WEBVTT - Ep. 12: Fred Eichler 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:06.800 Hey, everybody, welcome episode number twelve the Hunting Collective. I've 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:11.959 been O'Brien and today we are joined by Fred Eichler. 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:15.360 Fred Eichler has been in the outdoor industry for quite 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.639 a while, twenty seven years to be exact. He's an outfitter, 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:23.439 he's a TV show host, he's a writer, a photographer, 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.480 a man of many talents. And not only that man, 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.320 he is a fun dude to hang around with. And 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.680 I had the pleasure of turkey hunting at Full Draw 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:39.440 Outfitters in near Aguilar, or Colorado, where he's based at 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.280 the base of the Spanish Peaks of beautiful range that 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.960 runs through that part of the world. And you know, 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:48.560 to say that his properties and ranches are impressive with 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.599 me an understatement, and the place he lives, the lifestyle 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.880 he lives, his family um is impressive. And I enjoyed 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.680 hanging out with him. And we killed a turkey on Saturday. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.800 Cool story, what you'll hear about. And we went on 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.160 what he calls a game drive. And the game drive 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.119 was just riding around the truck looking for animals. So 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:11.639 at the tail end of our game drive, we hopped 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.720 on the microphones and did a podcast. It's a little impromptu, 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:18.720 a little crazy, a little all over the place, but 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:24.920 in an awesome conversation nonetheless. So without further ado, Episode 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:41.360 number twelve, Fred Eichler, we live. Where are we at? Fred? 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:43.080 And I always like to ask people when we're doing this, 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.800 where where we are? To describe our surroundings. Well, we're 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.200 in southern Colorado. Uh, we're actually on the back of 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.920 our ranch. Um, and uh, beautiful country. We're in kind 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.320 of ponderosa spruce. Um, we're gonna drop it down into 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.200 some more sage and cedars in juniper country. But uh, 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.280 that's whe're at southern called right on north of Trinidad 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:04.560 and the south of Pueblo. Yeah, we're driving. We're in 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.960 the truck and we're moving. We're driving through beautiful valley 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.280 where like the Spanish peaks are right to our the 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.880 tailgate of our truck. And uh, Fred's house and it's 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:19.840 beautiful family and garden and horses and goats and chickens 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.800 and dogs. It's quite another pigs and then so I 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.760 didn't see a pig, but no, well I am considered 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:31.919 one of the but the local swan. But yeah, my 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.480 wife says, I eat it all but uh yeah, we're 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.080 not We're not lacking. We're not dog poor as you 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.320 can see. And and uh yeah, the the animals are 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.440 a big, big part of what we do, whether it's 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:45.400 kettle or horses or like you said, the chickens, chicken 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.720 eggs and chickens all good. How long have you had 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.000 this ranch? I mean you have a series of properties, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.280 but how long specifically on this You know, we've leased 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:58.120 this one for coming up on twenty years. Um, we've 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:02.000 owned it for about third teen fourteen years and uh 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.120 been a blast. Uh, you know, a lot of work. 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:06.639 The couple we got it from, their their biggest thing 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:08.920 was that they wanted to see it. Uh you know, 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:12.120 see it continue to be a working, a working ranch. 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.280 So I did a lot of work in the fences. 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:16.840 Um they were getting up in age and and just 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.040 you know, I didn't didn't want to do some of 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.480 the work that you know, really it entails, you know, 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:23.959 running a ranch. So that's what we've done. You know, 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.320 we we've continued to work the we worked around. We 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.880 do a little farming, run a few cows, um of 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.799 course round the outfitting business, which is a big part 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.680 of what we do. And you know, The beautiful thing 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:36.520 for us is, like you saw this morning, we've done 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.840 a lot of things to help improve the habitat, whether 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.800 that's playing on file ful fields, oape fields, wheat fields, 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:46.520 um in some cases corn farther east. But we do 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:50.160 a lot of things to try and draw in a 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.640 lot of different game and make it a place where 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:54.760 where you can really enjoy like a game drive that 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.880 we this morning. Yeah, it's a whole different version of 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.160 a game driving than the one in like south east Louisiana, 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:06.600 or they chase the deer around shooting with rifles. I mean, yeah, 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:08.720 driving around on the road we're on right now, and 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.440 this is just a kind of a ranch road. It 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:13.240 looks like a county road, but I mean it's a 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:17.240 ranch road that cuts through the middle of this valley. Um. 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:23.040 And we saw turkeys, many many turkeys. We saw mule deer, 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.440 we saw white tailed deer, we saw elk. I mean 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.200 that's pretty good. That's that's four And we've been driving 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.600 around since you know, five this morning. It's ten thirty 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:35.720 and we've seen all those and not just one here 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:41.120 or they're piles of them, piles of them over the place. Yeah, 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:43.000 I mean, what a place. What a place to live. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.320 I mean you're talking about we haven't same black bears. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.680 Not quite. Yeah, late enough in the year for the 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:50.760 spring is not far enough along for that just yet. 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.000 But you said here, in a couple of weeks, they'll 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.320 be in every field and every hillside, they'll be a 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.360 bear black bear. And I love that you were just 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.960 as passionate you get up this morning and go take 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:02.320 a game drive. You know. I was like, hey, you've 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.440 already got this beautiful bird, let's go take a drive. 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.200 And uh, let's get up early. And some guys are like, 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.719 no way, I'm sleeping in. You were like, heck, yeah, man, 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:13.360 I'll be up at five. I'll be ready to let's go. 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:15.839 And I have a honey bun get to work totally. 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.920 The other thing we were talking about is just you know, 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.520 I work in a corporate environment some of the time, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.680 you know, most the ball in my life spent working 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:30.120 at nine to five. And I get to do this 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.640 more than almost a lot of folks that have that 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.640 situation for their jobs. But like just the feeling of 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.000 getting up and in the first fifteen minutes of your 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:42.760 day getting you know, fresh mountain there and nature and 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:46.839 animals and sunlight like that makes you feel better, I 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.280 got I'm not sure what circadian rhythms are, like, what 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.080 fancy words you would use for that for in psychology, 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.039 but it makes you feel better. You just feel better, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.679 happier person. We were talking about ranchers we run into. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.680 They're all just the happiest people you've ever man, And 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.120 that's not always a case. You meet somebody you know 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:07.360 in the city, and I have nothing against cities, They're fine. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.480 But in this case, man, this is a happy place 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.039 to be. I think, Oh, I love it. It's uh, 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:15.880 definitely different than when you when you're go into town. 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:17.479 But like you said, we woke up this morning. We 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:19.720 had birds goblin off the roost. Oh yeah, right by 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.480 your right by the lodge. You know, beautiful sunrise. Who 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.000 watched the sun come up with you know, snow covered 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.600 mountains in the background. If anybody wants to sleep through that, 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.719 what's what are you? Yeah? Would? And now it's yeah, 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:35.200 I felt like we've been up. I felt this. Man, 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:36.960 it must be dinner time. It's ten thirty in the 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.599 a m. We've been up cruising around for five hours 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:41.840 having a good time. So yeah, that's what it is. 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:43.920 I think we should probably let everybody in on how 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.599 the turkey hunt went down, because I came here to 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.320 check out your place. We've been trying to get that 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:53.039 together for a while. Your flight was a roadeo. I 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:56.320 flew out of Austin, flight, got canceled out of Austin, 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:01.400 finally got on a plane to Denver, got to Denver, snowstorm, snowstorm. 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.160 Flight went out of Denver on time. What we got 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:13.280 up here? Right? Turkeys are everywhere. They're everywhere, these turkeys. 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.760 But I had to please, please, do you see any 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:23.720 that's the fun part of this. Yeah, so we're huge 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:25.960 stuff storms coming. We get on, but they put us 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.840 on the plane anyways. They fly us all the way 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.440 to Colorado Springs. Short flight, forty minutes. We get almost 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.120 on the ground, maybe a couple of thousand feet from 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.400 the deck from the runway, and the at the last minute, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.880 the pilot pulls up, turns around and flies back to 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.680 Denver and comes on a loud speaker and says, we 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.280 couldn't see the runway, so we had to go back, 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:49.680 and we're gonna go back and refuel and we'll see 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:51.160 if we can try it again. I thought, well, that 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:58.200 sounds safe. We'll get we'll try try. There's a storm 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:02.880 coming in, but we'll try again anyway, Thanks Feller. Anyway, 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:04.720 we waited a couple of hours and flew back. Finally 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.080 did land at like midnight or something, and so it 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.480 was a full twelve eighteen. I was like fourteen hour 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:13.840 day in the airports. Finally finally made it on Saturday morning. Yeah, 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:15.480 but what time I think you didn't even roll in? 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.000 And yeah, I woke up it well, it was two 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:18.480 and two and a half hours away, So I woke 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.800 up at six and I got a bite to eat 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:22.680 and got my hunting license and drove down. It was 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:26.120 wentn't here untill nine thirty probably something like that, and 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.200 we were I was changed it in the truck probably 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.400 by ten o'clock, a little bit after I forgot my 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:37.880 shotgun at the lodge. You were a little tired. We 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.600 drove all the way almost to the spot we're gonna hunt, 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.640 and one of the guys called, It's like, hey, there's 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.920 a shotgun back here. Does that belong to anybody in 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.400 the truck? So yeah, I had to go back and 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:52.520 get my shotgun, got that done, and then uh got 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:57.959 back out to the the business like a plout. It's 0:08:57.960 --> 0:08:59.640 like a plot, food plot right on this kind of 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.800 river bed area and take it from there. Yeah, right 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.880 off the pur turt rivers. So awesome. I was excited 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:08.240 to have you out because I know you've been an 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.319 avid hunter your old life, and I know you know 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.320 a lot about the turkey hunting, and you know, turkey 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.640 season has already been open, uh you know for what 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.400 week and a half, and uh, I was hoping to 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.280 get you out early, but you know, hey, the way 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.400 the schedules worked, you came out a little into season. 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:23.800 So I'm like, all right, let's just go straight out 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:25.760 and hunt. And I loved it because you were like, okay, yeah, 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:27.720 I've been up for a long time, but let's do 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.040 this zip straight out into the woods. And uh it was. 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.600 It was awesome because we came into this little area. 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.760 I said, you don't what usually some turkeys in this big, 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:40.200 big field here. Sure enough the birds were there, gobbler 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:42.920 sauce and he took off running to the left and 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:44.560 it was great as the hands went to the right 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:47.640 and both of us were like, well that's perfect. So 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.560 we slipped down into the river bottom and I said, well, 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.600 let's just both call really softly. So I made a 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.439 few purse few yelps, real soft. You made a few 0:09:57.480 --> 0:09:59.720 Persian yelps, like we were answering each other back in 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.520 four Earth. And I said, then let's be quiet, and 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:05.000 you know, we'll start up another sequence and you know, 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.600 twenty thirty minutes or so. So it was awesome because 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:12.120 you slipped into this little hole. And that's my biggest concern. 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.200 And you can tell if somebody's got experienced turkey hanging 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.400 right away, right, you know, if if they get themselves 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:18.280 in a position where even if for birds close, they 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:22.079 can't move. And you know, you crawled into this little blowdown. 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:24.559 And it was awesome because I had just one of 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.040 those little cheap, oh you know, hand held little cameras 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:28.480 because I thought, man, it's been kind of cool if 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.640 I get video, because I like watching it and sharing 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:32.280 it with with my fans. You know, it's like, hey, 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.720 let's check out a hunt. So I sit down about 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:38.440 yards away from you. And what was really cool was 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.120 we had got done with our sequence. We're sitting there, 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.760 the sun had just come out. You know, it's been 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.440 snowing a little bit early, and sun had just broken 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:50.040 through the clouds, and both of us heard this raven 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.360 just out there, just you know, making a racket, you know, 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.320 and both of us were intently listening for a shot gobble. 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:01.040 Surely they will be a shock gobble off this raven 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.160 and you know, crow out there making up making a 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.720 rock as ravens are a lot bigger and their sound 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.440 carries even more. And I thought, surely we'll hear a gobble. Nothing. 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.240 So I'm sitting there and waiting, you know, looking over 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.439 your way, and I can see you kind of scanning slowly, 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.520 and all of a sudden, I gets this nice gobbler, 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:20.240 probably a three d a half year old birds, you know, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.280 walking in from the left, and he is doing the 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.839 super sneak? Was it not the crazy like he was 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.040 like cat, I've never seen not only you know turkey, 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:31.960 I've seen turkey sneak, but I've never seen a turkey 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.360 as deliberately pick his foot up and put it down 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.080 like where it totally matter where his and his feet were, 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.040 it were, he didn't want to step on a leaf anything. 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.320 And a comfortable turkey will come in and they like 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:49.280 looking around maybe yeah, maybe, yeah. Drummond has been excited. 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.960 He was the most. He's like, I'm gonna check this out. 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:53.920 Maybe there's a lady over here, maybe there isn't, but 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:55.680 I'm not gonna let anybody know what I'm up to. 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:03.120 He was full on Bobcat mode, full on educated, educated 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:06.440 d It was so awesome because I spotted first, because 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.640 he came on my side, you know, from the hard left, 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.600 so my body was probably blocking this purgec he comes 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.760 sneaking past. He goes past me at I don't even 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.560 know tht fifteen yards right on top of me. I'm 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.760 not moving, but again that's where full camo head, net 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.120 gloves all. That makes such a difference. That we were 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.240 both camoed head to toe. We both had great cover, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.600 so our outlines were broken up. Bird walks right past 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.040 me and he's kind of look. You could tell he's 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:34.920 looking for where are these hands? I just heard two 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.120 hands over here, And it was so cool because I 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.320 saw you when I looked over you, I watched you 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:41.760 slowly lift up the gun and I'm like, oh yeah, 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.560 and the bird never saw you move. Never so great. 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.440 So this bird there's hands to our right, and I'm 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:50.880 looking that way because I'm thinking maybe we'll get one 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.440 of those guys fired up. If at any rate I'd 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.920 like to see if they're they're hanging around, we got 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.480 a better chance that way. And I just kind of 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.240 you know how you do, you slowly scan and in 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.760 from right to left, left to right, not jerking your 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.040 head around, trying to stay relatively motionless, because I've done. 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.320 In fact, I was just hunting turkey hunting in Texas, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.320 and uh, I had a guy there with me that 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.360 didn't have gloves but a face mask, and I was 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.400 over calling, like maybe seventy five yards away in his hands. 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:21.760 I mean, I was like, dude, I just texted him 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:23.880 and like, dude, keep your hands down if you can, 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:27.800 because I could see nothing but your hands from over here. 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.240 And imagine me a hundred yards away. Imagine what a 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.320 turkey can see from fifteen yards if I can see 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.040 it from a hundred yards away. And so yeah, I 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:40.240 just I think this bird, Uh, I don't know if 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.600 he saw the decoy we had out there, he saw 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:44.200 what we I don't think he did. I think he 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.040 was just kind of sneaking through that area and and 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:49.160 I just slowly picked the gun up and he was 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:53.719 right behind a branch, and well, I perfectly, just could help, 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:55.320 could hold there and wait for him to walk in 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.040 fifteen yards and Cole, he was done. Was that quickly? 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.600 It was so I actually got it on camera, like 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:04.560 we gotta check it out, because literally I was fraid 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.680 I couldn't move the camera. It was like I can't move, 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.640 I can't move. And finally it was like there was 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:11.480 a little bit of a tree and I flipped it 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.400 open and I got you and you could see your 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:15.800 your already up with a gun ready to rocket, roll 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:19.560 like turn over, and the turkeys like walking. And as 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.960 soon as he stopped, you made a perfect just headhead. 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:25.320 Oh there's a big gobbler right to look at the 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.960 rope on that gobbler right there. That's so awesome. That 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.520 was some big birds up here. That was a dragger 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.280 that one. How many how many turkeys do you think 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.440 you've seen? I mean, not counting the fifty that we're 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.520 roosted over two hundred. Yeah, that's been. That's been a yeah, 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.720 I mean that's not that's probably conservative. Yeah, two hundred easy, 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:44.280 without even trying. We've got a lot of and it's 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:45.880 not like we've been like sitting and looking for him 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:49.040 and driving around the roads. Now we've seen two hundred 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.080 I mean, and then you know of that two hundred 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.200 forty mature gobblers. I don't know so much fun they're 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:57.400 hammering right now too. It's a nice bluebird day there, 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.440 bounces are just strutting around hammering, having a good time. 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.760 But yeah, I mean that that's the case. I you know, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:05.560 I just went through a Texas turkey and that was 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.280 four days and it was terrible, and I was in 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.320 Florida for a turkey and it rained the entire time. 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.560 So the fact that we got out there and sat down, 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.440 the sky came blue and the turkey walked in, I'll 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:17.480 take it. Oh, is that all? You work so hard 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:19.800 for him? Sometimes it's amazing, you know me. We're talking 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.320 about that yesterday. I just that's one of the things 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.040 I love about turkey hunting is you know, one day 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.760 you can swear it's like, this is the smartest bird 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:31.320 I've ever seen. You know, days go by, you can't 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:33.160 call one in, they're not reacting to calls, they're not 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:35.160 doing you know, what they're supposed to do. And then 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:40.720 the next day, boom, Sometimes same turkey. Say yeah, that's 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:42.640 what I always that's what we were saying, you know, 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.880 another podcast just about how sometimes they seem like the 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:50.680 dumbest thinks. Somebody said it looked like a roomba puffed 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.360 up room. But just they're not knowing what to do. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:55.880 And then sometimes like this thing is like a ghost, 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:57.880 like you can't you see him in the in the 0:15:57.880 --> 0:15:59.720 tree in the morning. They fly down the gobbel once 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:03.600 and then they're gone. Um. But in this case, you 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.960 take what you can get, especially I love eating turkeys, 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.320 so I generally don't get into like is he a 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:10.960 two year old or a three? Like is he have 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.760 a rope and spurs? All right, perfect, it's a turkey 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:19.160 and a face. I'll shoot him in the face after 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.080 That's how kind of how it's it's nice to have 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.040 that just done back my mind because we were talking 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.560 to my wife loves to buy the chicken. We don't 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.760 buy red meat at all from the store, but she 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.040 still wants white meat, which I respect. I don't tell 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.280 HERM only eat red meat. She wants white meat. So 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:37.280 every wants I shall buy chicken. And I've been trying 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.960 to cut that down and so quail doves turkeys, but 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.640 turkeys the most the easiest way to get that done 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:48.480 to mitigate the chicken buying situation for the meat, not 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:54.120 the eggs. So you're working out you're adding all the 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.880 white meat to the household, trying to that's that's the 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.320 number of turkey number three this year. So that's enough 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:01.720 the last us a while. It's a good reason to 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.320 be out hunting at least so good too, and it's 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.680 good for you, and I think that's I think really 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.800 people are starting to get educated, like how much healthier 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.960 it is to eat wild game. And then you've you know, 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:17.280 I would say one thing that we haven't even talks 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.240 since been right around the truck, but I always want 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:21.879 to talk to you about a bunch of things. But 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.480 you've been living, you know, that's out hunting lifestyle for 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.960 how many years? Would you say, I mean your whole life, probably, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.640 but in the industry when I was a kid, but yeah, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.760 you know, I started off as a young kid working 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:38.520 in archery shop, UM and bear archery, and then uh, 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:42.240 you know, when I was twenty one, I started managing 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.720 an archery shop and four Collins, Colorado, which is northern Colorado, 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:48.359 and uh, you know, I've been in the archery, archery 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.880 industry and hunting industry since then, um, you know then 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.399 you know, got just been very fortunate. You know, a 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:55.520 lot of people ask me how did you get the 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:57.080 hunt industry? And I'm like, hey, you know what a 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.800 lot of his right place, right time, you know, really cool. 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.520 I'm passionate about hunting. I've always been an outdoor communicator. 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:05.480 And by that I mean if somebody showed a little 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.800 interest in hunting, I'm like, well, come on with you. 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:09.680 You want to shoot a bow or a rifle, or 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.160 you know, you want to go shoot a handgun, Well 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.959 let's go, you know, trying to you know, just like 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:19.320 anything you're passionate about. You want another species? Nice an 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.880 lope on the right? That five? Yeah, yeah, I think 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.879 that is five species. Now, you're right, white tail, mule, deer, elk. 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:30.520 Now is that the big five? Well, I'm not early 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:32.919 in on them clature. That's the big five. We're calling that. 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.440 I'm a big Colorado five. I like it, Big five Colorado, 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:41.400 big five, elk, Muli's white tail, turkeys, antelope. I like it. 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.760 Sorry continues no, no, no, so. But I've always been 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:48.520 passionate about it. And you know, when Eastern asked me to, 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.560 you know, do the Eastern Bow Hunting Show awesome, and 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.320 then Predator Nation. Um. You know, a lot of people 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:55.639 in the industry would come out of your hunting with 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:59.200 us and see that I was pretty avid predator hunter. Um, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.600 you know, selling for or some things like that. So yeah, 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:03.440 I've been fortunate. Man, I've been in the industry long time, 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.359 starting outfitting business. Um. I think it's the twenty six 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.520 year um, something like that that I've been guiding clients. 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.200 And I absolutely love it because it's people that are 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:16.159 passionate about the same things I'm passionate about him, right, 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.399 and I love it. I mean it's you get to 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.840 beat some great people. And really, I mean I think 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.920 it would be hard to just randomly pick any any 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.439 sport and just be able to make the statement that 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:34.159 those people are just great people. Yeah, it's hard. I 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:35.840 mean there's you know, I'm sure as a guy, do 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.159 you have plenty of bad apple stories. And sometimes that's 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.840 the funnest part in a camp. You hear like, hey, 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:43.159 a couple of years ago, I had this guy and 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.480 you to laugh and laugh about it. But yeah, but 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.800 it is rare, right, I mean, and for you that many' 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.360 not good at math, that's thousands depends of like thousands 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.480 of people that you've taken honey, over the years. That's 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:56.840 super rare to have somebody that you don't get along 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:59.240 with or that you don't you know, you don't relate with. 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.000 And whether it's you know, on the whole gamut, you know, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.399 in the way that you know, relationships and you know 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.600 what I mean, kids the way they should be raised, 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:09.840