00:00:00 Speaker 1: All right you ready. Hey, I'm Tyler and and you're listening to the Element podcast that cat crossing the tune on what's happening on my woods people. We are out in sam Houston, Texas today. I'm just I just love lying, guys. I'm a liar. My goodness, we're actually us guys. We have had a good day, man, it's been uh. We've been out hunting on some public land today. We have been um putting in the mileage. We got a couple of dudes that say seven point eight acres. We've got their miles. We got saying eight point six, eight point four. We got a six point five miles. So we're not sure who's right here. But I am sitting next to everybody's favorite, Casey Smith and in the back just bringing in that caboose hunter, the hunter ht h h t h with the big bank hunter. Yes, sir, I'm glad you made this trip. Man. I've had a blast and I've been count till You've been very quiet today. Man. One of my favorite things to do when I'm not at work is go hunting, and probably it's even greater when you pair it with my least favorite thing to do, Uh, walking eight point four miles and rubber boots. So it's been a great day on average. Yeah, yeah, we're averaging out just slightly above a Hunters. He'll hurt. I'm but hurt. Tyler's feeling great good honestly, Yeah, I feel good. I got some good sleep last night. I literally went to sleep before eight o'clock last night. Oh my goodness. Of the swamp rabbit looking thing right there, there was a old cat. For sure. That's a tiger ditch tiger, wouldn't it. I think so. John McWilliams the man, So we have had we've had a good day. Man. We got to hang out with our buddy Bam, we got to hang out with Hunter, and we got to hang out with our new friend Chris Webb, and uh we put a little video together. I think, yeah, it's gonna be there's some clips for sure. We uh we struggled to find groups of pigs. So struggled finn squirrels too. So uh we did that old public land hall hunt thing like we're gonna do it our um, you know, our get together and yeah, and I've figured out that went to a different place, guys, So I don't think we've burned it, didn't burn it up, you know. We went down to a different spot, but we uh figured out the singles are tough. We ran into quite a few singles. One double that um Tyler could have probably killed a pig honestly, but he was like, well, let's make sure we get him. So he caught us up and uh we tried to hem them up and they went out the front door on us. So, um, well, you didn't get any of those. But I think I could have creeped in real slowly and steady and probably shot one at about it would have been cool, but I didn't have cameraman. Everybody else had already taken off, and so I just thought, well, if we can all surround them, there may be ten or twelve of them in there, you know, and there was only two a thing. Oh dude, it was crazy, Like we didn't I don't know if people have been in there hunting and busting them up or what, but like we uh, we just didn't have like the numbers that I've seen in the past. But um, you busted those where we busted that a little group of two up one went straight and we lost it. But we knew that one of them kind of went out in this little spot where he couldn't really go anywhere. So we're all kind of gonna heam up. And we got down there where we thought he's gonna be hmmed up and didn't seem And then I thought I heard some ducks like on a little body of water next to us. So I climbed up in a tree to look over the brush see if I could see them ducks, and there weren't any ducks out there, but some dudes who sounded like ducks. Um. And then I turned around. I'm like, what like one fifteen foot up in a wheelw tree or something like that, a little wispy willow and uh, I think I hear bam and uh Chris, And turn around and it's a black thing at twenty yards and a dang pig walking right at us. Hunter shoot that big h He was like moving but trying to out the door, trying to sneak out. Yeah, he wasn't. He was definitely not like milling around to eat. And he got to like ten yards and then locked up. Hunter throws my video camera down the water and then grabs my shotgun, even though he has his own shotgun and proceigued to shoot three of my very rare, invaluable buck shot at this pig and didn't draw blood. Yeah, here he drew blood. And we trailed the pick for quite a while but ended up not being able to find it. We looked for gosh, we looked for like forty five minutes for that pig. So um trail them for the best, you know, but he would have been probably pretty good eater because he wasn't super big. But that was kind of fun just because I got to see the whole thing from a fifteen foot aerial view. You know, you don't get to see that very often. And I could see like bullets flying through the brush, I feel throwing dust feel. Tyler was lagging kind of behind us a little bit, kind of trying to make sure none slipped out, and uh, we kind of got a little mixed up as to where he would. I could see I was in the middle, and I could see Bam and Chris going squeezing down on kind of this corner, uh and next to kind of you know, they were coming kind of by the creek or whatever, and I could see him squeezing down and I was like, well, I know where I just saw a hunter and uh casey, and so like, if anything gets squeezed out right here, if it as close, I'm I'm here and I'm ready to shoot it. You know, there ain't really no reason for me to go up into the middle of the mix here when they're gonna just come around and made each other. And as they were coming around, like said, hunter got to squeezing off a few buckshots and the first one I could hear them cracking limbs out, I just ducked and put my head behind, you know, in front of my body pretty much was like, and that is why for our hog hunt, you need to wear your orange and shoot because you know we're joking. But it was kind of at that point where it if tyl ever been any closure, it could have been kind of dangerous. I mean, but I was between. I had a lot of brush between sight, and that's why it's good to have the orange. And then if you're shooting like you know, a r like everybody wants to hunt with pigs man, those bullets can travel, you know, That's why shot that's why shot guns are good for this, because you know, those those lead pillets are gonna rune esteem pretty quick. But they're really lethal on pigs at close range. So there's a lot of room where we're going. Um, so I don't think it's gonna be an issue, but it's still just one of them deals, man, where I think everybody feel a lot more comfortable if everybody was shooting buckshot as opposed to high high settlers, and some of you are having a hard time finding buckshot. Number four's or number two's or whatever. You can find kill them real good too, especially close range, especially if they're lead. Yeah, lead, Yeah, Yeah, I think that's a heavy emphasis there. But so Hunter drew some blood today. It's his first peak hunt ever, so yeah, that's a joke. Hunter, I'll tell us what you grew up doing. Man, Well, go ahead and say what you're gonna say, though he said you go back just a second on what Casey was saying. I had the camera glue in my hands because this willow was not there was no size to it, the diameter was very questionable, and the weight rating was not high. I like to that for sure. I think I was sitting there thinking I'm like, okay, this this is gonna be great because the top of that is about to crack. Great, I'm gonna get the c case dialing film and to the to the part of me shooting Casey's shotgun. Mine was thrown across my body because I had the camera and when I when I went to pitch the camera onto dry land, there was not anything within ten foot, so I pitched it to the shallowest spot I had. I probably landing right, you know, yeah, I chose yeah, yeah, definitely the shallow water. They say, don't dive in the in the shallow end, but that's the thing, you know, like you know, for your first hog, just so excited, you know, just the jitters, the jitter. I couldn't believe it. He came in and when Casey first shot him, saw him, he he was at twenty yards and by the time I made my decision to submerge a camera, he was at about six and taking a hard rat after seeing me throw something at him. And uh, he went from slow to fast real quick. Yes, it was as fast as I could pivot to shoot Hunter. Hunter covered almost ninety degrees with with his three shots in about it's pretty quick shoot one point two seconds. I'd say, yeah, it's something very pretty good. Three gun time for sure. So back to what you asked me. I grew up in Emory, graduated from there and worked as I went to school through commerce and I got some other internships and worked some ranches in South Texas and West Texas. And as I grew up, you know, worked on uh Farms, dairy farm, did some miscellaneous stuff. Worked at uh Well, a lure manufacturer in Emory, and had a lot of had a lot of fun there, Yes, sir, yep worked there for building magic shads. Yes, sir working, Uh, I believe I worked there for a year and a half. Oh my gosh, I hated that now the garlics impossible to get out. You just you have work clothes which you keep separate, and just planned to throw those away. You. Uh you also did some taxi army too, right, I did with my dad, Yes, sir, we we did that out of his shop there at the house. What's the coolest thing you mounted? Man? There was There was some triple beam bucks that came in. Those were really cool. We did some cool bobcats stuff like that. Jack rabbit, no, I've heard them. We never found Nobody brought us a jackalope. They're really hard to find so they are they only exist in Texas too, I think. Yeah. I was hoping somebody would be lucky enough to fill their tag, but I just haven't been able to meet anybody. Yeah, because that would I would love to do that. Yeah, that would be a good hunt to go on sometime. Man. We ought to think about that. Yeah, there's some real trophies out there in the Transpacas, and it's pretty tough. As you're out of statement in state, you can get you can draw it pretty easy, I think. Yeah. Yeah. So so basically you know, hunting, fishing, hunting and fishing loving every day. Yes, you're just like the song man. That is the title. That was your life. Yea, So well, did uh did you learn anything in fourth grade? I did? I did so my mom I did cool one of my very favorite teachers. Ye, sweet lady. Yes, she makes good pastries and stuff. She even cooked about it. She's retty good. Pretty good. Yeah, she's she's she is good. Um went and talked much about this. But my wife has informed your cancer survivor, I am yeah, is that right? Yes, sir? Yeah, well how did that go for you? It was good? Yeah? What you have Berkett Slim foma. Yea says that that the same thing as what people would refer to as non Hodgkins LIMP foma or yes, it is a class of that, so it's a specific non Hodgkins. Yes. Can't do you mind talking about that little No, not at all. I had a very advanced stage three. That was my end of my junior year in high school. So it was in track season, right before the district track meet, like two days before, and I what happened was the I went in the week before, right before gosh, I don't remember what that last meet was, but anyways, went into the doctor and he was like, you know you, uh, your appendix has burst. And I was like, oh man, you know great, I'm about to have surgery on that and that's no big deal though. Uh. He's like, but good news is your body has concealed it and you just have to take these antibiotics. And I was like, I've never heard of that. So he sent me home with just antibiotics to clear a busted appendix, and so anyways, are burst to be technical, went back. The pains came back like a week later, and it was really severe when I was running, so a lot deer in track practice. So I went back to the doctor, the different doctor, and he basically it was my PCP. This time he felt around on my stomach, was like, you need to go to a hospital. So I went, got cat skins and they kept me there, admitted me, you know, was like, well, we're gonna do an exploratory surgery. Okay. So anyways, they were just supposed to go and get a tissue sample, and I woke up with a probably a tenant scar going from above my belly button down below too, as low below the waistline as you can get. And they believe, you know, a couple of weeks I got a port or it may have been that same surgery I was. They put in a double port and did chemotherapy for and uh yeah, about six months. I believe. I got to leave one time when I and the time that I got to go home, the break they gave me, I had ended up in septic shock. So that was not fun. Went back to the hospital that night after being excited to be home, and anyways finished out in my days there punched but time um that Children's in Dallas, Yes, so did the was the was the cancer from the appendix or was it prior to all that, So they don't know they that was one thing they didn't know. Uh, the it was so so the birketslan phone was very fast growing. It's like one of the fastest growing cancers there is. And it had developed somewhere around my appendix originally, and then it had taken in part of my intestine. So I'm also missing like four or five ft of my lower intestine and some very crucial valves. And it went in and then spread to my lungs and some lymph nodes under my armpits in my neck. Those were treated with chemo uh and lumbar. I had a lot of lumbar taps and puctures to receive chemotherapy in my spine so that it would spread to my brain. Wow, thinks that serious? Real quick? Yeah? Yeah, I was ready to run a track me what were you? Would you running track? Quarter mile? Yes, sir, in the four by four? So did you like it? I loved it, yes, sir, But you don't like walking eight miles today? I'd read the run. Not really, No, No, that that was different back then. You're not You're not by any means a big hunter or anything. But you're you know, a solid built guy. Were you built like that in high school? Are you skinning here? No? I was not built like this, so I was. So it was hard to say what I you know, what I weighed as I as I graduated because the chemotherapy I went in, I don't know, probably weigh in a hundred and fifty to sixty And when I came out of wighed about a hundred and fifteen. Yeah, from laying in a bed for six months, which isn't nothing to compared to what all other people have to go through. Uh So I'm not trying to get anything there. But then it took me the rest because I got out, uh I believe. Let's see, I'm thinking I got out in August, so right before my senior year started and I actually started playing football, I still had my port in and so, uh we had to put some phone pads around that some of my football pads wouldn't rub on it. And anyways, it took me the rest of my senior year to get back up to about a hundred and sixty pounds. Man, you uh um like man, I don't know, did you uh have like the bald head and everything? Oh? Yes, yeah, yeah, well we shaved it before before it started coming out. Yeah, I had the bald head, was hairless molerat. Do you do you miss uh have the bald head? Are you gonna go back to that anytime? So I will never really know, I will never I will you know, if I start losing my hair, I'm gonna stretch it out like U k C. I'm just gonna have it as long as I can. And so the when I had a bald head, that was the absolute hottest that my head has ever been in the sun. It is so hot your hair allows your sweat to evaporate so much. You know. You see those those uh people who have bald heads and they always have a rag wiping their head and stuff because it's just like cooking it. Yeah, so, oh my goodness, nasty road kill. Do you feel like, um that you this is your name? Is just funny to make plays on. So we'll just assume we were gonna stop doing that for the while, because you know, it gets confusing, you know, hunter the hunter. But like I can imagine that having an experience like that as a young man really grows you up a lot, and you think about much more serious stuff. Than what an average sixteen, seventeen, eighteen year old is thinking about, you know, because you you you do. I'm sure you kind of thought about your mortality quite a bit, you know. So do you feel like after that like you're you take as an outdoorsman and like what you wanted to accomplish? Things you want to go do to that change much? Or you have you always kind of had the same passions for getting out in the outdoors. I have always had the biggest desires and passions to get out in the outdoors every day, which why I do what I do for a living. H It's actually the only you know, job that I could actually have, I think, and be happy with it. Uh. But after after that I realized I was like, man, you know, it could have ended like this could this could this could have been very short. And after before that, I was very worried. You know, what am I gonna do for? What college do I want to go to? Do I want to go to college? What do I want to do for a job? For a job? And after that, I was like, that'll all work itself out. I'm just going to enjoy life as much as possible. So though, right as much as I can, you know, fish as much as I can be travel see the United States, Canada, whatever I want to go do. I want to go do that as much as I can and believe it or not. So you know, I went to college and I actually dropped out a year shoy of my degree. So that cancer got me through a lot of college. That got me through all of my English classes. For anything I had to write, Definitely, I to a to a point. I earned that card, so I used that card. I don't know. There you go, Yeah, I would that would definitely, especially you know it's something that actually impacted your life. My mom made me sign a hat for you one time when you were going through all that. You might not ever got that hat. I can't remember it. We were I was a college I think, and she was like, you need to sign this SMU hat for Hunter Dickens. And I was like, okay, And of course, you know, just being at college being so busy. I don't know if I got it in the timely matter to her. So, but I know you've always looked up to me. Every every time I stand next to you, I looked up to you. Yeah. It's kind of funny how we all uh, intertwined with just how we know each other and stuff. You know, it's just that small town, no people kind of deal, and you end up a lot a lot of times because you're raised similarly in a small town, you get along really well. And then we all three just really care about doing the same stuff. And uh, you know, I'm pretty excited. Just like it's really weird. Like I've been thinking about this too, Like Hunters like dialect is just an emery dialect, you know what I mean, Like it's weird, but like, you know, just it's it's it's even hyper regional, and I just haven't never picked up on that. I thought, well, it's East Texas and there's an East Texas thing. But like there's also like a difference in Emory and Hopkins and Selfish Springs and all that, you know, because like my my, if you'll listening, you don't know this. I cleaned up my accent some whenever I'm on the podcast. Might not think that, but it's true, just because sometimes if I'm talking to like Brendon or somebody, you can't understand what we're saying. Um, it's just the way it is. It's like a form of Spanish. Yeah, but we definitely have more of a slur or something to the way we say stuff where it's like Hunter talks kind of proper but with a with a thick accent at the same time. You know what I mean. It's very very unique, upper class. It's a upper class red Nets Sir, mature, mature two and a half years. Yeah, So Hunter's gonna hunt with us, Yeah, a good bit this year. Thinking he's been filming his hunts. Actually, yeah, this the day that this probably comes out. Hunter the Hunter is going to be on our hunting YouTube channel. It's pretty exciting. It is cool. We had to we had to break him in on YouTube. We couldn't let him show us up. Yeah, you know, we had to make sure we're not gonna I'm not gonna spoil it for you, but you'll figure it out if you go watch the video. Um, but Hunter had a really cool encounter. You had a couple of cactus bucks you were chasing this year, right, two of them, right, I yes, which is weird. And explain what a cactus buck is. So now I'm not gonna say it's a cactus buck because I have not seen the underside. You gotta examine it. I don't have one on the ground, so it could be an antler dough. Yeah, that just doesn't have enough testosterone too, essentially cause the velvet to come off. But I do have what I believe a cactus buck, a deer that will continue to grow its antlers. Once it gets its first set, it does not lose those. It will continue to grow and for the rest of its life it doesn't shed the velvet. And so basically you'll end up with a deer that's got a ton of mass. Six. I've even seen some up to seven inch bases. Uh. So whatever their first year is, you know, if he's a forky or in this instance one that I was, after six, they just get bigger and bigger and bigger. Uh sometimes the times you know they will get they will grow taller, but not significantly, uh, not as much as you will pick up in in base basis just getting like just kind of naughty kind of things there. They don't just swell, right, they just yes, they'll they'll get up scarring almost yes, because it's different so so and so is there a difference in a cactus buck that was that was like that was born with like no testicles and a cactus buck that hit a barbi our fence in the wrong spot, you know, like, is there a difference in the way. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but a cactus buck is a it's an issue with that buck physically, right. It's not something they're eating or anything like that. Like it's something to do with their testicles. Yes, some something is is physically wrong with them and their reproductive system. Yeah, but there's other types where it's like, um, they have too much potassium in their diet or something like that. Uh and uh, that causes the same problem. But it's a nutrition type things is gonna be about like a steer be like super tasty for a buck. I hope, So, I hope. I really hope so too. Um there, I can't wait to takes some of them. Yeah. Yeah, well we just got to watch the video and see if you got to. But you had a pretty good hunting season, dude, So I'm confused. I feel like you shot two bucks in like a week or something like that. I did, and then it just shut down for a while. It got rough. It was a struggle fest. Yeah, you killed a which one do you kill first? The white tail. They're both white tails. Okay, yes, that is correct. You got me the Texas white tail. So you killed the public land buck this year. I did kill the public Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, heck yeah. So. Um, of course, we never want to give away a spot, right, that is not what we do on here. So Hunter, kind of being vague, un it's a mask. Sounds being vague unless you just want to tell people how far south in Texas it was. It's pretty far south. Um, where did you? Where did you? Uh well, I want to say what I'm trying to say. Tell us about that, there, Hunter, she got a tactic. There's a moon tactic. Yeah, that's what I want to talk about. You need to sell a moon guide. Everybody else does. Oh my gosh, it's perfect guide. Oh my goodness. Look forward on the look forward on the app, on the on not the app dot com, look forward on the website. So I had gotten the opportunity to hunt some public land opening day, and I drove around, rode around, walked around. However you traversed the country, Uh, I did a various of the three. I had have some previous knowledge of this public land. I mean I've laid hands on it a couple of times, and I knew where a couple of trees were. But other than that, man, I just went in blind. I was more excited for the opportunity to just go sit in the woods on opening day with a bow in my hand. I was pumped for that, basically I had. It was, you know, October three, rut's not kicking in. Although there was a cool spell and this buck was running with five does and he was pushing one of them pretty hard. The weather was really cool for October three. Normally I don't even hunt. That may be bad to say, but I don't normally ever hunt opening day of bowseason. It's so hot. So like, if I go out there, it's gonna be in shorts and a T shirt. But the mosquitoes, I will lose half my weight in blood. I just can't do it. I can't bring myself to do it. It's not enjoyable at that point. I want to go out. I'm not so much out there for the kill. I want to go out there and enjoy it. I want to sit there in the peace and quiet, and so I will wait until it's cool weather. Last year I did not bow hunt. Last year was super hot, and I did not bow hunt until probably mid November, a couple of weeks into rifle season. But back to this buck, it was cool weather, so I was very excited about that. The moon uh was out, and so I figured these deer would be moving late. I found a relatively good So go ahead, tell us a little bit more on that. Figure there, the moon is out. This is something moon guys like to do. They like to confuse. Yet they'll say red moon. You don't know it's actually it was the moon red is like a harvest moon or what. They'll say, there's the moon overhead, but they don't. Sometimes You're like, well, is it directly overhead or what? You know? Hunter? What does that mean? The moon is out? And you figured everybody's got different data that they look at. Sure, some say it's stamped in concrete, I mean interested in years mine? Yeah, I believe, and I'm not I'm not trying to down down anything on this. I believe from the data that I have seen deer move five times a day. Yeah, And if you've got the way I look at it, if I've got more than like a thirty percent moon, I'm gonna be betting on deer moving three times at night, twice at day. And if the moon is below that, I'm gonna be betting on deer moving three times a day and uh, twice at night, twice at night. So this moon, by the way, other words, you're saying a bright moon over a moon is going to have them out at night more than in the day, and vice versa. Do you look at cloud covering stuff when you're figuring it on that too? I do. I do. I will look and see if if Now, if it's just one night, no, I'm not gonna bother with it. But if we've got a week of overcast, I'm gonna be betting those deer are gonna change a little bit, and I'm gonna see more daylight activity, whether that be like right at dusk, you know, uh and then write at dawn. And and I'm not talking about like the first few minutes of shooting light. I'm talking about like when you can barely see. That's when I'm looking for deer, uh and hoping that they stay out just long enough to make shooting light. But this, dear, the moon was out and bright, yeah, that night, So I'm betting on them, dear moving twice a day, a little bit in the morning possibly, but more so mid day and late evening. So I packed my snack bag, which is always crucial, and got plenty of water and powdery keep me fueled, and purple, always purple, the big ones. So I sat there bright at light. I saw I had a first off. I had a decent pinch point, and I had some producing oaks. About what variety is that from producing oaks. I've never heard that several several oaks dropping acorns in a relatively straight line. And so we had some over cups and some white oaks, and I was very excited about that to find them dropping. And I went and said it up probably fifty yards from a water source that I was using as a pinch point. Did you did you sketch away in and find those oaks? Did you know they were there? And then went and set up on I knew they were there, but I knew they were there, I did not know if anything was hitting them. I had no clue, no cameras, no preseason scouting, none of that. I just went in with my climber and a little saw and trimmed one limb as I went up. But that's a legal thing there, Yes, on that, So I went in. I saw one dear right at light, right at shooting light. As I was sitting there and joining my morning a little eight point, I thought, But you went in early. I went in at your expecting a later movie. Yes. And if it hadn't have been opening morning, if I had already had some some time in the stand, some days and some sits logged, then I would have went in later. I would have went in at ten. But opening morning, you know, I was excited, I'm gonna go sit all day, got in sat and I believe I had So I had that deer right at light, so seven something real early seven o'clock. And then I had a couple of does come by, probably ten thirty, which I know is a lot longer than most people sit in the stand, but if you can hang in there, hanging there like oh yeah, definitely. And then I saw I had that buck working some doze in watched him out from about eighty yards and what I saw was like, man, that's definitely a shooter's mature DearS by far Olden Boon and cross get. But I was very pleased with him and watched him come in worked those does he was pushing a young a year lando and I looked at her hawks she wasn't quite in, but she was getting close, a little early rut activity, and he worked her off into some real thick stuff for probably ten minutes while these other ones fed around at forty yards from me and watched her. She came back out started heading my direction. So I get up, get ready, get the bow. Uh, try to calm myself for the most part, because I was already fired up from the first time seeing them. And they went out of sight at about fifty yards, so of course I'm you know, nervous, is all get out and excited, just got my blood pumping. And so she comes in, comes in at probably twenty yards, and he's following right behind her, and she's about to walk right in front of me. Gonna be perfect. Well he gets right in front of me and he starts to follow just on a string. I know that term gets used a lot, but this was ideal. He I feel the wind hit the back of my neck and I'm like, oh my gosh, just hold off for just a second, just please, just five seconds. Well, that dough caught it and she busted. She hopped about ten yards and went to looking and luckily it was pre rut. This deer was already getting swollen up. He was more worried about the dough ran right to her, didn't want her getting away. And when he did, I was able to lock the pin on him and and uh get the job done. How far it was twenty eight yards. It's pretty good, Pope, I believe twenty eight yards, smoked him. Yes, sir, it was a It was a quarter and shot away went in on his right side, and so I went in, um right at. I went in in between the last rib and the second last rib, went in and then came out just on the back side of the the away shoulder, on his left shoulder. So double lunged and some arteries there you go. That's good, And he went probably, gosh, I don't know, uh, fifty sixty yards. Yeah, that's nice that we do with him. I did. I eurowed him. Yeah, yeah, you uh, And we're gonna we're gonna have a hunter on a lot more, I'm sure in the future. Um, but we wanted to kind of introduce you guys. We didn't want to do this for a while, but uh, you know, hunter lives a pretty good way out from us. We're gonna do That're all back. We went in uh hunting with Hunter the Hunter, um a little bit, just hanging out and then we just got to talking and didn't put the headphones on, so we didn't. What do you can do it? And we're gonna we'll, we'll, We'll do plenty more of these. But um, let's hit the highlights of the the other public than why I tell you kill a little bit, because I know there's some people that are interesting this and and you you just kind of informed us at the rut might be happening in this stuff, right, I believe I would love to go up there and see it. But I have not gotten to draw this out of it. I have not gotten to draw that tag yet. I'm waiting for that tag. Uh. Yes, public Land, Arizona, Cou's or cows, however you want to pronounce it, whoever you're talking to more than likely pronounces it the other way. I have found that out, really, Yes, So uh, it doesn't matter who I talked to around here, I can say Cou's cows and uh, you know, most people just know him as Cou's get up there, And so I got up to Arizona, not my first time being up there. We're talking to people about cou's. Dear, I just I'll be simple, called cou's. Uh got up there and talking to one of the game wardens and he's like, man, don't I called it Cow's trying to be proper, you know, And he's like, man, just everybody calls him coups. And everybody out of state wants us to call the cows because that's, you know, proper. And he's like, well, they're here, we're here. We call him coups, call him coups. I'm just going home. White tail white tail, just miniature white tail, the Shetlands of white tails. And got up ended up drawing that tag in July, I believe, and started preparing and I did not do enough calisthenics. So but yes, you hold a deer out hole on your back? I think, did you? I attempted to make the entire trip out hole. So I don't know how in depth y'all want to get on this particular story. Uh, I'm not gonna go into details on the spot. We've changed spots a couple of times. UH ended up finding uh some deep draws and ravines that some trails went around and basically the deer were being pressured into some deep crevasses. So so coolies kinda, but uh, crevice, Um, so my crevice is not feeling good right now. But that uh it's a drop tag, but you're still dealing with pressure. Yes, yes, so there was. There is a lot of of course, only ten percent of of their tags go to out of state, like the New Mexico deal. Same deal. We're like, you're like, oh awesome, and drew this tag and you show up and then there's people sighting in the bows and parking lot their locals, right, yes, yes, except it was rifles, so they were sighting in the rifles in the campground. Um, you gotta do what you gotta do. I guess. Uh. I actually had a mishap when we got up there the first night spot we get to we set up camp. I'm laying in bed just we got a couple of days to scout before season opens, and I'm sitting there like always racking my brain on what did I forget because I never make an entire trip where I remembered to bring everything that I need. And I am laying there in my bed every my dad and my sister went with me. Were set up in our wall tent, and I'm laying there and I like, oh my gosh, I forgot to bring bullets. No, the most of like the only thing else I could have forgot, I guess worse would be my gun. I completely forgot. I did not bring any bullets. So I sided it in my gun, checked it actually right at my parents house right before we left, and used up the three or four that were in the gun, and I had another box set aside, and somehow it did not get put in the truck. And so luckily my dad was shooting the same caliber, and I did a quick side in job with two bullets, got it zero and went about our ways. You'll reloaders, No, you're just using box down. It's a good good thing, man. Casey and I shoot the same arrow and different broad heads, but it's not We're not there different size broad heads at least, and it makes things nice. We can just swapped back and forth a whole lot. Yeah, So so you forgot your bullets and you got to shoot some or shoot your dad's because I was googling and I had actually the spot I had, I had service, and I was trying to see how quick I could get some bullets shipped out there. This was back when you could buy bullets. And we were back in nowhere and the closest town was it was it was it was over an hour drive and the town there did not have uh you were not eligible for next day delivery. It was gonna be like five days until I could get my bullets. So it was it was gonna be a while. And so some of the Arizona stuff is remote. When we went there in fifteen, I think, and like the first gas station we pulled up to in Arizona, there's like a van full of people and they had more gas cans than I think you could fit on a van and they were filling them all up. It's like, hey, these people come to town to get gas for the next month. It was kind of kind of weird. Yeah, you know what they were doing stuff remote. But uh so you and your dad were both hunting, yeah, both of you. We both drew. And then my sister had a bear tag. Oh cool, fel one just your buck, just my buck. We were very very close to fill it a bear tag. Just man, it just did not happen. I mean all that it was a OTC, that was O t C. It's cool and it's very very reasonably priced. That's pretty cool. Yeah, So there's a lot of bears that just happened to have a chance at one. Now, every time we've been up there, I've seen bears. So, I mean the odds are there. Uh, they're they're good, They're decent odds. So tell us a little bit about hunting Arizona and like maybe just some considerations if you're gonna go do that that coups thing or anything out there as far as preparations or just like a kind of country that you're gonna find a lot of or so it's not the desert, it's not. It's not Phoenix Um. Arizona has a lot of rugged, rugged terrain. These the gnarliest and nastiest stuff. But that's why they have so many world records as well. But you gotta get in there to go get them. There's some steep country where we went, and for sure, so the head water, yes, d we uh. I don't remember how many gallons we went through, but I think we ended up taking probably we took probably I think forty gallons in with us and when we went last year that wasn't enough. We had to come back in two hour drive to come back into Yes, but not out of our drinking water. So that wasn't like you, We didn't count that into our forty gallons. That was strictly drinking water. It was all he said. Yes, yeah, that's a lot. So uh. And of course all your food, all your any whatever you want to take, you have to take it with you. You better be prepared for an apocalypse basically and be able to carry most of it on your back because there's not a lot of not a lot of truck hunting. You do see a lot of road hunters, but we were we were in some back countries. Yes you are. Uh, you had all the supplies of the truck that you needed and then you just spike out for a few days or whatever. And we uh we did. But actually so we started out doing that and then moved our original camp probably an hour and a half away to some other country and set up there and then within a few I believe the next day I was watching deer. So we we spent I spent two days glassing at the original the first spot we went to, and man I saw minimal minimal deer. There was a ton of sign but they had just moved out. Arizona went through a terrible draft this year, so water was a huge factor. Uh But thankfully they've got a lot of water systems up there, like drinkers and stuff. They do have a lot of drinkers, weeps and stuff like that, so uh that that really helps, especially in years like this, is that the way to hunt uh those white tail out there is to glass and move in on him and shoot. Hum or, can you easily go out there and you know, like find some trees and hang a treestanding traditional white tail hunt? You could do that? And I really want to try that with my bow. Nobody talks about it due No, it's overlooked. It's I think it's overlooked And I almost feel bad talking about it on here because I honestly, man, I hold that close. Uh, but there's so many trees out there. They're not going to find those trees. But yes, I really want to try. Are they patternable or is that just like I'm just gonna sit here for five days straight and then they're gonna one of those days they're gonna come by the ones that I found in the trees, just just in the trees. Uh, they were patterned a bowl because you know, your boy ain't going to sit out there for five he's gone, he's out of here. I mean you and out there in October and did this. Yes, but it was cold. It wasn't like, uh, you know, hot weather or whatever. But you said the rud is like January when people are really talking about going out there too. Is that is October the best time to go out there? Why is there such a is that a big season or is there gaping there? Like? What? What's the deal with that? Our season was a week long and I believe they have four week long. They have four seasons that are each a week long. So there's an October, November, December, and January. I can't remember the dates exactly, but it's something similar to that. Yeah, yeah, and we were. And there's one season in there that you can draw, where you can draw your tag is for mule deer or closed deer. And that tag rit there is golden because I I saw some mule deer that I would love to shoot. It's a mule deer to or just in you're talking about to the general public, like, do you do you have a smaller number than two hundred that you're that's a big meal or to you? Uh? I mean, man, most of my mule deer experience is in Arizona and in some some gnarly units, some big producing units. Uh So, I mean it's not the kaibab, but I look at I look at those deer, and you know, two hundreds big. But it's not going to take that for me to pull the trigger on my first one. So I chased him last year with a bow and was was really white. You muleed your hund with a bowl last year. We're at Arizona. I didn't even know about the twenty nineteen. Man, that's cool. Hunter. The hunter is a hunter. So when you go up there in August and get your over the counter archery tag, you can use it for mule deer or cus. So I'm thinking I might try this year going up there and sitting in some trees. It would be cool. But tree are they panorable like that? I don't know. I do not have that much experience. Really, if you wanted to make the most of your tag, you actually go up there in January and try it, and then you can go back that fall, right, and then then that thing with Arizona. Yes, okay, if I understand this correct, but I could be. We don't over if you're over the counter archery tag. We don't give legal advice on this show. So you know. But in when I was really focused in on the archery and its regulations, the way I understood it was that you could go back. So they have two seasons. One is really early the August in September, and then they have one in January. So you can buy one in January and then hunt that following October. And but if you if you hunt October, you have to buy another one for January. Yeah, and you get a fishing license or something like that, right, Tyler, and that while we go in to Arizona, because you already had a license. Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah. I really wanted to get do my hunter Safety's course out there or whatever, get the extra point. At that point, I just probably Arizona Hunter four. Yeah, so more until I get look perfect, I got about sixteen more more until I get a chance. Um, I feel like you like the bow hunt, but you don't mind picking up a rifle at all. That kind of how you Yeah, you know, I don't. I don't. I don't put my nose down to it at all. I mean, you know, I lay my nose down on it when I'm shooting it, but I don't put my don't hang my head down at anybody who picks up a gun, especially on an opportunity like that. You know, I put in those for those tags knowing that you know, they were rifle and knowing that the challenge that they held and that I was. I could not have been anymore excited had I shot that with a bow. It was challenging enough just because of the terrain in the type of critter. Yes, and in my first year I had never seen this spot for so this was totally fresh, you know, virgin ground. To me, it did not. I have never spent any time in this area. And you said Union average shooting twenty two is right? Yeah, twenty two mags. Oh yeah, that gives you a little more distance than that really helps zip it out, isn't it. W ss m H. How farwards you shot my shot was? You know, I didn't range it, but it's somewhere between a hundred and fifty and two hundred, so relatively close. It was for you know, most what people shoot. Let me start over on that, for what most people shoot on couster. You see a lot of people doing a lot of long range shooting with them. Uh, and I I'm not the person who is comfortable shooting at an animal six hundred yards away. So when I went out there, I knew that about three hundred was probably gonna be my max What caliber you shooting that I actually had? I was shooting my wife's gun. Uh. It's a six five creed More that gets a lot of flat it does. It does. I don't know why, but it does. Uh. It seems to work pretty good on a couster, and it does. It does. It did exceptional good. So what do you do with that? It's kind of like a rage, aren't they. They everybody likes to rage on them so much like it's it's love and hey only yeah, dear blow up when you hit them? Yeah with the rage? Are you? Uh? Are you gonna shoulder them out? That? Dear you? What are you doing? So? No, because I messed that up coming. I messed know what snow was coming in, and I just I was not dealing with it at the time. I had already come down a mountain with a deer on my back, not in a pack with a deer on my back. And I was exhausted. I was exhausted. And by the time I had reached the bottom where my I met my dad, uh, he had come across the canyon and was meeting me. And I said, let's just find the quickest way to get him down, and we cut the head off. But what I think I'm going to do is have you seen the mounts where they take an old pack, like an old canvas pack with wood frame, roll up the hide just like you had caped him out, and then put the head in there. I think that's when I'm gonna go on school. And I wish I had had kept more of the cake because it is a gorgeous cape. And he had almost like some pine ball markings on his on his chest and up his neck. It was beautiful. That's cool. Yeah, I'm I'm very disappointed to myself that I did not take the time to cape that out. But yeah, but man, how do you put a cous deer on the wall in a bunch in front of a bunch of white tail and make it not like the tiniest thing. Ever. There's something kind of like retro about a couse deer. I feel like it's kind of like a throwback top deal or something. Yeah, and it almost is like a situation where it's like, man, would it be cool to do the old shoulder mount where it's kind of in front of the shoulder, you know, just a nick or whatever, you know what I mean, it's kind of thought straight on with the ears because I feel like that's how you see them. If you were to go like an old cafe out there, that's how you more mounted, you know. I like the pack deal. That's a good idea because then you don't have to compare it to all the white tails on your wall that are monster. You can put it on that tiny Badlands pack that you carry around and then it was like a monster. Yeah, you officially score that, dear. No, what do you know what? Like boone is on a cous deer hundred inches ones one zero zero jack kills way bigger's do that. They kills some I'm talking I would be killing those on East Texas. Don't suck me on that, but I'm I'm fairly certain it's a hundred inches to get into the believe to get into the books five or something. I don't know, I've got a shift off of one in there. Yeah, that was. I'm pretty proud of that thing. That's a pretty cool thing to me. Found that in the trees. Um and uh what that's like a probably a sixty inch deer or something like that. I have no clothes spent much times. Yeah, it is, it is is. It's a good good chip. I would have smoked that thing. Dude's in there. What's weird? Like any time I go to a new state outside of like things that are really traditionally trophy states, I'm like, my my barrier to shooting is so low. I'm like, give me something to shoot. I would definitely be that way in Arizona after COO's deer at least, you know, all could be a different story. Uh. I just like to go out and ho stuff. Man. Like. Part of that is having some success. And if you if you set yourself up to try to shoot a gihnt animal, you're also setting yourself up for not a lot of success and time. Yeah for sure. I mean it's uh, you also set yourself up to be hunting in December when it's freezing cold. So but out there December January is not too bad. Huh, it's kind of mild. I don't know. I had never been, so I'm hoping to draw that tag. But I think it's pretty snow covered. I think it's gonna be pretty cold with lots of snow in that that particularly moved down once the snow comes in. Uh No, because there, I mean these are already pretty low, pretty low compared to a lot of a lot of Arizona altitude. I mean there's higher spots, uh, I don't know. The the deer we found were pretty low. Yeah, and there there our deer all the way up basically two into some of the highest stuff up there. So we just I just when I got in there, I've got a limited amount of time. I want to be able to look at stuff, and so the lower you go, the less trees you got. So that's basically, well, you you did the archer mulier thing, and I'm assuming you you still kind of would like to shoot a mule to your you shot accus to your um. Would you rather go back and try to do that trip even better? Or would you rather try something new? I would you got something else? On your list. I've always got a list. But at the same time, I want to go back and see if I could do it again, because that, by far as the I'm gonna put that up there is the toughest time I've ever done. And besides today, besides today. Uh yeah, So that that was. That was I mean, I prepared myself mentally. I knew what was coming because I did it last year with a bow, and I was very thankful to draw that rifle tag because I'm like, Okay, I have a chance. Um, you know, a slim one, but I have a chance. I have a better chance than I do with a bow in my hand. There is no way I could have killed that deer with a bow in the particular conditions that I was in. So that's scary m M. And it's specific location. There's there's without a couple of days planning and moving in super slow and spike camping with within a mile of him, which when I say a mile, like a mile is not very far out there, and that open stuff, and so you'd had to camp close just so you'd have enough daylight to try and get to him in the particular stuff he was in, the terrain was just straight up and down and it it took forever to get to him. And this I actually didn't glass this deer up. This was I believe, like our fourth day of the hunt, fourth day of season being open. And I had been glass in this canyon and looking at it and there was some real, real steep cuts in it. And I thought, man, on one side on the north facing slope, by the way, if you don't know where to look for CU's deer, to look on the north facing slope and keep your eyes on it. And I had been watching it and there was a cut in there, and I said, man, I I'd like to go like a little secondary drainage type thing. Is that what you're saying when you say cut? Yes, yes, in there? And it's probably well, it's two hundred yards wide, you know, uh, and really deep. And I thought, man, I want to go look at that this evening, right, but you know, get in there and get out so that I know I can make a plan for tomorrow, whether I want to go into some trees, uh, move you know further to a different area and go hunt some trees or something. You know, I can get in the truck and go drive around while Dad and my sister go chase bears somewhere. Uh Anyway, so I left my pack, spot and scope, walking sticks, everything. Basically, I've I've got on my binocular harness um and something really cool about it is in the back of it. It's got a little zipper and unfolds a mesh bladder back holder. And so I threw my water in it and my gun and that was it, and I went up no snacks, no snacks. It was in late in the evening and I had to do it quick. It was just a quick and dirty go up there and take a peek. And I got up there, and I started low in this drainage where I could see a little bit, and I looked up into it and I saw some reeld of your doze feeding, and I decided that I needed to get up. I didn't want to be below because they were already facing downhill and feeding down into it. And there was just a little shelf there with some grass that they were on. So I worked my way up probably two hundred feet in elevation, which was I mean, this is a steep slope, and got up there about eye level with him. Decided I need to be higher, and so I got up higher. I went up another hundred feet and I had some big horn, like probably hundred yards from me back up and yeah it was. It was gorgeous. And I didn't know this was on my radar, but it is. And I was, man, I was totally content sitting there watching that the rest of the evening. I've got these mule gear doze feeding down below me, and I look across the drainage. There's uh some brush and some trees and stuff, and out pops some white tail and there was four in the group. The one that I shot was actually the first one I saw. The other four I couldn't tell you what they were, how big they were, because the one that I saw, I knew was without a doubt a trophy to me. And I'm like, that's it. Threw my gun up, and I turned my scope up a little bit, checked the tail, make sure there was no black on it at all. White tail, put it on the shoulder and squeezed and he went down, did a couple of flips, and I got right side, got my radio because uh, me and Dad were using radio because he was a few miles away in Arizona with a few places that you can actually use electronic devices to communicate the location of game. Yes, that's what I thought. It's cool, and so yeah, I radio Dad and I said, hey, did you hear that shot. He's like yeah. I was like, man, it was pretty close stuff. And I was like, yeah, that was me. I've got one down over here. I was like, I'm gonna work my way to him, and it's gonna take me a little bit. And he's like okay. So I get into this drainage started working my way through it, and it turns into a sheep path of one ft in front of the other and straight up, I mean just straight down a hundred foot and I'm holding onto roots and trees as I go across. And I get work my way two hundred yards through that and get over there to them, and I go to Radio Dad and I'm like, hey, uh, you know, I found him. I set up my phone on a rock, take a couple of quick selfies with him, which I've seen on Instagram. My hair's going wild, and that is my favorite picture of that deer because that shows like my exhaustion. That shows like to the point that I I will look at that forever and go remember what I had to go through to get to him, man, And so all I have then, I'm thinking, I don't have a knough. I've got my I've got this little leatherman that I carry in my pocket all the time, which is sharp. It's super sharp, it's sharp. But that's all I had with me. And it's got like a two inch blade, not even two inch because one inch is rated. So I've got a one inch blade. And I'm trying to radio Dad tell him where I'm at. My radio dies and he is one that kind of jumps to conclusions. So when my radio died, he probably thought I fell off the mountain and there's no cell phone service I can call it. No, I was not far from it. So I feel dressed this deer, and I'm thinking, man, I've I've got to get back because a snowstorm is rolling in that night, like at dark, snowstorm is hitting hard, and so I basically just throw this deer on my back and I just get over to the drainage and I'm like, man, I can't do this with him on my shoulders because I don't have enough balance. So I drop him down on the ground and I'm holding him by his antler, and he is basically at this point dangling on the downhill side of me. I've got them down there so that if anything happens, I can just let go. And he is like, he's not I'm not dragging him his this His ribs are rubbing up against rocks because he's hanging, and I'm putting one foot in front of the other. My toes are just I'm if I could grow hoofs and be a sheep, right then I would because I'm trying to glue myself to this rock. You have a greased tent steak up the bullethole, And at that point I thought, man, it would be cool over there if somebody across the canyon was taking a picture. But also they'd be like, wow, look at that idiot. If you're on YouTube, you'd have some police. I needed some repel gear. So I'm holding on with him in my left hand, got my guns slung across my my body, and I've got tree roots and rocks in my right hand that I'm holding on as I get over around. This stuff very very possible, the most sketchy thing that I've done hunting, uh, safety wise. So I get him across set for shooting that pig today with Tyler out there, and I get through the drainage thankfully. And so he's too heavy. I mean, I know they don't weigh a lot, but field dressed, this guy probably weighed somewhere between seventy and eighty pounds, which is a lot of dead weight. You can you can do that in a pack or with a pack. You know, you can not comfortably. But I've known guys who who have a seventy pound pack that may not go far and fast, but you can do it. But this is dead weight. Try and carry it just I don't know, pick up an eighty pound child to tell them to be limp. Don't don't actually put him on your shoulder. Limp, but make sure you know the child. Yeah A, don't hang him off the cliff for practice. So what I ended up once I got to the other side, I took my leather man because there's no way I could get down in time. I mean, I got thirty minutes for its pitch black dark, and I cut the back half of him off. I cut the hams off of the rump off, and I cut the tenderloins out put them in my pockets because that's all I got, and h the backstraps, and well, the backstraps were still on the back, so that went with me. And I hung the hams up in a tree and I headed down the mountain at a quick as paces I could because I did not have a flashlight. Oh and nobody knew where I was. I don't want to talk about I had. I didn't have a flot. I had two bullets left to signal where I was at if it came down to it. Um and Dad just knew a general area of about a mile and a half, you know, square one and a half square miles of kind of the area I was at. And that was it. And so your dad, I'm in this eight hundred acres right. Yeah. One time, so before the days of on X, I would go hunting with Pop and uh, we went squirrel hunting one time, was a little kid. We didn't see the squirrels, but we got lost down the Dyke bottoms and uh, this is an area guys. If you don't know where doc is, Doc, It's it's weird how you say it. It's a East Texas dot doc. It's like I almost had two syllables, but Anyways, we got lost down the bottoms down there, and Pop went to shooting the shotgun to signal where we were because we were lost. And finally we walked out of there and figured out where we were going or whatever. We're on a buddy's place. And this guy was a little bit uh dim waity to think, and uh he was like, I just thought you were shooting a lots of squirrels, you know, and it's like, well, we shot nine times in sequence, so you know, equally space. I was just making sure people knew Dyke Bottom was a area, not something something to search on the internet. Yeah, definitely, yeah, definitely not that. But that's cool story, dude. That that's that sounds like an adventure hunt and I'm all about those, man. It sounds like a lot of fun. The next day was the best because it dumped like five inches six inches of snow, and my dad and my sister went out bear hunting to you know, get on some hot tracks. And I got to sit in the tent, keep the fire going, sit there and just drink coffee. Drink coffee, dude. I stayed. I had a pair of flannel pants and uh, just Columbia shirt, like I'm wearing now and I did not change and I wore how shoes in the tent and I sat there the entire day just soaking it and reminds me of Illinois. Dude. I stayed up to like one am after I shot that back. I was just like, yeah, chips and stuff. Yeah that's fun, dude. So what trip are you going on with us this year? I don't know A lot, So, I mean a lot. You know. I don't which single one you want me to talk about. I thought, I'm glad, Yeah, I'm because I thought after the day he would be like, not very many, yeah stuff, So to pick one? Yeah, which if you if you thought about one that we've talked about doing, which one would you be excited about going and doing? I mean I get excited for any kind of hunting. I mean you saw my excitement today when we got to shoot that squirrel. Oh yeah, I'm a huge I love squirrel hunting, small game. I get excited for any kind of huney, I will go so saying what am I most excited for? Man? I love chas of whitetail, but I get I get excited about anything you say. Hey, man, let's let's go you know, squirrel hunt, Let's go quil hunt, let's go pheasant hunting. I'm in, let's go snop hunting. We are on the scale of one to ten. Where does eight miles of pig walking hunting land on the exit? Now that that is an exception, there is an exception. Um today, you know, chasing pigs for the first time. Yep, I felt pretty down because I was like, man, I hope that this is not what it's all about. I'm just kidding. If you're listening to you're going on the pig hunt, expect that to happen. And if it gets better than that, it'll be a surprise that I have. I have not ever put this much work into pig hunting in my life. What's funny, dude, is that that's how it goes. It's like private land pig hunter, you like, I can't appreciate you think that they're just you know, these things that the pastors and shoot. If you're a public land pig hunter, it's like, you should see the sores I got to get this this twelve pound pig. You know that's a big deal. It's it's two different worlds, man, I don't know, probably on that scale pig hunting in today's fashion or style. We did and effort and work. That was probably a My number started out a lot higher. This morning we started. What's the teen? Does that mean you shot a big deer? Is that a team? No? Ten is TIN is like a dream hunt. TIN is just getting to go on a dream Where does it? Where does eight miles for squirrels fit into this? Is it hiring pigs? Yes? Okay, yeah, if if if y'all aren't avid squirrel hunters, look up a place, find a local place to go squirrel hunting, because and if you know somebody with dogs, just ask them if you can tag along, because you do not know excitement until you hear some squirrel dogs baying and you are spreading through greenbrier and rose bush and just trying to keep your clothes on as as nature is pulling them off of you as well as skin. Sounds like a Ted Nugent monologue, man, But yes, it is a blast. I love love with twenty two shotguns. Shotguns really, yeah, that's my favorite. I've got a old double barrel um Sears and Roebuck that was my great grandfather's been passed down and that is a squirrel killing machine. So you don't mind them having some shot in them. No, not at all. Really. Yeah, it's easy to get out for you normally. Or is it just like one of the things where you just like whatever I want, work at it, I eat it easily, tenderly. Yeah, I don't. I don't just when I go to bite into squirrel, I don't chomp down on it like I know it's a t bone. I how you cook them? Fried fried dumplings? Man, you can grill them, you can smoke them. There's you got shrimp gumbo. You got when I cooked scrawl. Always do something like that to where it's like the flavors slightly concealed. I would like to experiment with a lot of different types of meats as just grilled meats, to just really see what it's all about, you know what I mean, because I think that, um, there might be some some things out there that we don't quite think about as being the like premier just you know, not raw meat. But you get what I'm saying, you know, type of meat that salt and pepper kind of might be better than what we really think it is. I'll tell you one thing, isn't. Don't old Coot cooked a coot when I was really young one time. Obviously had no clue out of cook over an open fire, no seasoning me and old Chris mcinto probably does something. I did that with the ringneck one time. The worst saying you could put in your mouth. You might as well eat the brick and brick hat and the skin on it or what? What was the trick to get the skin off on? That's what I wanted ring that jeuse a pressure washer. I was a kid, just cooked it and ripped it apart the ring neck. Getting the skin off ringneck is one of the hardest things in the wild. Uh. Don't coots have like a big gizzard? Isn't that the thing with coots? Though? Like I'll be right. I think the gizzard is like three times the size of a duck gizzard, And that's what people eat on. It's a gizzard that sounds good. It sounds good to me too. There's a lunch of kids. That's the road up here, dude, the limits fifteen. Yeah, I believe he used to be winning. Doubt coot it out, man, We can get after it. That's that's what you do. I will I might have to try one before I actually go to Coot. Also, shooting Tyler isn't a fan. I think I could talk Hunter into it. There's some neutral rats up here that are just to be so easy to think. My dad's had nutrient before. Yeah, I'm down it. Be careful. They carry you a cola, yeah, everything, but I just cook that out of there. Yeah you can. What's the temp? I just say sixty five for everything. It kills by everything. Yeah, I'm pretty sure with one sixty five those you start getting tough. That's why you gotta stew it. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, I actually i'm kind of hungry since we're talking about stupid, So why don't we go grab us about to eat here? Second, Hunter, thanks for going hunting with us, dude, Yeah, Hunter, hunting today was a good time. It was a good time. We uh, we probably did about one of the lower things on your scale there. So it's always blest. Hunting is not all about killing, man, It's about the getting out there with the people you like in in experiencing the wild and the nature and all the God's beautiful creations and little creatures that we get to hunt. That's right, man, That is right the wild in the twenty five tree stands we saw today and all the tree trimmings we saw. That's right. But yeah, it's a good take on duty. And I love of it. Uh. I was telling, I think you or Tyler somebody like I don't like these gloomy winter days, but if you get out and get to walk a whole bunch, it makes him a whole lot better. Yeah, for sure, And they're really comfortable days to walk. But uh, yeah, it was a good day, man, I really I really enjoyed it, man, Like I don't know, I think, um, like, you can go like a whole day and really be like, man, I really need to pull trigger on this gun, like, you know, And there's definitely a little bit of that going on. But um, after the season we had, you know, I was I was just glad to get out with friends because we kind of lone wolfed it a lot, man, you know, just that way. Yeah, And so it was nice to just get out there and talk a little bit. Chris was fun, Bam was fun, and uh Hunter was fun as well. And um, I enjoy a Hunter because he likes to read a little bit, you know, so it goes pretty well I think we got too many rib shots on. We got to me ribs. Oh. We didn't talk about this in the squirrel, but Hunter kind of gave me one of those uh you and runs with k these highest combo from last year with my squirrel. I shot the squirrel and then he was dying in tree and Hunters went hand and shot him again just for good man. You can't leave your squirrel back there. Yeah, and a rabbit. I didn't know. I didn't see squirrel cleaning. Yeah, it's big, big old if you not ever had him hang up on you, man, they'll get that death grip on there when they seize up and they are there. You can waste two boxes of shells trying to get them down, and they will. They are on there like a locust ship. Bark to squirrel. I heard about that, barking at him getting come out. No bark to squirrel, it's uh, you take a twenty two. So how I understand it. You get a squirrel sits real close to a tree lamb or tree trunk probably you know, and and uh and so that you don't mess the squirrel up, you know, like destroy a bunch of the meat. Technically you shoot the limb that he's on, if it's a sizeable limb and all the bark just pops up and kills him right there. Shock kind of like shock kills him. That's what I've heard. Never never done it. I feel like if you're acron after that, you could just shooting. Somebody told me that. I was like, I don't understand that. That sounds like a branding story for sure. I run a shell box squirrel, you know, unless you wouldn't squirrel head soup. No, I don't want none of that fox head in here my freezers. Though. Yeah, that's why I'm going to euro that thing. I think that'd be a cool year and a half. We're also thinking about we would love to euro a paint. That'd be real cool. We shot at some pince I tried to euro paint that I shot the last one I shot, and I cat stole the skull, so I never got to the euro full euro stage, which I probably needed to boil it, you know, But I'm not much on that kind of stuff. I'm not very good at it or don't have their utensils. But we did shoot a few paints today and they were unsuccessful shots. Those things are whack. You're crazy that skeet that comes out of the thrower going all weird because it's got a broken side. But then it's hard to hit because it just ain't like it's not only supposed to. If you imagine a butterfly flies twenty mile trying to hit that thing, that's what you're shooting at. Man, it's pretty good. But anyway, it's good day. Man. Thanks for coming out Hunter and doing stuff and being so dedicated to the video camera until until it well, you know, I got tired of holding it, so that's why I threw in the water. He did such a good job until about ten am and then it went wet. But anyway, guys, thanks for listening. Hopefully you guys will get to enjoy some more content from Hunter here in the future. Hopefully. I'm I don't know. I need to look through a lot of the footage because we started figuring out that there may be some extra stuff to put in some videos from this year. Hunter had some are good encounters. It was tough to get some of it on video. You almost killed in Oklahoma, um, and I don't even know if we have any video really from there or not that makes much sense, but you had some really cool encounters with big groups of Bucks in the late season in Texas and stuff like that, So we'ren't trying to put some stuff together on that end um, and then obviously try to get him back on the podcast because I'm sure he's gonna be one of the guys that gets requested again, kind of like a but Smith, you know what I mean, at both at the same time their world might explode in universe. Anyway, guys, thanks for listening. Remember this year Element living it

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