,760 --> 01:43:28,080
Speaker 1: and you know that buck's gonna be killed as soon

1923
01:43:28,120 --> 01:43:30,200
Speaker 1: as gun season comes in, and trans probably gonna be

1924
01:43:30,280 --> 01:43:32,400
Speaker 1: killed by someone in gun season, and you have nothing

1925
01:43:32,439 --> 01:43:34,000
Speaker 1: to hunt and nothing to show for all the time

1926
01:43:34,040 --> 01:43:38,080
Speaker 1: you put in and so where where I settled on

1927
01:43:38,160 --> 01:43:41,040
Speaker 1: was the fact that you know, I'm gonna hunt for

1928
01:43:41,160 --> 01:43:42,519
Speaker 1: why I really want to hunt. I'm not going to

1929
01:43:42,600 --> 01:43:44,920
Speaker 1: shoot a deer unless it's really, really, really going to

1930
01:43:45,000 --> 01:43:48,760
Speaker 1: be the deer that, um, that I'm excited about and

1931
01:43:48,800 --> 01:43:51,400
Speaker 1: that I've worked for, And in this case, I had

1932
01:43:51,439 --> 01:43:53,160
Speaker 1: those goals, and I want to stick to those goals,

1933
01:43:53,160 --> 01:43:56,160
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be tran or you know, if a

1934
01:43:56,280 --> 01:43:59,479
Speaker 1: surprise four or five year old bucks shows up, um,

1935
01:43:59,560 --> 01:44:03,559
Speaker 1: that's a mzing um. But I'm not going to settle

1936
01:44:03,600 --> 01:44:06,720
Speaker 1: because someone else says I should shoot. So that's where

1937
01:44:06,720 --> 01:44:09,559
Speaker 1: I ended up. And the last night of the hunting season,

1938
01:44:10,120 --> 01:44:12,439
Speaker 1: I decided to hunt a spot I haven't hunted yet

1939
01:44:12,479 --> 01:44:15,800
Speaker 1: all year. Um, it's it's a weird spot. It's right

1940
01:44:15,800 --> 01:44:17,680
Speaker 1: in the edge of the best betting area around, but

1941
01:44:17,760 --> 01:44:19,800
Speaker 1: I can't hunt the betting area, it's the neighbors, So

1942
01:44:20,040 --> 01:44:23,360
Speaker 1: I have to hunt the edge of a cut bean field. Um.

1943
01:44:23,400 --> 01:44:26,680
Speaker 1: That said, I've seen this buck go out in that

1944
01:44:26,720 --> 01:44:29,280
Speaker 1: field multiple times, several of the sidings he crossed along

1945
01:44:29,320 --> 01:44:31,759
Speaker 1: through there, and many bucks in the past I've hunted

1946
01:44:31,760 --> 01:44:33,960
Speaker 1: have passed within range of the shooting of this tree. Stand.

1947
01:44:34,000 --> 01:44:36,639
Speaker 1: So I sat there with a risky wind I knew

1948
01:44:36,640 --> 01:44:39,080
Speaker 1: as a risky wind, but as the last night before

1949
01:44:39,080 --> 01:44:41,680
Speaker 1: gunn season, and said, screw it, I'm gonna throw a

1950
01:44:41,720 --> 01:44:44,719
Speaker 1: hail Mary and you know, basically blowing out the top

1951
01:44:44,800 --> 01:44:47,320
Speaker 1: quarter of this betting are hoping that my buck would

1952
01:44:47,320 --> 01:44:50,400
Speaker 1: come out in the bottom three quarters. And uh, Tran

1953
01:44:50,560 --> 01:44:52,519
Speaker 1: came out. But he came out in the top quarter,

1954
01:44:52,640 --> 01:44:56,080
Speaker 1: stepped out right down wind to me two d yards away,

1955
01:44:56,240 --> 01:44:58,080
Speaker 1: and I could see him on the neighbors and he

1956
01:44:58,160 --> 01:44:59,880
Speaker 1: just stood there, looked in my direction for a few

1957
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:03,519
Speaker 1: seconds and then just kept on going. UM. So I'm

1958
01:45:03,560 --> 01:45:06,120
Speaker 1: sure he got a smell of something and that was that.

1959
01:45:06,560 --> 01:45:08,519
Speaker 1: That was the end of the boat season. I do

1960
01:45:08,600 --> 01:45:10,559
Speaker 1: not know if Tran has made it through the last

1961
01:45:10,600 --> 01:45:12,120
Speaker 1: few days a gun season or not. I don't know

1962
01:45:12,160 --> 01:45:13,479
Speaker 1: if RB has made it. I don't know if the

1963
01:45:13,520 --> 01:45:19,120
Speaker 1: Big Nines made it. Um. But that was my That

1964
01:45:19,200 --> 01:45:21,760
Speaker 1: was my boat season on the main Michigan farm. It's

1965
01:45:22,000 --> 01:45:25,280
Speaker 1: just a lot of question marks around shot decisions and

1966
01:45:25,400 --> 01:45:27,800
Speaker 1: holding out for one deer and the excitement of that

1967
01:45:28,000 --> 01:45:32,040
Speaker 1: versus the stress of that. Um. That's kind of where

1968
01:45:32,040 --> 01:45:35,479
Speaker 1: my head has been. UM. But that I I've totally

1969
01:45:35,640 --> 01:45:37,880
Speaker 1: skipped over the one really good thing that happened during

1970
01:45:37,880 --> 01:45:41,120
Speaker 1: the run, which was surprisingly in the place where I

1971
01:45:41,160 --> 01:45:47,120
Speaker 1: saw the least activity. So one second in regards to Trana,

1972
01:45:47,920 --> 01:45:50,160
Speaker 1: not only Tran, but you've had I mean you've played

1973
01:45:50,160 --> 01:45:53,400
Speaker 1: cat mouse on your your property before with holy Field,

1974
01:45:53,600 --> 01:45:56,599
Speaker 1: right and then yeah and Frank, So it's not like

1975
01:45:56,600 --> 01:46:00,519
Speaker 1: it's anything new six before that. Yeah, yeah, So deer

1976
01:46:00,880 --> 01:46:05,840
Speaker 1: do become do get old in your area around that area.

1977
01:46:05,960 --> 01:46:07,880
Speaker 1: They there's there's a chance they can make it. The

1978
01:46:07,880 --> 01:46:12,840
Speaker 1: cool thing is passing this buck just solidifies that you're

1979
01:46:12,960 --> 01:46:18,719
Speaker 1: now potentially going to have a another shooter should chase

1980
01:46:18,920 --> 01:46:22,920
Speaker 1: next year, right, not just one, but too. That's the hope.

1981
01:46:23,240 --> 01:46:25,439
Speaker 1: You just never know. Um and I keep on, I

1982
01:46:25,520 --> 01:46:27,760
Speaker 1: keep on waiting for the other shoot to drop, right,

1983
01:46:27,800 --> 01:46:29,680
Speaker 1: I mean, I keep on. I've been lucky to have

1984
01:46:30,160 --> 01:46:32,519
Speaker 1: some of these bucks make it year after year. That

1985
01:46:32,880 --> 01:46:34,880
Speaker 1: is really unique. You know. You know a bunch of

1986
01:46:34,880 --> 01:46:38,960
Speaker 1: my hunting buddies, um, Andy and Dustin and Josh and

1987
01:46:39,200 --> 01:46:41,559
Speaker 1: Ross and Peter and those guys and Corey, and they're

1988
01:46:41,560 --> 01:46:44,799
Speaker 1: constantly giving me crap about how nobody else in Michigan

1989
01:46:44,920 --> 01:46:47,080
Speaker 1: gets a chance to see these bucks year after year,

1990
01:46:47,120 --> 01:46:50,120
Speaker 1: Like I'm in some little weird microcosm or some weird

1991
01:46:50,240 --> 01:46:53,040
Speaker 1: sphere that's protecting these bucks because all my buddies, all

1992
01:46:53,040 --> 01:46:56,000
Speaker 1: their deer get killed every year once hits. Like that's

1993
01:46:56,080 --> 01:46:58,120
Speaker 1: the group text message through I going on right now.

1994
01:46:58,200 --> 01:47:00,519
Speaker 1: Everyone's sharing pictures of the buck because the hunt it

1995
01:47:00,560 --> 01:47:02,599
Speaker 1: all both season that are now dead. They have shown

1996
01:47:02,680 --> 01:47:05,280
Speaker 1: up on somebody else's buck pole or Facebook page. And

1997
01:47:05,320 --> 01:47:07,960
Speaker 1: I've been lucky that I have been able to get

1998
01:47:08,200 --> 01:47:12,759
Speaker 1: at least one buck that I've seen previously is back

1999
01:47:12,840 --> 01:47:16,320
Speaker 1: every year, um for the last I don't know, seven

2000
01:47:16,360 --> 01:47:19,360
Speaker 1: eight years now. But I just keep on, you know,

2001
01:47:19,400 --> 01:47:21,280
Speaker 1: worrying that next year is going to change. And there's

2002
01:47:21,320 --> 01:47:24,200
Speaker 1: more people coming into the area I've I've met. There's

2003
01:47:24,200 --> 01:47:27,200
Speaker 1: some new hunters. Someone just bought a farm one property

2004
01:47:27,200 --> 01:47:29,360
Speaker 1: away from me who's really into hunting. Found out there's

2005
01:47:29,360 --> 01:47:31,519
Speaker 1: some two guys leasing a neighboring farm now that are

2006
01:47:31,520 --> 01:47:34,040
Speaker 1: really into hunting. There's a guy that usually didn't hunt

2007
01:47:34,040 --> 01:47:36,080
Speaker 1: his property. He just moved back, so he's gonna be

2008
01:47:36,120 --> 01:47:40,479
Speaker 1: hunting more. Um. Had a person come in trespassing from

2009
01:47:40,479 --> 01:47:43,400
Speaker 1: somewhere else that I spotted one day, so there's like

2010
01:47:43,920 --> 01:47:46,360
Speaker 1: people are there's more and more people. There's always been

2011
01:47:46,360 --> 01:47:48,240
Speaker 1: a lot of people. But I keep on feeling like,

2012
01:47:48,760 --> 01:47:51,880
Speaker 1: is this going to change things? I don't know. So

2013
01:47:51,920 --> 01:47:54,800
Speaker 1: there's worries, but there's hope because yes, there have been

2014
01:47:54,840 --> 01:47:59,840
Speaker 1: deer that make it through and it's possible, so we'll see. Yeah,

2015
01:48:01,280 --> 01:48:05,679
Speaker 1: but you killed something, dude, I did kill something. Um

2016
01:48:05,760 --> 01:48:08,200
Speaker 1: So in the middle of all these things, I did

2017
01:48:08,240 --> 01:48:11,439
Speaker 1: have that week on the back forty um, of which

2018
01:48:11,479 --> 01:48:13,479
Speaker 1: four days were meet mine to hunt. I got to

2019
01:48:13,560 --> 01:48:15,840
Speaker 1: hunt four days, a few days there my dad, but

2020
01:48:15,880 --> 01:48:17,559
Speaker 1: the four days prior to that, I was hunting on

2021
01:48:17,600 --> 01:48:22,960
Speaker 1: my own. And uh. And the long story short of

2022
01:48:22,960 --> 01:48:27,880
Speaker 1: it is, went in on November, starting November three, went

2023
01:48:27,920 --> 01:48:29,960
Speaker 1: and hunting the best spots I had. The spot was

2024
01:48:30,000 --> 01:48:32,479
Speaker 1: calling the honey Hoole. I had saved it all season,

2025
01:48:32,520 --> 01:48:37,719
Speaker 1: haven't touched it. It's it's native blue native big blue

2026
01:48:37,720 --> 01:48:41,280
Speaker 1: stem grass and cedars and all this thick shrubby, autumn

2027
01:48:41,280 --> 01:48:44,080
Speaker 1: ales and different things on this ridge next to the swamp.

2028
01:48:44,760 --> 01:48:47,960
Speaker 1: Super cool little area. I knew there's dear bedding in there.

2029
01:48:47,960 --> 01:48:50,040
Speaker 1: I've been getting pictures of the wide eight coming in

2030
01:48:50,120 --> 01:48:51,840
Speaker 1: and out of it. I had a camera near the

2031
01:48:51,960 --> 01:48:54,400
Speaker 1: edge of this thing. So I went in there and

2032
01:48:54,439 --> 01:48:56,720
Speaker 1: hunted the first day, expecting to see all sorts of

2033
01:48:56,720 --> 01:49:00,080
Speaker 1: bucks cruising this ridge, and nothing like. We saw a

2034
01:49:00,160 --> 01:49:02,120
Speaker 1: couple of dolls in the year and a half old,

2035
01:49:02,320 --> 01:49:04,559
Speaker 1: and then that night, uh, a two and a half

2036
01:49:04,640 --> 01:49:06,920
Speaker 1: year old bluck came out, but much much slower than

2037
01:49:06,920 --> 01:49:09,519
Speaker 1: I was expecting. And the next two days was the

2038
01:49:09,560 --> 01:49:12,240
Speaker 1: same kind of thing, just a few doughs a year

2039
01:49:12,240 --> 01:49:16,040
Speaker 1: and a half old. Um Like we talked about earlier,

2040
01:49:16,240 --> 01:49:18,519
Speaker 1: the whole thing about why this property has been much

2041
01:49:18,880 --> 01:49:22,160
Speaker 1: slower than I expected? If that that's what I just

2042
01:49:22,160 --> 01:49:24,200
Speaker 1: sat and thought about for three days, why is this

2043
01:49:24,439 --> 01:49:28,160
Speaker 1: like this? Um, it's November, you know, it's November three,

2044
01:49:28,439 --> 01:49:31,719
Speaker 1: four five, It should be great. Um. But the third

2045
01:49:31,800 --> 01:49:34,360
Speaker 1: day was the third fourth day, I decided, all right,

2046
01:49:34,400 --> 01:49:36,000
Speaker 1: we gotta switched up to new spots. So I had

2047
01:49:36,040 --> 01:49:38,520
Speaker 1: another spot that I prepped that was at the inside

2048
01:49:38,520 --> 01:49:42,360
Speaker 1: corner of where one of our old fields came down

2049
01:49:42,400 --> 01:49:45,360
Speaker 1: the ridge and pushed into the edge of the swamp.

2050
01:49:45,439 --> 01:49:48,400
Speaker 1: So there's an inside corner of this field that juts

2051
01:49:48,439 --> 01:49:51,960
Speaker 1: into the swamp, and that ridge with the honey hoole

2052
01:49:52,000 --> 01:49:55,360
Speaker 1: that thick ridge drops down at the same point too,

2053
01:49:55,720 --> 01:49:58,679
Speaker 1: so the ridge pinches to the edge of the swamp

2054
01:49:58,880 --> 01:50:00,920
Speaker 1: and the field pinches to the edge of the swamp.

2055
01:50:01,040 --> 01:50:03,280
Speaker 1: And I thought to myself, gosh, if anything is cruising

2056
01:50:03,280 --> 01:50:05,000
Speaker 1: the edge of the swamp or cruising the ridge, and

2057
01:50:05,000 --> 01:50:06,559
Speaker 1: if they want to stay in the cover but not

2058
01:50:06,600 --> 01:50:08,439
Speaker 1: being the really wet stuff, they've got to come right

2059
01:50:08,439 --> 01:50:12,679
Speaker 1: through this edge set up there, hunted it not seeing

2060
01:50:12,760 --> 01:50:14,920
Speaker 1: much at all. Could hear a buck chasing a dough

2061
01:50:14,920 --> 01:50:18,000
Speaker 1: in the thick swamp, but could never see them. And

2062
01:50:18,160 --> 01:50:21,000
Speaker 1: it's nine thirty in the morning. Not a single buck

2063
01:50:21,040 --> 01:50:23,479
Speaker 1: has come cruising through. I'm just having these same thoughts

2064
01:50:23,479 --> 01:50:26,439
Speaker 1: in my mind, like what is going on? Why are

2065
01:50:26,479 --> 01:50:28,800
Speaker 1: there not a few bucks cruising through? Why am I

2066
01:50:28,800 --> 01:50:30,840
Speaker 1: not seeing some two year olds? Like this is a

2067
01:50:30,880 --> 01:50:32,519
Speaker 1: good area. I know it's a good area, and know

2068
01:50:32,600 --> 01:50:34,960
Speaker 1: who's around here. I've talked to the neighbors. Now I

2069
01:50:35,000 --> 01:50:38,240
Speaker 1: know that there's deer in the zone. Um, it's it's

2070
01:50:38,240 --> 01:50:39,960
Speaker 1: a It's got a lot of good things going for

2071
01:50:40,120 --> 01:50:44,240
Speaker 1: this property. Does we should be seeing something? And hits

2072
01:50:44,280 --> 01:50:46,360
Speaker 1: And I'm like, all right, I'm getting a snack, So

2073
01:50:46,400 --> 01:50:48,280
Speaker 1: I bust out a bag of checks mix. I'm eating

2074
01:50:48,320 --> 01:50:51,160
Speaker 1: some checks makes and I look over my shoulder on

2075
01:50:51,200 --> 01:50:54,880
Speaker 1: the hill behind me, and I see a buck running

2076
01:50:54,880 --> 01:50:58,439
Speaker 1: across this old brushy field and me and like, that's

2077
01:50:58,439 --> 01:51:00,960
Speaker 1: a good buck. Put my buyd knows and I realized

2078
01:51:01,000 --> 01:51:03,240
Speaker 1: that's the wide eight and he's running across this field

2079
01:51:03,240 --> 01:51:06,120
Speaker 1: behind me. Graham a grunt tube. Do the exact same

2080
01:51:06,160 --> 01:51:08,360
Speaker 1: thing we talked about earlier. Just let off a rack

2081
01:51:09,120 --> 01:51:12,000
Speaker 1: and he stops on a dime. He looks right at

2082
01:51:12,000 --> 01:51:16,240
Speaker 1: me and then starts coming in and I'm like, holy

2083
01:51:16,360 --> 01:51:21,400
Speaker 1: sh it, he's coming right to me. And that's like, man,

2084
01:51:21,800 --> 01:51:24,840
Speaker 1: that is so satisfying. I don't, like, I know I've

2085
01:51:24,840 --> 01:51:29,320
Speaker 1: already said this, but like it's like boner worthy. When

2086
01:51:29,360 --> 01:51:31,320
Speaker 1: you can do that, it's like I am in control

2087
01:51:31,360 --> 01:51:33,000
Speaker 1: of you from this point on, you know what I mean.

2088
01:51:33,280 --> 01:51:36,000
Speaker 1: It is one of the absolute coolest things. Yes, Like

2089
01:51:36,040 --> 01:51:39,080
Speaker 1: that's one of the very best moments as a hunter

2090
01:51:39,560 --> 01:51:42,080
Speaker 1: when you hit that grunt and they spin and that

2091
01:51:42,520 --> 01:51:44,439
Speaker 1: the moment is when you when you know what's happening, like,

2092
01:51:44,520 --> 01:51:47,280
Speaker 1: oh it worked here he comes did they stop? And

2093
01:51:47,280 --> 01:51:49,200
Speaker 1: they just turn and they look back in your way

2094
01:51:49,200 --> 01:51:54,760
Speaker 1: and you're like got your mother comes that's all right.

2095
01:51:55,720 --> 01:52:00,800
Speaker 1: We're very excited. Um and and so yeah, he he

2096
01:52:00,920 --> 01:52:03,680
Speaker 1: comes in and basically he's coming in a rope, and

2097
01:52:03,720 --> 01:52:08,040
Speaker 1: then he starts to angle south again, and then I

2098
01:52:08,040 --> 01:52:10,320
Speaker 1: think in my head, oh crap, he's heading right towards

2099
01:52:10,400 --> 01:52:15,000
Speaker 1: my wind and he's going right down wind. And now

2100
01:52:15,000 --> 01:52:18,960
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, jeez, it's game over. And he stops, puts

2101
01:52:18,960 --> 01:52:21,759
Speaker 1: his nose up in the air. Sniff sniff, sniff, sniff,

2102
01:52:21,920 --> 01:52:26,519
Speaker 1: keeps looking. Sniff sniff, sniff sniff, keeps looking, and like

2103
01:52:26,600 --> 01:52:28,800
Speaker 1: this is the moment of truth. Like it's gonna either

2104
01:52:28,800 --> 01:52:31,240
Speaker 1: he's gonna bust out of here or it's gonna happen.

2105
01:52:31,240 --> 01:52:34,160
Speaker 1: I'm waiting and waiting and waiting, assuming any second now

2106
01:52:34,200 --> 01:52:36,599
Speaker 1: he's gonna kick up his white flag and tear out

2107
01:52:36,640 --> 01:52:40,639
Speaker 1: of there. And my scent control worked and he's kept.

2108
01:52:41,200 --> 01:52:43,320
Speaker 1: He puts his head back down and keeps coming right in,

2109
01:52:43,560 --> 01:52:48,360
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh my gosh, yes, it's happening. And

2110
01:52:48,520 --> 01:52:51,920
Speaker 1: he walks straight in on like dead to me, head

2111
01:52:51,960 --> 01:52:54,720
Speaker 1: on to like fifteen yards, but he's facing me a

2112
01:52:54,760 --> 01:52:57,599
Speaker 1: fifteen yards and he stops right in my shooting lane

2113
01:52:58,320 --> 01:53:00,000
Speaker 1: and he's doing the head scan. Now he's like we're

2114
01:53:00,080 --> 01:53:03,760
Speaker 1: the buck. Where's the buck? He's looking looking, looking, and

2115
01:53:03,800 --> 01:53:07,479
Speaker 1: I can't shoot, And now I'm thinking, oh no, like

2116
01:53:08,439 --> 01:53:10,280
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen here? But I'm ready, I'm locked in.

2117
01:53:10,360 --> 01:53:13,000
Speaker 1: I'm I'm using my silver back back tension release for

2118
01:53:13,000 --> 01:53:15,720
Speaker 1: the first time. Um, not for the first time, but

2119
01:53:15,760 --> 01:53:17,759
Speaker 1: I'm going to get a shot for the first time, hopefully.

2120
01:53:18,080 --> 01:53:21,840
Speaker 1: And then he turns and starts to jog, and I

2121
01:53:21,920 --> 01:53:25,280
Speaker 1: have a tree because he's out of my shooting. And

2122
01:53:25,400 --> 01:53:27,080
Speaker 1: now there's a true a bunch of like vines on

2123
01:53:27,120 --> 01:53:29,439
Speaker 1: a grape vines or something, and there's one little hole

2124
01:53:29,479 --> 01:53:31,160
Speaker 1: in the vines, and so he kind of starts to

2125
01:53:31,240 --> 01:53:33,960
Speaker 1: jog that direction and he gets to that one hole

2126
01:53:34,000 --> 01:53:37,080
Speaker 1: and I just rat and he stops, and I pull

2127
01:53:37,160 --> 01:53:41,680
Speaker 1: back and let her rip and double lunged him and

2128
01:53:41,720 --> 01:53:43,960
Speaker 1: you just see him mule kick and run up the

2129
01:53:44,000 --> 01:53:46,799
Speaker 1: hill and run towards this fencer over there and crashes

2130
01:53:46,880 --> 01:53:48,439
Speaker 1: into the woods there and you can just see all

2131
01:53:48,479 --> 01:53:51,120
Speaker 1: the trees like shaken, shake and shake and shaken, and

2132
01:53:51,120 --> 01:53:57,360
Speaker 1: then stopped and um, and then it was just yeah,

2133
01:53:57,720 --> 01:54:00,720
Speaker 1: it's like that's the perfect thing. It's the perfect it's

2134
01:54:00,720 --> 01:54:03,800
Speaker 1: almost like the perfect hunt. Yeah, it was. I made

2135
01:54:03,840 --> 01:54:06,559
Speaker 1: it was and what was what was unique about this

2136
01:54:06,840 --> 01:54:09,040
Speaker 1: And I haven't spent a whole lot of time talking

2137
01:54:09,040 --> 01:54:11,080
Speaker 1: about the build up to this because I spent so

2138
01:54:11,120 --> 01:54:15,559
Speaker 1: much time talking about tran Um. But there was a

2139
01:54:15,560 --> 01:54:18,080
Speaker 1: lot of stuff going on behind the scenes on this

2140
01:54:18,160 --> 01:54:22,519
Speaker 1: hunt that made that moment really special for me, um,

2141
01:54:22,560 --> 01:54:25,280
Speaker 1: Because you know, I hunted it in the early season,

2142
01:54:25,360 --> 01:54:28,000
Speaker 1: then we hunted again with Doug late October, and then

2143
01:54:28,000 --> 01:54:30,840
Speaker 1: we hunted it for this period during the rut Um.

2144
01:54:30,880 --> 01:54:33,160
Speaker 1: But then there's also been all this time in the

2145
01:54:33,200 --> 01:54:35,120
Speaker 1: spring and summer that I've been trying to get this

2146
01:54:35,160 --> 01:54:38,600
Speaker 1: project off the ground and then trying to get this

2147
01:54:38,680 --> 01:54:42,040
Speaker 1: property set up, and then trying to get people out

2148
01:54:42,040 --> 01:54:45,120
Speaker 1: here to see it and share their thoughts. Um. But

2149
01:54:45,280 --> 01:54:47,680
Speaker 1: really there was this whole other side of things that

2150
01:54:47,720 --> 01:54:49,880
Speaker 1: we don't have to get into. But this is like

2151
01:54:49,920 --> 01:54:51,840
Speaker 1: a very different kind of project for me, right, I

2152
01:54:51,840 --> 01:54:54,320
Speaker 1: mean kind of like filling my first TV show, And

2153
01:54:54,360 --> 01:54:57,040
Speaker 1: there's all these a lot of people involved, and a

2154
01:54:57,080 --> 01:55:01,480
Speaker 1: lot of stuff going on and a lot of a

2155
01:55:01,520 --> 01:55:07,200
Speaker 1: lot of doubts and questions and criticisms and UM, for me,

2156
01:55:07,240 --> 01:55:11,440
Speaker 1: it was just a very stressful summer and fall, trying

2157
01:55:11,440 --> 01:55:14,360
Speaker 1: to make this thing work. Um, a lot of late

2158
01:55:14,440 --> 01:55:19,160
Speaker 1: nights on the phone, rewriting things, changing things, trying to

2159
01:55:19,240 --> 01:55:22,360
Speaker 1: change plans, trying to make it work, um, and all

2160
01:55:22,400 --> 01:55:25,000
Speaker 1: of that. Then I shoot this buck, and up to

2161
01:55:25,080 --> 01:55:28,000
Speaker 1: this point where I had taken this buck, I'm thinking, Man,

2162
01:55:28,040 --> 01:55:31,160
Speaker 1: this thing is a bust. I mean, this is horrible.

2163
01:55:31,920 --> 01:55:36,440
Speaker 1: Everything's gone wrong. Uh, I'm a horrible host. No one's

2164
01:55:36,480 --> 01:55:38,480
Speaker 1: gonna be interested in this. I can't even see a

2165
01:55:38,480 --> 01:55:41,400
Speaker 1: half decent buck. Um. And then this thing happens in

2166
01:55:41,440 --> 01:55:44,360
Speaker 1: a split second and all changes, and you know, the

2167
01:55:44,400 --> 01:55:45,920
Speaker 1: buck that I've been hoping to see and that I

2168
01:55:46,000 --> 01:55:47,880
Speaker 1: talked about the most, and that we thought we might

2169
01:55:47,880 --> 01:55:49,120
Speaker 1: have a chance to see, All of a sudden he's

2170
01:55:49,160 --> 01:55:50,640
Speaker 1: there and I get a shot and he's down, and

2171
01:55:51,480 --> 01:55:55,000
Speaker 1: all of these ten thousand things added up too, We're

2172
01:55:55,000 --> 01:55:59,240
Speaker 1: added to all the regular hunting excitement all built up.

2173
01:55:59,240 --> 01:56:00,920
Speaker 1: And then like over float out of me and I

2174
01:56:01,000 --> 01:56:04,640
Speaker 1: had the most emotion filled moment I think I've ever

2175
01:56:04,720 --> 01:56:06,960
Speaker 1: had a hunter. I just kind of broke down. I've

2176
01:56:07,000 --> 01:56:11,000
Speaker 1: never had that happened before. Um, but I just kinda

2177
01:56:11,200 --> 01:56:15,360
Speaker 1: was overwhelmed by everything and I kind of just lost it.

2178
01:56:15,480 --> 01:56:19,560
Speaker 1: For five minutes, and uh, it was a really it

2179
01:56:19,640 --> 01:56:22,520
Speaker 1: was a really uh I don't even know what the

2180
01:56:22,600 --> 01:56:24,960
Speaker 1: right words are, but it was one of those moments

2181
01:56:25,000 --> 01:56:27,760
Speaker 1: that as a hunter, it's so much more than just

2182
01:56:28,160 --> 01:56:31,320
Speaker 1: shooting a deer, you know, Like that was that was

2183
01:56:31,400 --> 01:56:35,280
Speaker 1: the actual physical action that took place, but what it

2184
01:56:35,360 --> 01:56:39,480
Speaker 1: represented and what it culminated was so so so much

2185
01:56:39,520 --> 01:56:41,760
Speaker 1: more and and and it's probably not fair to the

2186
01:56:41,800 --> 01:56:44,560
Speaker 1: deer to put all that on that deer. You know,

2187
01:56:44,640 --> 01:56:47,680
Speaker 1: all these other emotions, all these other things that were

2188
01:56:47,680 --> 01:56:50,240
Speaker 1: building up inside of me, but it all got put

2189
01:56:50,320 --> 01:56:53,640
Speaker 1: on this moment and um led to a really just

2190
01:56:55,000 --> 01:56:57,600
Speaker 1: I don't know, I was very very thankful, really really excited,

2191
01:56:58,280 --> 01:57:01,480
Speaker 1: very very happy. Just like you said, a whole lot

2192
01:57:01,480 --> 01:57:05,760
Speaker 1: of stuff came together there in that moment and reminds

2193
01:57:05,800 --> 01:57:08,520
Speaker 1: you while you hunt, because because you can have that

2194
01:57:08,560 --> 01:57:10,840
Speaker 1: kind of emotional experience out there in the woods and

2195
01:57:10,960 --> 01:57:12,720
Speaker 1: uh and like you said, get some great meat out

2196
01:57:12,720 --> 01:57:16,360
Speaker 1: of it, have some great memories. Uh. You know, got

2197
01:57:16,360 --> 01:57:17,840
Speaker 1: to share with my dad because he showed up a

2198
01:57:17,880 --> 01:57:19,680
Speaker 1: couple of days later and got to see the deer,

2199
01:57:19,840 --> 01:57:22,920
Speaker 1: and I got to show my son the buck, and uh,

2200
01:57:22,960 --> 01:57:24,320
Speaker 1: you know, he got a thrill out of that and

2201
01:57:24,360 --> 01:57:27,000
Speaker 1: the buck. Because of the cold weather, I've just hung

2202
01:57:27,040 --> 01:57:29,720
Speaker 1: the buck up behind the barn and so still hanging there,

2203
01:57:29,800 --> 01:57:31,720
Speaker 1: just letting it hang. And so every day my some

2204
01:57:31,880 --> 01:57:33,360
Speaker 1: months to go out there and see the buck and

2205
01:57:33,400 --> 01:57:36,800
Speaker 1: touch it and uh just say buck buck buck over

2206
01:57:36,840 --> 01:57:40,880
Speaker 1: another chain and uh, that's what's all about. So it

2207
01:57:40,960 --> 01:57:43,400
Speaker 1: was a really cool way to uh to see a

2208
01:57:43,400 --> 01:57:47,440
Speaker 1: lot of work come to fruition. That's awesome, dude. I'm glad.

2209
01:57:48,680 --> 01:57:51,960
Speaker 1: I'm glad he had that moment and those moments like

2210
01:57:53,720 --> 01:57:57,400
Speaker 1: I don't I don't like to like focus so hard

2211
01:57:57,440 --> 01:57:59,640
Speaker 1: on the cherry on top, which is the kill I feel.

2212
01:58:00,120 --> 01:58:04,840
Speaker 1: But when you can have that moment, that's so just

2213
01:58:05,040 --> 01:58:08,080
Speaker 1: feel so right Like me, I was just so overjoyed

2214
01:58:08,120 --> 01:58:10,840
Speaker 1: and you got you got a little emotional and um.

2215
01:58:11,520 --> 01:58:18,440
Speaker 1: And I think that when you can stop putting, if

2216
01:58:18,440 --> 01:58:21,520
Speaker 1: you can, you can relieve the pressure. Like there. For me,

2217
01:58:21,800 --> 01:58:23,680
Speaker 1: one thing I've I feel like I've learned how to

2218
01:58:23,720 --> 01:58:26,040
Speaker 1: do over the last several years, ever since I stopped

2219
01:58:26,720 --> 01:58:29,880
Speaker 1: filming my hunts, and not saying that I'm not ever

2220
01:58:29,880 --> 01:58:35,080
Speaker 1: going to do it again, but taking everybody out of

2221
01:58:35,160 --> 01:58:38,040
Speaker 1: the equation that's not you, and that's not the animal

2222
01:58:38,640 --> 01:58:42,560
Speaker 1: and and and taking out all the things that don't matter,

2223
01:58:43,440 --> 01:58:46,840
Speaker 1: then I think you can enjoy hunting that much more. Yeah. Yeah,

2224
01:58:46,840 --> 01:58:50,760
Speaker 1: that's definitely something that I'm constantly battling with. UM And

2225
01:58:50,800 --> 01:58:53,280
Speaker 1: I've gotten to a point where I handle it much better,

2226
01:58:53,480 --> 01:58:57,120
Speaker 1: but I still have those back and forth in my mind.

2227
01:58:57,320 --> 01:58:59,680
Speaker 1: I end up in the right place, but sometimes it

2228
01:58:59,720 --> 01:59:02,320
Speaker 1: takes me, you know, some sitting there and like but

2229
01:59:02,360 --> 01:59:05,320
Speaker 1: what about this? What about this? And then no, you know,

2230
01:59:05,360 --> 01:59:08,160
Speaker 1: it's about you and your experience and this hunt, and

2231
01:59:08,160 --> 01:59:11,280
Speaker 1: that's all that matters. UM. So getting there, I can't

2232
01:59:11,280 --> 01:59:13,960
Speaker 1: say I still don't have some stress in between. UM.

2233
01:59:14,000 --> 01:59:16,520
Speaker 1: But yes, that is the way to that is the

2234
01:59:16,560 --> 01:59:19,040
Speaker 1: way to enjoy this stuff the most is to shut

2235
01:59:19,040 --> 01:59:21,720
Speaker 1: out all the outside noise and just hunt. Hunt your hunt,

2236
01:59:22,840 --> 01:59:25,880
Speaker 1: enjoy it, enjoy the process. Don't be so I mean,

2237
01:59:25,960 --> 01:59:29,600
Speaker 1: I'm always I'm an interesting I have I have an

2238
01:59:29,600 --> 01:59:34,680
Speaker 1: interesting conundrum because I always I like to talk the

2239
01:59:34,720 --> 01:59:38,880
Speaker 1: big game to myself and and externally, which is give

2240
01:59:38,920 --> 01:59:41,240
Speaker 1: it your all, put it all in their field, work,

2241
01:59:41,280 --> 01:59:44,600
Speaker 1: work work, don't give up, be strong, push through the

2242
01:59:44,640 --> 01:59:47,879
Speaker 1: tough times. Um. And that's what I'm always telling myself

2243
01:59:48,200 --> 01:59:52,120
Speaker 1: because you know that's what leads you to success. Um.

2244
01:59:52,160 --> 01:59:53,600
Speaker 1: But then I also have this other side of me

2245
01:59:53,680 --> 01:59:58,960
Speaker 1: that's telling myself, you don't need to take it so

2246
01:59:59,000 --> 02:00:03,440
Speaker 1: seriously too. Remember to enjoy it, Remember to enjoy the process,

2247
02:00:03,440 --> 02:00:06,680
Speaker 1: Remember to have fun, Remember to you know, take some

2248
02:00:06,760 --> 02:00:08,560
Speaker 1: time off during the rut to sit with your dad

2249
02:00:09,120 --> 02:00:12,040
Speaker 1: and tell stories, because that means a whole lot more

2250
02:00:12,440 --> 02:00:14,280
Speaker 1: than sitting in a tree and trying to shoot a

2251
02:00:14,280 --> 02:00:18,920
Speaker 1: deer in the big scammy things. So I think that

2252
02:00:18,920 --> 02:00:25,640
Speaker 1: that family and balancing your drive with bigger things and

2253
02:00:25,960 --> 02:00:30,520
Speaker 1: priorities and all that is like when I take away

2254
02:00:30,520 --> 02:00:32,000
Speaker 1: from this hunting season. I don't know if I if

2255
02:00:32,080 --> 02:00:34,080
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can wrap it up in

2256
02:00:34,080 --> 02:00:37,040
Speaker 1: like a sustinct way, but I think over the course

2257
02:00:37,040 --> 02:00:39,440
Speaker 1: of the the last two hours between your story and mine,

2258
02:00:39,680 --> 02:00:41,720
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of the moral of our story

2259
02:00:41,760 --> 02:00:47,480
Speaker 1: in general. Yeah, I don't know, man, I just I

2260
02:00:47,640 --> 02:00:49,840
Speaker 1: love this and every year I say, I say, I

2261
02:00:49,920 --> 02:00:52,080
Speaker 1: just love it so much, and I'm glad I have

2262
02:00:52,120 --> 02:00:55,160
Speaker 1: a wife who you know, I'm not gonna say, lets

2263
02:00:55,200 --> 02:00:58,760
Speaker 1: me go, because I feel like that's unfair to say,

2264
02:00:58,960 --> 02:01:02,320
Speaker 1: like someone's letting you do something but works with me

2265
02:01:02,800 --> 02:01:07,160
Speaker 1: and you know, gives me the opportunity and the freedom

2266
02:01:07,200 --> 02:01:10,360
Speaker 1: and understands is starting to understand a little more every

2267
02:01:10,440 --> 02:01:14,000
Speaker 1: year how this all comes together for you know, for

2268
02:01:14,040 --> 02:01:18,680
Speaker 1: me and the passion that's there. And I don't know,

2269
02:01:18,720 --> 02:01:24,760
Speaker 1: I just feel like want when a person can focus

2270
02:01:24,760 --> 02:01:28,720
Speaker 1: on themselves and the animal and their scenarios, that there's

2271
02:01:28,760 --> 02:01:30,440
Speaker 1: a cloud that's lifted off and they just get so

2272
02:01:30,520 --> 02:01:34,120
Speaker 1: much more enjoyment out of it. And um like, for me,

2273
02:01:35,360 --> 02:01:37,640
Speaker 1: I don't even think about anybody else. I want other

2274
02:01:37,720 --> 02:01:41,000
Speaker 1: hunters to be successful, but I'm going to celebrate what

2275
02:01:41,080 --> 02:01:46,040
Speaker 1: they've done regardless of how big the antlers are. I

2276
02:01:46,080 --> 02:01:50,280
Speaker 1: give zero about the antlers, un dear like, I just

2277
02:01:50,440 --> 02:01:54,240
Speaker 1: like when people measure their success on the antlers. You

2278
02:01:54,240 --> 02:01:58,320
Speaker 1: you are losing your you are losing. You're losing. I

2279
02:01:58,360 --> 02:02:02,880
Speaker 1: don't that's my opinion. I hear you that. I'll start

2280
02:02:02,880 --> 02:02:07,120
Speaker 1: getting fired up if we keep talking about that. Dude,

2281
02:02:07,120 --> 02:02:09,720
Speaker 1: congrats on such an awesome season. I mean, that's what

2282
02:02:09,800 --> 02:02:12,000
Speaker 1: it's all about, right, It was. It was a really

2283
02:02:12,080 --> 02:02:15,000
Speaker 1: cool it was a really cool hunt. And uh and

2284
02:02:15,080 --> 02:02:18,000
Speaker 1: the season is not done for me. I'm gonna keep

2285
02:02:18,040 --> 02:02:20,720
Speaker 1: at it. Um I still want to hopefully have a

2286
02:02:20,720 --> 02:02:25,880
Speaker 1: shot of tran, But I will say that maybe maybe

2287
02:02:26,360 --> 02:02:30,600
Speaker 1: what I got from this season so far is to

2288
02:02:30,960 --> 02:02:33,320
Speaker 1: control which you can control. There are certain things you

2289
02:02:33,320 --> 02:02:37,560
Speaker 1: can control, like your effort, like your priorities, like when

2290
02:02:37,600 --> 02:02:39,760
Speaker 1: you decide to shoot, when you don't shoot, when you hunt,

2291
02:02:39,760 --> 02:02:42,200
Speaker 1: when you don't hunt, where you go. Control those things

2292
02:02:42,240 --> 02:02:44,160
Speaker 1: and do the best you can with that. But when

2293
02:02:44,160 --> 02:02:48,000
Speaker 1: it comes to what you can't control, recognize what you

2294
02:02:48,040 --> 02:02:51,520
Speaker 1: can't control, and stop giving and stop giving ships about it,

2295
02:02:51,560 --> 02:02:54,760
Speaker 1: because if you can't control it, let it go. Whether

2296
02:02:54,760 --> 02:02:57,520
Speaker 1: that be what somebody else thinks about your decision, whether

2297
02:02:57,560 --> 02:03:00,080
Speaker 1: that be if someone else shoots your target buck, to

2298
02:03:00,200 --> 02:03:02,840
Speaker 1: that be if the deer just aren't there in your

2299
02:03:02,840 --> 02:03:05,800
Speaker 1: farm and and and you're having really slow sits. If

2300
02:03:05,800 --> 02:03:09,680
Speaker 1: you can't control it, there's no point in stressing about

2301
02:03:09,680 --> 02:03:11,640
Speaker 1: it and worrying about it and letting it ruin your

2302
02:03:11,680 --> 02:03:17,040
Speaker 1: hunting experience. Yeah, that's a fact, Jack, That is a fact.

2303
02:03:17,320 --> 02:03:19,640
Speaker 1: And I think maybe with that we should shut down

2304
02:03:19,640 --> 02:03:24,400
Speaker 1: this marathon uh story type podcast. That's a fact. I

2305
02:03:24,400 --> 02:03:27,440
Speaker 1: gotta pee you really bad. Well, then get out of here,

2306
02:03:27,520 --> 02:03:31,280
Speaker 1: go go drain the tank and uh, well we'll talk

2307
02:03:31,280 --> 02:03:34,560
Speaker 1: against him, and that's gonna do it first Today, just

2308
02:03:34,600 --> 02:03:37,320
Speaker 1: a couple of quick reminders. If you haven't checked out

2309
02:03:37,440 --> 02:03:41,680
Speaker 1: my new book, That Wild Country, would highly recommended and

2310
02:03:41,720 --> 02:03:44,080
Speaker 1: appreciate it. If you'd be willing to pick up a copy,

2311
02:03:44,440 --> 02:03:47,360
Speaker 1: you can find it on Amazon from now through the

2312
02:03:47,400 --> 02:03:50,040
Speaker 1: beginning of December, and then from December one on you'll

2313
02:03:50,080 --> 02:03:51,800
Speaker 1: be able to pick it up just about anywhere you

2314
02:03:51,840 --> 02:03:55,880
Speaker 1: can find books. A lot more to come on that soon. Otherwise,

2315
02:03:55,920 --> 02:03:58,760
Speaker 1: follow me on the Wired Hunt Instagram account for more

2316
02:03:58,920 --> 02:04:03,120
Speaker 1: updates on recent trips, upcoming hunts and all that good stuff,

2317
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Speaker 1: and otherwise, thank you all for tuning in. I appreciate

2318
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Speaker 1: your support, and until next time, good luck hunting and

2319
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Speaker 1: stay wired to Hunt.