WEBVTT - Ep. 149: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - World Champion Squirrel Cook Off

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 2>I want you to stay a while.

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<v Speaker 1>As I share my stories and the country skills.

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<v Speaker 2>That will help you beat the system.

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<v Speaker 1>This Country Life is proudly presented as part of Meat

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<v Speaker 1>Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>The airways have to offer.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, friends, pull you up a chair or drop

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<v Speaker 1>that tailgate.

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<v Speaker 2>I think I got a thing or two to teach you.

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<v Speaker 1>The World Champion Squirrel Cookoff. I was honored to be

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<v Speaker 1>a judge at the twenty twenty three World Champion Squirrel

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<v Speaker 1>Cookoff in Springdale, Arkansas. Folks gathered from all over the

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<v Speaker 1>nation to share a day of family oriented fun in

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<v Speaker 1>the Ozark Mountains. Were there to compete, some were there

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<v Speaker 1>to eat. Some were there out of simple curiosity and

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<v Speaker 1>admittedly wanting to see the stereotypical barefooted hellbillies of the

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<v Speaker 1>South cooking and eating squirrels. Now, what they witnessed was

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<v Speaker 1>something quite different and surprising to some, including yours. Truly,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to talk about all of that, but first I'm.

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<v Speaker 2>Going to tell you a story.

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<v Speaker 1>Squirrel season many moons Ago opened on the first day

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<v Speaker 1>of October, and every year you'd find me, my brother,

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<v Speaker 1>and various others at our deer camp for the annual

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<v Speaker 1>opening day in early October. The hardwood trees that squirrels

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<v Speaker 1>feed in normally still hold the majority of their leaves.

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<v Speaker 1>This requires us to slip undetected as possible through the

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<v Speaker 1>woods into the tempest, bout the squirrel and take a

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<v Speaker 1>shot at him before he sees us. Most of the

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<v Speaker 1>time you can hear a squirrel jumping from limb to limb,

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<v Speaker 1>or chewing on acorns as they feed. Remarkably, you can

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<v Speaker 1>hear a squirrel cutting an acre or a hick or

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<v Speaker 1>nut for quite a long ways that the wind.

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<v Speaker 2>Ain't blown too hard.

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<v Speaker 1>Dogs aren't a lot of help this time of year

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<v Speaker 1>because the barkin makes the squirrel set still and they're

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<v Speaker 1>hard to find amongst all the leaves. My older brother

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<v Speaker 1>Tim is a very accomplished outdoorsman. He taught me a

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<v Speaker 1>lot about the outdoors, and more than a few of

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<v Speaker 1>my best memories are with him. This is one of them.

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<v Speaker 1>The first person out of the woods with their limb

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<v Speaker 1>of squirrels always drew dragging rights. The contest was narrowed

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<v Speaker 1>further between Tim and I to see who the first

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<v Speaker 1>person would be to kill the first squirrel on opening day.

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<v Speaker 1>The first shot to break the stillness of a cool

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<v Speaker 1>morning and to hear the echo roll through the hardwood

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<v Speaker 1>bottoms was a badge of honor between he and I.

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<v Speaker 1>For three or four years in a row, I had

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<v Speaker 1>been the first to open squirrel season in our group,

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<v Speaker 1>and I didn't care if I got my limit before Tim,

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<v Speaker 1>or even if I killed my limit. I just wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to be first, and so did Tim. The day would

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<v Speaker 1>start well before daylight. We would meet at Tim's house

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<v Speaker 1>for a breakfast of biscuits and gravy and coffee. TAM's

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<v Speaker 1>brother in law, Joe Bryant, who was just like our brother,

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<v Speaker 1>would be there. Tim's father in law, mister Billy Bryant,

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<v Speaker 1>our turkey hunting mentor, and few other close friends would

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes get the invite, but it was basically the Bryant

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<v Speaker 1>and Reeves deer camp crew. We would have our breakfast,

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<v Speaker 1>then drive across the pasture to the edge of the

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<v Speaker 1>creek bottoms. From there we'd separate like a coved quail

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<v Speaker 1>in the darkness, each going to his favorite hunting spot

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<v Speaker 1>to wait for daylight and the squirrels to start stirring.

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<v Speaker 1>It was the official kickoff to hunting season every year.

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<v Speaker 1>It had been our tradation for a long time. Meat

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<v Speaker 1>at Thams, eat breakfast and go hunt. And my brother

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<v Speaker 1>makes the best coffee in the world. I love coffee

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<v Speaker 1>on a good, cool morning. I love coffee on every morning,

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<v Speaker 1>but coffee it hates me every day of the year.

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<v Speaker 1>On this particular morning, the moon was large and full

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<v Speaker 1>and gave enough light to move through the woods without

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<v Speaker 1>the aid of a flashlight, and we each made our

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<v Speaker 1>way to our hunting spot, agreeing we would all meet

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<v Speaker 1>back up at the truck before dinner. For those keeping

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<v Speaker 1>score at home, dinner means noon.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>I found my way to my spot and I sat

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<v Speaker 1>down under a large red oak tree to relax and

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<v Speaker 1>wait for the sun to come up. There hadn't even

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<v Speaker 1>been a hint of daylight back to the east, but

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<v Speaker 1>you could see surprisingly well in the bright moonlight, especially

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<v Speaker 1>after my eyes got completely acclimated to the dark. It

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<v Speaker 1>was such a cool, clear morning, there was no haze.

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<v Speaker 1>The star ours were nearly invisible because of how bright

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<v Speaker 1>the moon was, and the moon was so clear that

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<v Speaker 1>you could easily see the craters and all the definitions

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<v Speaker 1>of the different shades of gray. I could see my

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<v Speaker 1>breath when I exhaled against the moon.

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<v Speaker 2>It was perfect.

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<v Speaker 1>I was at peace and in one of my favorite

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<v Speaker 1>places on Earth, and with the folks I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>be with. It just didn't get much better than this.

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<v Speaker 1>Why couldn't mess this up? Tim's world famous coffee?

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<v Speaker 2>That's what it began to stir in my belly.

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<v Speaker 1>The mixture of coffee, biscuits, and gravy was apparently at

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<v Speaker 1>odds with each other. The feeling of the feeling in

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<v Speaker 1>my stomach was a sharp jolt of pain that made

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<v Speaker 1>me sit straight up from my relaxed position against that

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<v Speaker 1>big red oak.

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<v Speaker 2>It quickly went away to nothing that was close. Thought

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<v Speaker 2>I was gonna have an.

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<v Speaker 1>Issue there for a minute, I went back to looking

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<v Speaker 1>at the moon. A few moments later, the next pain

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<v Speaker 1>felt like I'd been gut shot, and relief was only

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<v Speaker 1>going to come by letting nature run its course.

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<v Speaker 2>There was no question it was about to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>The only thing yet to be determined was if I

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<v Speaker 1>was gonna be able to get my overalls out of

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<v Speaker 1>the way in time to keep from having to walk

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<v Speaker 1>back to TAM's house necking, I assumed the position ingrained

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<v Speaker 1>in man from his humble beginnings before the days of

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<v Speaker 1>toilets and squatty potties, and exercised Thames.

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<v Speaker 2>Coffee from my person.

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<v Speaker 1>Now that operation pretty well runs on all the pilot

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<v Speaker 1>and I had nothing else to do during this time,

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<v Speaker 1>so I found myself staring at the moon again that

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<v Speaker 1>was shining so brightly through the hardwood trees. Daylight was

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<v Speaker 1>still minutes from breaking the pre dawn darkness, and my

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<v Speaker 1>belly was feeling in a great sense of relief. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's when I saw a squirrel run out on a limb,

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<v Speaker 1>silhoueted against that big old moon. He had an acron

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<v Speaker 1>in his paws, and he stopped and just sat there

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<v Speaker 1>having his breakfast. It looked like Norman Rockwell painted him

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<v Speaker 1>on that limb. My excitement sword what I'm fixing the

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<v Speaker 1>open squirrel season yet again, and this time I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>do it before daylight. Still resting in my baseball catcher's position,

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<v Speaker 1>I reached for my shotgun that was leaning against a

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<v Speaker 1>tree beside me. I loaded one shell, I took careful

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<v Speaker 1>aim and deliberate aim, what mister Bryant always referred to

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<v Speaker 1>as starvation aim. And I knocked that squirrel out of

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<v Speaker 1>that tree. He hit the ground with a thud, and

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<v Speaker 1>the echo of that shotgun rolled down through them bottoms

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<v Speaker 1>like that first clap of a big thunderstorm, bathing slowly

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<v Speaker 1>as it made its way cross the landscape. With my

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<v Speaker 1>overall still around my ankles, I was grinning from ear

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<v Speaker 1>to rear, already the victory in the first squirrel bagged competition.

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<v Speaker 1>That shotgun had announced to the world, but mainly to Tim,

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<v Speaker 1>the eye was the winner. No senner had the echo

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<v Speaker 1>died out. When I heard his response, it was faint,

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<v Speaker 1>but clearly distinct, just the same. He was nearly a

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<v Speaker 1>quarter of a mile from me, still waiting on daylight

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<v Speaker 1>in his usual opening day spot. Two words, one syllable each,

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<v Speaker 1>both of them yelled as loud as he could yell them,

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<v Speaker 1>A colorful yet unrefined description of what is left of

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<v Speaker 1>grass after coursing through the digestive system of a male

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<v Speaker 1>bovine bull.

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<v Speaker 2>I'll spare you the rest. It was Tim's answer to

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<v Speaker 2>my victory shot.

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<v Speaker 1>I finished my coffee purge, collected my squirrel, when it

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<v Speaker 1>got light enough to find him and walked through the

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<v Speaker 1>woods until I met Tim to prove.

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<v Speaker 2>That I hadn't cheated. I had won again. And that's

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<v Speaker 2>just how that happened.

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<v Speaker 1>The World Champion Squirrel Cookoff event was the brainchild of

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<v Speaker 1>my friend Joe Wilson. I don't believe in reincarnation, but

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<v Speaker 1>if I did, my money, all my money would be

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<v Speaker 1>on Joe Wilson being P. T. Barnum. You folks that

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<v Speaker 1>don't know who P. T. Barnum is, remember Google is

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<v Speaker 1>your friend.

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<v Speaker 2>Look it up.

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<v Speaker 1>He has been considered the greatest showman and producer of

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<v Speaker 1>entertainment in history, and that's where the similarity is in.

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<v Speaker 1>Unlike Phineas Taylor Barnum, Joe Wilson doesn't do these things

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<v Speaker 1>to lie in his pockets with cash. He does these

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<v Speaker 1>things and has been doing them for what seems like forever,

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<v Speaker 1>with no other goal than to spread joy, friendship, and

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<v Speaker 1>a shared appreciation for those that serve by serving them.

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<v Speaker 1>He pays for it himself out of his own pockets.

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<v Speaker 1>He's never asked for one bit of help, and that

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<v Speaker 1>needs to change. He does events for law enforcement and

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<v Speaker 1>other first responders, and that's a whole other animal and

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<v Speaker 1>it's a whole other show that we'll talk about another day.

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<v Speaker 1>But Joe Wilson started this thing off with a lie.

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<v Speaker 1>We've talked about it before in detail more than once

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<v Speaker 1>on the Bear Grease Render. If there's someone listening and

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<v Speaker 1>that doesn't know the story, I'll give you a brief

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<v Speaker 1>history lesson. Joe was contacted by a production company from

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<v Speaker 1>California through a series of handoffs that had had him

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<v Speaker 1>on the phone with the lady saying they were filming

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<v Speaker 1>a show in the area and wanted to do something

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<v Speaker 1>on folks eating bear meat and squirrels. Well, Joe thought

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<v Speaker 1>this was a great idea and a great way to

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<v Speaker 1>introduce Arkansas to a bigger audience, and long story short,

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<v Speaker 1>Joe reached out to everyone's favorite bear hunter, my buddy

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<v Speaker 1>Clay bold Nukem, and told the lady that the squirrel

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<v Speaker 1>eating wouldn't be a problem either, because Arkansas just happened

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<v Speaker 1>to be home to the World Championship Squirrel Cookoff. The

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<v Speaker 1>lady was excited and wanted to know where when the

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<v Speaker 1>event was, and Joe asked her, said, well, when are

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<v Speaker 1>y'all planning to be in the area and when she

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<v Speaker 1>told him. He said, well, well that's a coincidence. Well that's

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<v Speaker 1>right when the event is Joe had to scramble to

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<v Speaker 1>make that thing happen. And for the full story on

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<v Speaker 1>how that all came to be, check out episode one

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen of Bear Grease. To hear Joe tell it himself,

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<v Speaker 1>it's quite good. It was on that episode that Joe

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<v Speaker 1>invited me to be a judge, and I gladly accepted,

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<v Speaker 1>not knowing what to expect, but figuring it'd be a

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<v Speaker 1>fun time. I mean, folks are cooking and feeding me squirrels.

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<v Speaker 1>How could that not be good? That'll explain how I

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<v Speaker 1>got Springdale, but gave no hint about what would happen

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<v Speaker 1>once I got there. Eating some of the best squirrel

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<v Speaker 1>I ever eaten in my life was way down the

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<v Speaker 1>list on what happened on that recent Saturday in September.

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<v Speaker 1>I figured Joe was busy with final preparation, so on

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<v Speaker 1>the way up there, I had Alexis text him on

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<v Speaker 1>my phone Friday as we drove to the hotel, what

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<v Speaker 1>time do I need to be there tomorrow? Immediate response

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<v Speaker 1>from Joe as early as possible, As early as possible,

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<v Speaker 1>What does that mean. I was like, Alexis tell that fool.

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<v Speaker 1>I can be there at daylight if I need to be,

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<v Speaker 1>but just tell me a time. She texted him on

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<v Speaker 1>my phone. Joe, this is Brent's wife. He's driving. What

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<v Speaker 1>time would you like him to be there? Immediate response,

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<v Speaker 1>As early as you can, and ma'am, I could use

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<v Speaker 1>your help with an iguana, she read. She read it

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<v Speaker 1>out loud and slowly looked at me and said, is

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<v Speaker 1>he serious? I told her more than likely, and I

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<v Speaker 1>just dropped it.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>We looked up the schedule and saw that it started

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<v Speaker 1>at nine, and I figured any time around nine would

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<v Speaker 1>be good. I kept thinking in the back of my

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<v Speaker 1>mind what Joe had said, as early as possible. The

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<v Speaker 1>next morning, we had a light breakfast and headed out

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<v Speaker 1>to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission JB and John L.

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<v Speaker 1>Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center. The name is impressive,

0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:49.079
<v Speaker 1>but the nature center is unreal. Holy cow. If you're

0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.960
<v Speaker 1>a resident of Arkansas and anywhere within a day's drive

0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.600
<v Speaker 1>of this place, you should load the youngins up and

0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.560
<v Speaker 1>head that way. It's really nice, very educational, and a

0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.880
<v Speaker 1>great spot for any of it, but one like this man.

0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:06.240
<v Speaker 1>It was Taylor made. As we drove closer to the

0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.720
<v Speaker 1>nature center, I could see why Joe kept saying as

0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:14.240
<v Speaker 1>early as possible. The crowd at nine fifteen, fifteen minutes

0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:18.400
<v Speaker 1>after it started, was all ready big and getting bigger

0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:22.520
<v Speaker 1>by the minute. They had an organized parking system, with

0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:26.440
<v Speaker 1>buses coordinated bringing folks from parking areas and dropping them

0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.000
<v Speaker 1>off at the front door. I heard a few grumbles

0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:33.280
<v Speaker 1>about parking from people after the fact on Sunday, but nothing,

0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.600
<v Speaker 1>nothing but happy smiling faces.

0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:38.080
<v Speaker 2>All day long.

0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.520
<v Speaker 1>On Saturday, some folks told me that they skipped the

0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.680
<v Speaker 1>bus ride all together and just walk with their family

0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:49.160
<v Speaker 1>soaking in an Arkansas Saturday morning in the Ozarks. Now,

0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm all about appreciating where you are and taking advantage

0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.800
<v Speaker 1>of an opportunity to be one with nature, even better

0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.240
<v Speaker 1>when I can share it with my family. I'm also

0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.880
<v Speaker 1>a flat land so if I hadn't found one of

0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.240
<v Speaker 1>the two last parking spots close to the building, I'd

0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.200
<v Speaker 1>bet on that bus. Appreciating a diesel motor and a

0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.800
<v Speaker 1>padded bench seat. I met so many great people, a

0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.360
<v Speaker 1>lot of them there were from the Bear Grease in

0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.640
<v Speaker 1>this country life circle of folks, and none of them

0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.240
<v Speaker 1>were the same. It wasn't a copy and paste event.

0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.400
<v Speaker 1>There were a few people there that I talked to

0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.760
<v Speaker 1>that had never eaten a squirrel in their life and

0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:30.560
<v Speaker 1>didn't plan on eating any during that event. Some of

0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.320
<v Speaker 1>them had never eaten it before, and that day would

0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.960
<v Speaker 1>be their first attempt. I didn't talk to one person

0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.360
<v Speaker 1>that said they wish they hadn't came. Every one of

0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.200
<v Speaker 1>them that I talked to that tried it told me

0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.400
<v Speaker 1>that they had a better appreciation for how good it

0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.840
<v Speaker 1>was and if they'd eat it again. A few even

0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:51.840
<v Speaker 1>told me that they were going to start hunting on

0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.320
<v Speaker 1>their own and learning how to cook them, and they

0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:58.000
<v Speaker 1>were going to include their kids and their grandkids. Good Night, nurse,

0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.840
<v Speaker 1>What more could you want now? I don't know how

0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.520
<v Speaker 1>many people I talked to, but from the time we

0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.280
<v Speaker 1>got there a little after nine until we left around

0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:11.360
<v Speaker 1>four or so, it was one glorious conversation after another.

0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:12.400
<v Speaker 2>I loved it.

0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:17.440
<v Speaker 1>Folks showed me their bear pictures, their kids catfishing. I

0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.600
<v Speaker 1>looked at pictures of coon dogs and squirrel dogs, some

0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.400
<v Speaker 1>that were just getting started and others that had passed

0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.920
<v Speaker 1>on but were kept alive by talking about them. To

0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.000
<v Speaker 1>someone that can see the value that these dogs, places

0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:34.600
<v Speaker 1>and events had in their lives and the meaning that

0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:35.720
<v Speaker 1>they held in their hearts.

0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:45.520
<v Speaker 2>Man, it's good.

0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.000
<v Speaker 1>There was one break that started at twelve and for

0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.520
<v Speaker 1>nearly two hours, all the judges were sequestioned in a

0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:59.600
<v Speaker 1>big room. There were twelve of us, divided into two

0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.200
<v Speaker 1>judges teams of six. The plan was to take the

0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.520
<v Speaker 1>thirty five entries into the contest and number them one

0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:10.920
<v Speaker 1>through thirty five. One table would judge even numbered dishes

0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.560
<v Speaker 1>and the other table would handle the odd numbers. The

0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:18.359
<v Speaker 1>other five at my table included a professional chef, a

0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:23.320
<v Speaker 1>high end kitchen knife maker, another podcaster, a marketing guy

0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:28.399
<v Speaker 1>for an air rifle company, and an orthopedic surgeon. Now,

0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:31.159
<v Speaker 1>I thought to myself, this ought to be interesting. I

0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:32.840
<v Speaker 1>don't know if you could have come up with a

0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.480
<v Speaker 1>more random table of people. It was kind of like

0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.440
<v Speaker 1>joining the service. One day, everyone's doing their own thing

0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.200
<v Speaker 1>in their own place, and the next you're sitting around

0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.920
<v Speaker 1>in a mess hall with no hair, eating food you've

0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.439
<v Speaker 1>never seen before and wondering how you got there. And

0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:51.800
<v Speaker 1>yet here we all set across from one another, six

0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:57.560
<v Speaker 1>complete strangers, voluntarily waiting to share seventeen dishes made from

0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:00.960
<v Speaker 1>squirrels by seventeen teams of peace people we didn't know,

0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.600
<v Speaker 1>some from right down the road and others all the

0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:09.159
<v Speaker 1>way from Alaska. Now I've been to Alaska. Those folks

0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:12.480
<v Speaker 1>put in some effort just to get there. Promptly at

0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.040
<v Speaker 1>twelve o'clock they started bringing in the groceries. I ain't

0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.480
<v Speaker 1>never seen squirrel fixed, all the different ways they were

0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.639
<v Speaker 1>making it. Lots of Messican flavored dishes, some Asian influence,

0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.719
<v Speaker 1>and other places from around the world, but none of

0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.280
<v Speaker 1>what I was expecting. I figured I'd be eating fried

0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.680
<v Speaker 1>squirrel with biscuits and gravy about nineteen times that day,

0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:38.040
<v Speaker 1>which is my favorite, or squirreling dumplings, or squirrel mulligan,

0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:42.399
<v Speaker 1>maybe a squirrel taco or two. I wasn't even close

0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.399
<v Speaker 1>to what we had to eat. I can say this

0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:50.120
<v Speaker 1>most assuredly, though, but it was all good. I would

0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:54.320
<v Speaker 1>eat every dish I sampled again. There wasn't a dud

0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.520
<v Speaker 1>and a bunch, But just like most things, some were

0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.560
<v Speaker 1>just better than others. The best thing of it was

0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.280
<v Speaker 1>the dishes. They weren't judged against each other. Each dish

0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:09.920
<v Speaker 1>was competing against themselves. By presentation, use of the required ingredients,

0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.560
<v Speaker 1>overall score, and of course the taste. But there was

0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.200
<v Speaker 1>also a side dish that had to be scored down

0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:20.359
<v Speaker 1>to a decimal point, which serves as a tiebreaker in

0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:25.800
<v Speaker 1>the unlikely event that that should happen. Unlikely event that

0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:29.880
<v Speaker 1>always makes me think about those flight attendants demonstrating those

0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.080
<v Speaker 1>oxygen masks that are supposed to fall from the overhead

0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:38.320
<v Speaker 1>compartment if the airplane should suddenly lose cabin pressure. Those

0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:40.680
<v Speaker 1>things like they were made by Fisher Price. Come on,

0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:43.919
<v Speaker 1>oxygen is flowing, even if the bag ain't inflated.

0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.520
<v Speaker 2>Whatever. With a tally.

0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.320
<v Speaker 1>Finally, in some folks from the great state of Kentucky

0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.760
<v Speaker 1>walked away with first place, But I tell you everybody

0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:59.040
<v Speaker 1>there was the real winner. On a random Saturday in September,

0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:03.840
<v Speaker 1>literally thousands of people from all walks of life gathered

0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:08.000
<v Speaker 1>in one spot to celebrate cooking a squirrel. I never

0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:12.920
<v Speaker 1>heard a harsh word, an argument, or the first political statement.

0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:17.879
<v Speaker 1>It was just people being adventurous, some being nostalgic, some

0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:23.320
<v Speaker 1>being inquisitive, all of us being respectful. I wish you'd

0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:25.960
<v Speaker 1>been there for those of you that weren't. I hope

0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.040
<v Speaker 1>you'll make plans to be there next year. For those

0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.840
<v Speaker 1>that were, I'm gonna be watching for you. You better

0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:40.640
<v Speaker 1>come on back. Now here's something else you probably don't

0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.960
<v Speaker 1>know about Old Joe Wilson. He started this thing by

0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:48.120
<v Speaker 1>taking advantage of an opportunity that presented itself to showcase

0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:53.080
<v Speaker 1>not only Arkansas, but his way of life, A way

0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.240
<v Speaker 1>of life that represents people gathering together over a meal

0:20:56.280 --> 0:21:00.359
<v Speaker 1>of any kind to fellowship and share stories about the

0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.439
<v Speaker 1>things that are dear to them. Now that ain't just

0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:07.439
<v Speaker 1>in Arkansas. That's in every state of this nation. And

0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.320
<v Speaker 1>it's time we all got together and supported one another.

0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.640
<v Speaker 1>Whether it's squirrels in the Ozarks, or the Muskrat Festival

0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:20.120
<v Speaker 1>in Maryland or the Walleye Festival in Ohio, invite someone

0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:24.359
<v Speaker 1>to share that experience with you, preferably someone that most

0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:27.320
<v Speaker 1>likely would not do it on their own. We got

0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.520
<v Speaker 1>room for them, and we need all the folks we

0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:34.480
<v Speaker 1>can get on our side. I get some great invitations

0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:38.280
<v Speaker 1>to go hunt places all over this wonderful country. I

0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:40.360
<v Speaker 1>get so many that I could never go to all

0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:44.840
<v Speaker 1>of them in five hunting seasons, much less one. So

0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.280
<v Speaker 1>that's your challenge this week. If you was going to

0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:49.720
<v Speaker 1>ask me to go on a cool hunting or a

0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:54.000
<v Speaker 1>fishing trip. Ask someone to go in my place that's

0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.359
<v Speaker 1>never been and send me the pictures of what I missed.

0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:01.119
<v Speaker 1>You're going to make a new friend and we're going

0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:05.480
<v Speaker 1>to get another person on our side except bo hunting ELK.

0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:08.520
<v Speaker 2>Don't ask the other guy, ask me. I'm going on

0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.040
<v Speaker 2>that one. Now.

0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:13.520
<v Speaker 1>I'm doing all this on my own, and Joe's gonna

0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.240
<v Speaker 1>hear about it right when y'all do. But if there's

0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:20.040
<v Speaker 1>a business that's interested in helping sponsor next year's world

0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:24.720
<v Speaker 1>champion Squirreld cookoff, my faithful sidekick, editor and sound engineer

0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:28.280
<v Speaker 1>Rever Hanson is going to post Joe's email in the

0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:29.040
<v Speaker 1>show description.

0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.760
<v Speaker 2>I thank y'all so much for listening. My bellies full

0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:36.000
<v Speaker 2>of squirrel. I got a big smile on my face.

0:22:36.080 --> 0:22:37.879
<v Speaker 1>This is Brent Reeves signing off.

0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:39.840
<v Speaker 2>Y'all be careful