WEBVTT - Live BHA Storytelling Event 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.640 You're listening to the Sportsman's Nation podcast network powered by 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:08.520 Interstate Batteries from your truck to your trail camera. Interstate 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:12.480 Batteries as you covered. Visit your local Interstate Batteries store 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:17.880 today or online at Interstate Batteries dot com. Interstate Batteries 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:27.320 Outrageously Dependable. My name is Clay Nucleman. I'm the host 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.360 of the Bear Hunting Magazine podcast. I'll also be your 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.640 host into the world of hunting the icon of the 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:40.239 North American wilderness. Better. We'll talk about tactics, gear conservation, 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.080 who will also bring you into some of the wildest 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:51.519 country on the planet chasing the battery. If I'm not 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.280 back in ten minutes, I want you to get in 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:55.840 the driver's cy to this truck and I want you 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.080 to drive to this truck runs out of gas, and 0:00:58.120 --> 0:00:59.840 when the police come and pick you up, you tell 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.440 that your father and his mule are dead your mother. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:11.240 On March fifteen, I had the opportunity to speak at 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:15.800 a back Country Hunters and Anglers storytelling event in Springfield, Missouri. 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.120 This podcast is gonna be the stories that I told 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.119 that that event. The stories lasted about forty five minutes. 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.480 I think that you're gonna enjoy this podcast. You'll also 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.600 be able to watch the actual live event on the 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.039 Bear Hunting Magazine YouTube channel. You'll be able to go 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:34.600 to our channel and we're gonna split the stories up 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:37.560 in four different videos in the next ten days or 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.280 so that are gonna come out and they'll be titled 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.679 as different stories, so you'll actually be able to watch 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:48.400 this on the Bear Hunting Magazine YouTube channel. There's something 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:53.080 really special about oral traditions where we get to tell stories. 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:57.800 It's it's different than any other medium, and it's obviously 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:02.280 the oldest medium for human to relay a story. So 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:06.040 much information is inside of the spoken word, and you're 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:09.639 gonna enjoy this, so check it out. Also, guys, we 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:11.760 want to let you know that we now have all 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:15.880 of our podcast, the Bear Hunting Magazine podcasts on our 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.880 website bear hyphen hunting dot com. That's bare dash Hunting 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.680 dot com. So you can now go to our website 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.760 and you'll see a description of all the podcasts, you'll 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.600 see photographs from the podcast, and you can actually listen 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:35.959 to the podcast from our website. While you're there, you 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:39.320 might as well pick up one of our awesome custom 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:52.120 Bear Hunting Magazine t shirts. There we go, give this 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:59.520 guy one? Yes, all right, great, So I'm from Arkansas. 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.560 How many? How many people are from Arkansas? All right? 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:06.840 Where are you guys from Benville? Okay? All right, all right, 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.200 Well it's great to be here in Missouri. I am. 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:14.440 I am a seventh generation ar Kansen. So it's it's 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:16.320 it's cool to come to Missouri and hear you guys 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.360 talking about like I sent some like Missouri pride, you know. 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.440 So that's good because I know we do have that. 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.080 We do have some pride down in Arkansas. To um 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:31.359 So tonight, what I want to do is I want 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:35.640 to tell you four stories, four short stories that all 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:40.200 revolve around basically the same piece of public land. Um. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.800 I'm gonna time myself. This is my second sprite of 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.880 the night. Um So, who knows what's gonna happen here? 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:53.360 But uh, before I tell you these stories about public 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.480 land in Arkansas, let me tell you we've got We've 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:00.400 got two point two million acres of national forest and Arkansas, 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.920 and that doesn't even count all the w Mays and 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:05.960 all the different other places that we can hunt. We 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.920 have two point two million acres of national for us, 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:13.280 We've got eleven wilderness areas in Arkansas, and Uh, I 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.279 grew up in a town any direction that I could 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:21.760 drive within ten minutes, I was in massive national forest 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.160 and that truly did impact my life in a major way. 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:29.400 I mean, uh, a little Leopold said that wilderness in 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.880 the areas that we live actually forge our civilization and culture. 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:38.240 And it's true wilderness and the in the geographic landscapes 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:42.479 in which we live inform inform our culture in a 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.520 significant way. And what's awesome about being a hunter and 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:51.000 being a contosseur of wild places in twenty nineteen is 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:56.080 that the world is becoming increasingly urbanized and increasingly concrete ized, 0:04:56.440 --> 0:05:01.039 and increasingly distant from the lie style that all of 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:05.440 us represent. And I think it's our mission to represent 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:10.400 that lifestyle with deep levels of integrity, honor, and passion. 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.920 And to me, what I even have wanted to do 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.359 since I was a kid, was I saw these I 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.080 saw this culture that I grew up in, and I 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:25.160 was powerfully impacted by these men that I deeply respected 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:29.240 that there were these mountain hunters that that weren't trying 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.560 to put Instagram posts up, they were hunting to put 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.200 food on the table. They were hunting for they were 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.040 they were hunting for horns too, but they were they 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.720 they were just these people I respected and I wanted 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:43.719 my life, and part part of what I do inside 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:47.120 of media, I feel like it's bring dignity to that lifestyle. 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:49.440 And I think that's really probably at the heart I 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:51.920 hope of most of you guys, is to bring dig 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.599 dignity to the lifestyle that we represent. So now for 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.520 the fun stuff. I'm gonna tell you four stories. Two 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.640 of them are funny, I'm gonna need you to laugh, Okay, 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:05.640 one of them is terrifying. One of them is an 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:10.560 epic hunting story that will end with So the first First, 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:15.120 all these stories come in different so there's different chronological order. Okay. 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.080 So they they happened in the same place, but they 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:22.200 didn't have So the chronology of it is, uh, it's 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.560 gonna be We're gonna skip around here. So the first 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:29.840 one is in is when I started hunting off my 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:34.920 own mules in backcountry in Arkansas. And I will tell you, jeez, 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:36.360 there's a lot of things you gotta talk about. I 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.880 gotta talk to you about hunting ethics first, Okay, My 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.080 dad taught me this and live this his whole life. Okay. 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:47.239 It's when another man shares his stuff with you where 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.440 he hunts on public land, you were therefore obligated for 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.279 the rest of your life to never set foot there. 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.280 I hunt public land in Arkansas, and so I mean, 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.600 I know, all you Godfair and Missourian's probably are gonna 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.760 be jealous, but you can never go there now because 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.840 I've told you. Now, these guys from Arkansas, you know 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.760 you you can hunt your lands just as you did before. Okay, 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.080 but uh so, y'all y'all stay up here. It sounds 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.160 like y'all got lots of public land up here. But 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.440 you know, b h A. People are really funny. It's 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.120 like we're like public lands. Public lands were like hashtag 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.520 and public lands. And as soon as somebody says where 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.560 do you hunt, You're like, man, I don't. I don't 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.440 know where I hunt. It's true, it's true. I'm the 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.400 same way, like, go enjoy your public lands, not mine. 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.280 It's true. So four stories, they all came from the 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:41.440 same place. First of one, excuse me. We started We 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:44.440 started hunting with our own mules. I took my at 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.360 the time ten year old son. His name is Bear 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.720 Baron Newcomb. Took Baron Newcomb and we took our mule, 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.360 packed it back into this wilderness, and we had it 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.040 was the first time we'd used this mule in this context. 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.520 And we we hiked to the top of this mountain 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:02.720 with a mule, tethered the mule to a treat we 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:07.040 went off hunting. We hunted for six hours. I marked 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:10.000 on my on my GPS where the mule was at. 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:14.160 I'd come back at dark, and we timed our We 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:16.520 timed our exit from where we hunted to get back 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.600 to the mule just before dark, and then from the mule, 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.600 we would then traverse down the mountain back to our 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.800 our camp where we were hunting, which was way off 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:30.400 the road too. We get to where the mule was 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.520 supposed to be, The mule was not there, mule was gone. 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.560 The lead rope was still tied to the tree, and 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.400 the lead rope was broken half and and and I 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.440 picked up the lead rope and looked at it, and 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.880 it it actually had it actually had been chewed by 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.360 the mule. So this was news to me that a 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:52.000 mule would chew a lead rope. So we're up on 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:53.840 the side of the mountain. We're in a we're in 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.520 a wilderness sary of federal wilderness sary, you know, and uh, 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:01.959 I tell my son Bear, I say, hopefully the mule 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.600 went back down to our camp where we'd stayed the 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.360 night before. So I pick up this like fifty pounds 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:11.640 saddle because I unsaddled the mule all the saddle back. 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.000 Pick up this fifty pounds saddle, have our hunting gear, 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.600 and we walk off down the mountain. We get to 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.520 the body, We get to our camp and no mule 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.400 at the camp. We had parked our truck on a 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:28.000 two lane Arkansas highway. I envisioned, so my truck and 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:30.600 trailer was on this highway and we came in from there. 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.240 There's no trails or anything. We just went in from there. 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:38.880 So I envisioned the mule being back at my truck, like, 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.240 you know, that's the next place. Maybe the mule has gone. 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:44.240 And then it's dark and it's night. We're wanting to 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.000 hunt the next day. We don't want to go back 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.920 out to the truck. But I envisioned the mule, uh, 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.000 on the side of the highway by my trailer with 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.760 a broken lead rope, and I envisioned someone calling the sheriff, 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.719 the sheriff running the tags on my trailer and then 0:09:57.760 --> 0:09:59.760 calling my wife is right here. This is missing Newcomb. 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:04.200 I've so much for having got This is my Lafe's message. Also, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.480 this is my friend Brett Reeves. Is his birthday? Uh 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:12.840 it was Brett reis oudaya So so I envisioned the 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.320 sheriff running tags on my truck and calling my wife 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:19.800 and saying, your husband is dead. So I couldn't let 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.400 that happen. There was no cell coverage or anything. And 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.480 so we come off the mountain. To me in Bear, 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:29.040 come off the mountain, as it was the closest civilization 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:34.920 to where we were was a small, small county line bar. Okay, 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.720 in this bar. This was the closest civilization any direction. 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.400 There's no reason for this bar to be there except 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.960 for it was a county line separating a dry county. 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.640 You guys know that kind of bar. I don't know 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:49.679 that kind of bar. I I don't go to those places. 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:57.160 Ironic that I'm even here. Uh but uh so the 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.959 closest place was this bar. I go, So, I say, Bear, 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.200 We're gonna have to go to this bar. I wanted 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:06.840 to leave them my phone number so that when somebody 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:08.800 was driving down the road saw a mule with a 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.680 broken lead rope, they'd probably stop the next place and 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.280 maybe say, hey, there's a mule out here on the road, 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.280 you know. So I pull up to this bar. It's 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:22.240 a Saturday night County Line bar, and uh. I pull 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.319 up and I've got my ten year old son with me, 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.280 and I turned my son and I say, son, I'm 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:29.960 about to go into this bar. If I'm not back 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.520 in ten minutes, I want you to get in the 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:34.080 driver's seat of this truck and I want you to 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.360 drive to this truck runs out of gas, and when 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:38.199 the police come and pick you up, you tell him 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.079 that your father and his mule are dead. I know 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.000 your mother is. This is a rough place. This is 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:46.600 a rough bar, Saturday night, Saturday night. I'm decked out 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.840 in full first light first light fusion camo. Okay, this 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.600 is not standard real tree stuff like this is like 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.800 unaccepted in most places in Arkansas. I've got my like 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.439 skinny suspenders on, got my dark framed glass has, got 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:01.240 my five panel hat on. I'm really not hampster at all. 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.360 I'm really just the redneck, but in their mind they 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.000 might have perceived that way. So I walk into the bar, 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:10.840 and if it had been like a spaghetti Western, it 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.280 would have been like, you know, the girl at the 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.920 piano playing and like the bad guy from out of 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.120 town that no one knows walks through the swinging doors 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.880 and like everybody's just like and I get stopped. So 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.320 that's exactly what happened. I walk into the bar and 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.559 there's like it's a it's small. I mean, it's like 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.880 it's like a thirty by thirty room, you know, and uh, 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:37.640 everybody turns and looks at me, and uh. And I've 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.760 also just come off the mountain carrying all these packs. 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:41.640 I'm sweaty, and what I come to the bar of 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.200 music's loud. Everybody's looking at me. I waved to the 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:49.320 bartender and I say, my name's Clay Nukem, and I 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.079 lost my mule on the mountain, and I want to 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.200 leave my phone number here with you in case somebody 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.800 drives by, so they can, you know, call me. And 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.520 and so I'm yelling because the music is loud, okay, 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.040 and everybody in the bar looks down at me. The 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.840 bartender can't hear me, he said what and so I 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.880 yell it again. My name's Clay Nukem. And I lost 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:12.240 my mule on the mountain. And by this time, everybody 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.280 in the bar is really intent on what I'm you know, 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.120 they're they're key, don't what I'm doing. So I hear 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.400 somebody from down here say, has you have you ever 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.040 been up there before that mule? And I go, now, 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.280 it's our first time with the mule. Now I knew 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.960 the mountain very well. And he in in the bar 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:33.160 rubs into laughter. You never get that mule back, that's 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:37.800 what they said, so and I agreed with him. Um, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:41.680 I didn't know then. I'm sitting at the bar. They're 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.240 not sitting. I'm just standing there and a and a 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.360 man stands up from down at the end of the bar, 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:52.480 and you can tell he is glassy eyed, little wobbly, 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.480 and he said, what's your name? And I turned to 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.800 him and I say, Clay and Nucm. And he says, 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:10.040 is your mother Judy Knogan? And I stood there and 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:15.960 I wondered why this man knew my mother's name. And 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:17.520 I gotta tell you a little bits for her about 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.080 my mother. My mother Juju as we call her. She 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:24.200 is the most God fearing value, just a woman of valor, 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:28.200 woman of character, a woman of integrity, built the foundations 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.520 of my life. And as this man called out her name, 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.720 which was odd to me, my life stood before me 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.880 like a house of cards. And I thought, what is 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:42.240 this man going to say? Why does he know my mother? 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.280 Lots of questions Rather th my mind, I envisioned many 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:51.840 words that he might say. You know, I won't say 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:57.080 what I thought he might say. And I say, I say, yeah, 0:14:58.080 --> 0:14:59.880 Judy Nugam is my mother. I didn't know if I 0:14:59.920 --> 0:15:01.680 was about to get in a fist fight. I mean, 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.640 like it was hard to say what was about to happen. 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.800 And then kind of a kind of a wobble like this, 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:18.760 he goes, she's my teacher. That's exactly what he said. 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:23.120 He said she's my teacher. He didn't say she was 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:27.840 my teacher. He said she's my teacher. And my mother 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.040 has been a school teacher at the public schools down 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.200 in that part of Arkansas for like forty years. And 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.800 this man had been taught by my mother when he 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.600 was a first grader, and he was just like enamored 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:41.520 with with Ms Newcom and he was just like so 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:43.720 tickled to meet her son in a bar on a 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:49.440 Saturday night. So we we I left in my number. 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.080 I walked back out Barris. Fine, he's in the truck 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.600 because all took place in under ten minutes. So he 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.840 was still there. And uh, we walk out of there. 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:00.880 And we come back the next day and I took 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.400 my do my other daughter with me, and we actually 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:05.520 went up there and the mule was at our camp. 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.800 We saved our mule. End of story. Okay, that's story. 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:13.000 One Switzer bar and uh they knew my mother, my 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:18.160 sweet mother. Okay. Second story, exact same ridge and finger 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:21.720 of the exact same mountain. The year was two thousand 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.480 and eight. It was the first time that my father 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.720 and I had we we had actually had a guy 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.120 pakistan with horses. It was before I had my own stock. 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:33.600 And uh, we'd had a guy pack us back into 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:38.320 this wilderness on horses. The very first day of our hunt. Uh, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.720 my dad was were bow hunting and my dad walked 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.120 out from our camp. We had just separated. I mean 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:45.960 the way we got there we set up camp. I 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.480 went one way, he went another, and he was carrying 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.400 his compound bow. He went and he he was not 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:53.920 three yards our camp. He set his bow down on 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.800 the ground to uh, go check a scrape. He walks 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.360 over to a scrape, big, wide open woods. It wasn't 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.040 like he was in a thicket, wide open woods, sets 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.680 his bow down and when he turns back around, there's 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:10.800 a bear sniff in his boat. Bear sniff in his boat. 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.800 To this day, he swears that it crawled out of 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:17.200 the ground and uh, he thinks the but the bear 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.280 is gonna eat the strings off, you know, break the 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.600 strings of the boat. And so he get out of 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.440 here bear. You know, he's kind of freaked out a 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.879 little bit. The bear runs off like twenty yards and 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.359 stands there. He picked runs over and grabs his boat 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:33.320 and in classic nucom fashion, draws his boat, shoots the bear, 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.480 kills the bear dead. Yeah, so we've got a bear. 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:38.600 On day one. When I come back, Dad's I killed 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.800 the bear, and uh and in Arkansas we can hunt bear. 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:44.640 And that's a whole another story that I can tell 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:48.359 you about the retroduction Arkansas black Bear. But he killed 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.560 a bear, and so Dad was like on this rant. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.240 So but on this camp, we still had five or 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:58.600 six days of hunting left and Dad was all worked 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.119 up about a bear getting in our camp while we 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:04.080 were gone hunting. Okay, so all week, I mean we 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.919 were like tying our our food up in trees and 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.520 doing all this stuff. So it's the fifth day of 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.720 the hunt. We've seen no more a sign of bear, 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.480 and uh, fifth day of the hunt. It's the middle 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.880 of the night, and it's one of these nights where 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:22.480 you can just hear everything. It's something I coon hunt 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.040 a lot, and there's some nights that are just so 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.520 dead still, like you could hear a dog like a 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.520 mile away, and another night's you just can't. This was 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:31.439 the night where you could just hear everything. We had 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:33.879 two tents set up. Dad was in one tent. I 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:36.680 was in another tent. Or sometime early in the morning, 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.920 a couple of hours before daylight, I hear I'm awoken 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:46.080 by what what sounds like large footsteps, you know, but 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.840 they're not continuous. I mean, anybody that's hunted much knows 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.240 that big game the wait until it's different from a 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:54.040 big game animal and a squirrel is that a big 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.680 game animal just keeps walking. I mean a squirrel will 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.080 make three hops and he'll sound like a squirrel, a 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:02.280 big game animal. You know. Usually after about the fifth 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.760 or sixth step, you're like, that is something that's not 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:06.919 a squirrel. I knew it wasn't a squirrel as night, 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:11.240 but I hear these steps and they're loud, they're familiar, 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.119 and and they're way up on the mountain, and you know, 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:18.239 you'd hear like three steps, and then you'd you'd be like, well, 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:19.920 I guess it's nothing that you started to fall asleep, 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.359 and then you'd hear him again, and they were coming. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.000 They were moving our direction, just ever so slowly. And 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:31.160 then the footsteps began to be accompanied by a noise 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.720 that at the time I was not familiar with. And 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:42.400 it sounded just like this, it was like, and they'd wait. 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.280 It kind of sounded like, uh, if you see crocodile 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.120 dundee when he takes that that that boomerang and puts 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:55.159 us on a rope, and he's like, who, that's probably 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.280 more what it's like. I thought it was a bird 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:00.920 at the time. I was like, that is a crazy bird. 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.600 I don't know why that bird is here, but I've 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:08.040 never heard it before. The footsteps continue, the noise continues, 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:12.960 and finally my dad he calls me, Clay Baby. He said, 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:15.280 Clay Baby, it's like, you know, we're supposed to be 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.119 like death sleep. He goes, Clay Baby, do you hear that? 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:20.639 You know this us I'm laying on my back in 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.440 the tent. He's in the tent over there, and I go, yeah, 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:25.920 I said, I've been listening to it for the last hour, 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.280 and he goes, it was like when he confirmed that 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.160 he had heard it, and when when I confirmed him 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:34.720 that I had heard it, it was like a light 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:38.160 switch went off in our heads. And Dad goes, Dad said, 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.840 he said, just like this. He said, Clay Baby, we're 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:44.600 being stalked. He didn't he didn't say it. He didn't 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:46.879 say like we're being stops and he said like a 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:50.879 Pentecostal preacher, he was like, we're being stalked. And he 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:55.280 I mean, immediately, a massive rush of activity just happens 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.560 in all of our tents, like I'm scrambling for a 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:02.120 flashlight and Dad has well. The next scene, we get 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:04.520 out of the tent about the same time, and I 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:09.119 see my father is whitey Tidy's a white T shirt 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:13.439 and he has a three fifty seven stainless steel Smith 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.520 and Wesson five and a half inch barrel magnum in 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:20.119 his hand. And I'm the light man, and I shined 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:22.359 the light up into the woods, and what do we 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:27.520 see but the fiery, devilish eyes of a Arkansas black bear. 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:30.000 And this bear, if you've ever shined your lights on 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:32.880 the bear at night, you can see nothing except eyes. 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:35.800 That's all you see. His eyes. And this bear is 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:39.040 like just out of our camp and he's been stalking us, 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:42.000 you know. And my dad is all worked up and 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:45.680 he and he I see him. I mean he's taking 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:48.160 a bead, but he and he's like, I'm gonna kill 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.240 that sucker. I mean, he was as mad as the bear, 0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:55.760 and and he is waving this gun. And I even 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:58.760 at the young young man I was then, and I 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.520 knew that my father had so much integrity that if 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:05.160 he killed this bear, that we would spend the next 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.560 two days, first of all getting the bear off the mountain, 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:11.760 and then going to the game and fish and reporting ourselves. 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:14.159 And they would put us in separate rooms and they 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:16.640 would say what happened, and Dad would say that bear 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.399 was trying to kill us, And then I could not 0:22:19.440 --> 0:22:21.399 tell a lie, and I would be like, man, it 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:25.960 was probably just curious and so and so I begin 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:30.800 a I feel like now, looking back, you know, sometimes 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:33.240 there's those moments in your life, like like like like 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:35.679 he talked about, when you just realized like you're on 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.520 a whole another level. I was like an FBI hostage negotiator, 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:42.719 and I think I was fully closed. I don't really remember, 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:45.359 but and I was just like, Dad, don't do it. 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:48.240 Don't do it. Put the gun down. Dad put the 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:51.120 gun down. And I'm like, I don't want to touch him, 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:53.440 you know what I mean. You never touch somebody that's 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:55.600