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Burnout, Breakthroughs, and the Power of Getting Back Outdoors | Gun Talk Hunt
In this episode of Gun Talk Hunt, host KJ explores the themes of burnout and rejuvenation in the hunting world. Joined by Mike Perkins and Matt Brass from the Whiskey and Windage podcast, they discuss...
Burnout, Breakthroughs, and the Power of Getting Back Outdoors | Gun Talk Hunt
Technology •
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Interactive Transcript
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Have you lost the drive to hunt?
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What does that look like and how do you rejuvenate your spirit?
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We've got Whiskey and Windage podcast along with Chris Serino of Gun Talk
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here on Gun Talk Hunt.
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I'm KJ, you found the right place.
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We go all over this little blue orb,
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sharing stories and tactics about chasing wild game.
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Now, let's get on the hunt.
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Welcome in to another Gun Talk.
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Hunt, I'm your host KJ.
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And this episode is brought to you by Savage Arms,
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Rimming Tn. Ammo and Range Ready Studios.
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Hey, today's episode is more...
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Maybe you never lose it.
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Maybe you never lose that drive for the hunt.
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Sometimes you may lose it and you start finding yourself a rejuvenated spirit
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for the outdoors.
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And that's what we're going to talk about today.
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We're going to talk with Mike Perkins out of Tennessee,
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to Matt Brass, out of Idaho,
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and they are the duo that make up Whiskey and Windage podcast.
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And we are excited to have them on.
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And we got Gun Talks, very own Chris Serino in studio.
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So without further ado, let's jump in with Mike Perkins of the Whiskey and Windage podcast.
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Mike, how are you doing, buddy?
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Man, I'm doing good, KJ.
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How are you doing?
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I'm doing great.
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And I'm going to tell you right now, I was on an episode of Whiskey and Windage.
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I have an absolute blast with you guys.
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And the way you guys have a way to line out how you operate with your guests is absolutely phenomenal.
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If you guys haven't listened to it, go check out Whiskey and Windage podcast.
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Because I promise you, you'll like what you hear.
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Appreciate it.
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But today we're not going to talk about Texas football.
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We're not going to talk about Oklahoma getting it handed to them.
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But you're long horns.
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So let's just, let's just end this right now.
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Texas is better than Oklahoma right now.
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Right now.
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All right, I'll take that.
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Coming, good night.
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All right.
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And that's all that's all from Mike Perkins.
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Like get him out of here.
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No.
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We're talking about kind of a rejuvenated spirit in the hunting.
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And I've seen this come from guys that maybe have burned out or anything like that.
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And we talk about like reflections on what made you almost quit.
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And I've got, man, I've got so many of those stories.
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What do you think about that, Mike?
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Where does your mind start to go when I say like instances that may have almost made you quit?
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Been there, done that.
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Man, I got to, I got to say that when people talk about their dear stories or their first time they harvest game,
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I'm one of the lucky ones.
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You know, just to put it in perspective, I killed my first buck at 10 years old,
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which is the legal age you can hunt in Tennessee on the opening day of the season within the first 15 minutes of first light.
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Dude, you're ruined.
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I know.
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So like I had a great teacher.
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I had my dad, we hung on private land.
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You know, he knows, he knows the place like the back of his hand.
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And after I shot it, he made the comment, you realize it took me five years to harvest my first deer.
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And jokingly, I was like, yeah, I did it in 15 minutes.
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Let's go to breakfast.
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And he was like, okay.
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So, man, I took it for granted.
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I've been there.
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I've never hunted WMA or never hunted public land in my life.
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Everywhere I hunt is private.
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Nothing is high fence.
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Nothing is baited.
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But there's not a day that I went in the woods that unless the wind was bad or the weather was bad, I always saw deer always.
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And so, man, you take that stuff for granted because you hear these stories.
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So, yeah, I got burned out because I gave myself the rule on my land.
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And I'm blessed that I live on the land that I grew up hunting on.
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You know, now it's, I'm not going to shoot anything unless it's bigger than one I've already shot.
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So, I kind of go out on this property and just sleep.
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I'm going to call this a nap.
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Naps almost did you in, man.
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Yeah, but you know, it's tough.
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You know, I let other people come out and hunt.
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And if you're a new hunter, or if you or someone who's never killed a buck, you know, whatever walks by that gets you excited, take it down.
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Yeah.
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But if you're a seasoned hunter, my rule is eight pointer better.
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I don't care how big the basket is.
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Give me eight or better unless you see some funky rack deer walking by.
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But it's like, man, you know, I want to, I want to preserve this for the next generation.
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And I want, I find more fun now watching people go hunt, whether it's deer or turkey.
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And actually being a part of it and doing the calling or working with them, then actually pulling the trigger myself now.
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I don't know, I guess I'm old.
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No, you're not getting old.
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I think it's just a matter of the time that we're in our hunting phase.
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Because I mean, when I moved down to Louisiana, a man going on like eight years ago, it was, it was a little tougher for me because I was constantly, I'm kind of the same way.
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Like I have a lease.
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I have private land that's all connected and it's a beautiful hunting property.
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And when I was driving up to Oklahoma, it's like, like I was driving up by myself.
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I was doing all this stuff and I'd go out and I'd spend a weekend and then I'd be back in the office on Monday.
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And that's 21, 22 plus hours of driving and that, that nearer, that could have ended it for me.
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If my boys hadn't reached the age of being able to hunt that would it, that, that could have sealed it for me.
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I wouldn't have gone a maybe once a year, but man, that makes such a difference to be able to drive someone else to know that they're going to have a great experience for me than, than anything else.
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Well, there's something to be said because although I grew up hunting private land, my dad, his brother and all their friends would still go put in for draws on the public land.
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And they would get it.
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And I mean, these guys would show up, I mean, pulling up in like cousin Eddie style RVs and all this stuff and they would hunt and maybe one of them would shoot a doe maybe.
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But I was always like, this is boring. We're not killing deer. Why are we here? And I wouldn't want to go.
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But the older I get, the more I realize it's not just about the time you sit behind the trigger, it's building those relationships and hanging out for a few days around the campfire, eating horrible camp food most of the time.
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And just sharing those stories and having those laughs and it's a way to unplug and to grow together.
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Man, it really is. And when you lead right into the next thing, like the value of an unplugged hunt and what does that mean?
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Like we're unplugging from society, we're unplugging from our phones, we're spending time enjoying outdoors. That rarely happens because there was a time when you could just step outside the city limits and you would have zero cell service.
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Those days are gone. You have cell service everywhere everywhere. You get a starlink and you're having in the mountains. Like and you're not unplugged. Like that's no longer unplugging for me.
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Anytime you can reach me is, I mean, it's everywhere. And I miss the value of that. What do you think?
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I think there's something to be said for that. You know, now when I hear about hunters going in the woods, you know, it's like they get up there an hour before daylight and they're in there not making a sound and they've got their air pods in and they're playing candy crush or something on their phone waiting waiting for the sun to come up and you're like, OK, I guess that's cool.
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If that's what you do, so you're, you know, I'm ADHD man, I'm going to move. I'm going to I'm going to fidget. So if that keeps you still, that's great, but you're actually going out there just to hunt. You're not actually going out there to unplug and that's fine.
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But I like to unplug and become one with nature and just kind of watch watch the chipmunks or the squirrels that bark at you when you think that, you know, like, hey, surely nothing's going to see me up here. And of course you got like four squirrels alert and all that stuff.
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But it's that's part that's part of the fun. Yeah, it it is. I mean, I mean, it's just so hard for me. I can unplug very easily. I said, like my wife, like she will not hear from me during a hunt.
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Like she just knows like he's he's not accessible. Like there's no way. But but on the other end, like I will plug back in if it's going to benefit me on a on a buck.
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Like if I have to go over to on X or something like that and go, okay, hey, what's the best route? How's the wind? Like if I go out here, what's the wind going to do over in this like draw?
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Like that's when I start plugging in and being thankful that I do have a service.
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No, that's true. That is true. I mean, I guess it also depends on the type of hunting you're doing. I mean, if you're if you're hunting in an area that's super thick and you've only got two or three shooting lanes.
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And you've planned on sitting there all day and you've already missed the first active part of the day and there's somewhere.
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You know that that mid mornings already came through. So the big bucks have already walked through again.
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You know, it's like, all right, what do I do between lunch and two o'clock in the afternoon? I don't want to get down like, you know, I guess it's cool in moderation.
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But I don't know. I mean, it's to each their own, I guess it's just I'm not that well, I'll tell you this much is if you're sitting up in a tree stand.
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The best thing to do is hang your safety strap is about as high as you can get where right as you sit down on your seat.
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It adds a little bit of cushion to you and you take a nap.
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You go to sleep and just be quiet because you will you'll you'll find yourself what I find is you'll start tuning in and you'll hear more.
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Like if you're just completely unplugged and you're sitting there very still. If a deer's walking by, you're going to hear that deer.
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Yeah, I probably shouldn't nap then.
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You're out like it's just like, yeah, like you're just either sleep or I'll probably snore and scare everything in the woods.
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I don't know one way or the other something will happen.
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So what's your preferred so when you unplug and when you get back in the woods every year.
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What's this hunting style that you go for you say you're a little bit ADHD.
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So are you a spot and stock guy?
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No, so see like I said, I really hunt private land.
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So you know, if you've ever hunted in Tennessee, it's thick.
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There's it's thick. I mean, you've got honey suckle, you've got all the different low brush.
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So 100 yard shot in Tennessee unless you're hunting someone's field is it's a long shot because it's so thick.
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So you basically get up in a tree and you sit there.
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So it's more like Cadillac deer stands like the big box fully enclosed sit in there because you're not going to stalk.
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There's too many leaves. There's too many branches. They're going to hear you. There's too many hills.
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They're going to see you and 100 yard shot. So it's not like out west where you can you know walk to this ridge line and not mess up what you're doing.
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Like if you move, they all see you. So it's you just sit down, shut up and be quiet. Wait for they walk by.
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Makes sense, man. It definitely makes sense. All right. Hey, Mike. Thanks. We're going to get you back in at the end of the show.
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But now let's head out to Idaho with Matt brass. Matt. How you doing it?
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I am really good, KJ. I appreciate you having me good to see you.
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I'm glad you don't share the same. I hope you don't share the same sentiments about the longhorn.
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As your cohort Mike Perkins over there with you.
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Look, if if you want to see me awkward and out of place, try and include me in a football conversation.
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I just support ball field as a.
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I always do a good gun range honestly. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I guess how I feel about golf courses. I guess you're.
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Yeah. Yeah. Like that'd be cooler if you were like shooting some targets down those ranges. Yeah.
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So we're talking about rejuvenated and rejuvenated spirits like new guns, new grounds. Like you're out in Idaho. So you're out west.
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So you have a totally different experience than Mike and myself, Chris Serino and a lot of others across the country.
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So what what's the vibe of hunting for you when you head out to the rain or head out and hunt public land? I'm guessing right?
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Yes, almost exclusive. I've never hunted anything that wasn't public land. And the majority of hunters out here, it is public land. And we're in the state of Idaho.
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We're really blessed that our our state protects a lot of that puts a lot of it aside for for citizens to be able to use for pretty much whatever they want.
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But it also is it's pretty big country. It's big. There's a lot of it. There's a lot of it. But like narrowing down where you get I mean the longer you're there, the more you get out in the woods, the more familiar you're going to become.
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Whether you're talking thermals or just terrain and what temperatures and thermals do to an area. But that's one of the bigger challenges is I think is getting people out into new areas because anymore you working from remote like doing a remote job like that you can do from your home and you don't have you can live wherever you want.
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I think it's placed a little bit newer challenge to those hunters looking to get back into hunting and looking to find their way back into the woods. And how would you how would you address those folks that get to a new area that are a little bit intimidated by public land because maybe they've hunted private all along and they've moved out of state they've moved to a new area.
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What advice would you give them?
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Have a good pair of boots.
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Like what's your go to pair of boots?
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Honestly, my hunting boots I'm usually I'm usually wearing dinners of some sort.
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Yeah, like a quality not not yeah, not too expensive, but I only have to buy.
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I'm not I'm not the great white hunter of the North, you know, but I do get to spend some time out in the out in the country and and I've been wearing dinners for about a decade.
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But have a good good set of boots and and be willing to put some miles on really.
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But that's so that that to me that's intimidating like if I'm an airy man, it's like that's why I like I'm not kidding and I am not sponsored by on X.
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I am a firm believer in on X man, they never failed me. I'm dropping way points like breadcrowns except they never leave.
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So right.
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On X is it's a powerful tool here for sure.
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There's a lot of a lot of ground to cover.
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Well, how good boots and good glass.
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Yes, amen to that.
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My gosh, we were looking through a pair of Zeiss glass yesterday and holy crap.
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It's absolutely incredible.
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Like how far glass has come nowadays is unbelievable.
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No, but take your pick is if you're spending quite a bit of money on some optics like you're going to get great glass.
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But yeah, so the challenges that we have discussed the boots like getting a good pair of boots like how has that played a role in how you get out and hunt.
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Honestly, I.
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It plays a huge role in having just all around having decent year.
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Especially this time of year in Idaho, there's lots of temperature change and all across the west and the further north you go, of course, the worst that it is, but temperature change, it can get cold real fast, it can get wet real fast, it could then immediately get hot real fast.
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Yeah.
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And so gear, good gear, good layers, good pair of boots, all that stuff is really important.
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And it almost also can't be done without without machinery.
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A four wheeler or a side by side is almost a necessity.
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Especially if there is an animal down, you might be you might be 10, 12 miles in the backwards trying to move an 800 pound elk.
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And you need you need the equipment to do it.
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Man, you haven't you like you haven't said one thing that I'm like, oh man, I would hate to do that.
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Like even don't give me a vehicle. Don't give me a side by side.
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Hiking an elk out if you're 10 to 12 miles back does sound fun.
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I'm not that guy.
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I'm not him.
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I am.
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I'm not. I got to be honest. I'm not him.
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I need the four wheeler.
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Oh, or a horse. Just give me a horse.
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Or horse. Yeah, there's we still have a lot of mule skinners out here.
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Mule skinning is a real thing.
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And there's guys that run the breed and run mule team specifically for packing game animals.
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And there's that something you can have.
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You can have you can hire those dudes, right?
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Yep, yep.
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So if you're up here hunting this way looking to shoot a trophy bull elk, you will probably first off need a guide.
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but that guy is probably going to know a mule breeder.
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I will say have them lined up before season.
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So that's one of my tips I give everybody
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whoever comes through here is doing an out of state hunt.
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Plan ahead, look up shipping services for your meat,
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taxidermist local area, processor if you need it,
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and mule skinners are the same way.
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If you're going to hire a team to come out there,
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they need to know that there is a possibility
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that you are going to be on their radar.
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Man, contact local game wardens,
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like talk to them about rules, regulations,
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where you can, where you can't go,
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if you've already mapped out that area.
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Those are a few challenges that guys get up there
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and they don't think about.
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They don't think about, okay, well, what if I am successful?
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Yeah.
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Wait, what are these really?
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Really successful sometimes.
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Because it seems like,
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so it seems like guys that dream of hunting out west,
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they dream of success,
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they don't dream of the hardships that go along with it.
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And that's where the miles you put on your legs
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and everything that takes a toll.
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Because my first hunt in Idaho did not go
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how I thought it was going to go.
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It's straight up, like there was no flat ground present.
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It's hard hunting.
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It can be very hard.
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Oh yeah, it absolutely can be.
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And that's why like, listen to the Whiskey and Windage podcast,
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you'll start learning a little bit more about what the terrain's like
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and you'll hear a little bit of insight from Mike and Matt.
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You've got to put yourself in that mindset,
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that winning mindset and part of that is taking that hunt
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from start to finish of all the what-ifs.
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Is that something Hunter,
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you find that hunters don't often do Matt?
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I think it's kind of a mixed bag.
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So people who grew up here and understand that,
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understand that way of hunting,
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it's a complete lifestyle here.
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I personally grew up in Idaho,
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but not in a family of hunters.
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And so I didn't start hunting until my early 20s.
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And in my personal experience,
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it's definitely something that I didn't plan for.
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Hey, I'm going to walk a lot further than I thought I was going to.
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Most of the deer that I'm going to see
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are not the deer that I imagined in my mind that I would find.
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And when I do down an animal,
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like how do I get this out of here by myself?
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So the planning is really important.
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And I'm an idiot.
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So I learn the hard way, but that's why I know me.
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That's why I know I'm not I don't I don't want to be 10 miles in
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and drop a bull elk without a four-wheeler.
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I know I don't.
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I'm not Matt.
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I'm the opposite.
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Like I'm just dumb enough to go do it and then go,
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well, I guess I got to deal with this now.
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Like I'm not not smart of the think ahead.
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So you're actually smarter than you know.
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But you're tough enough to get it done regardless.
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They say if you're going to be dumb, you got to be tough.
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I don't know if to take that as an insult or a compliment.
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But well played if it was either.
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Yeah.
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But yeah, it's it's something that you got to think about the fourth thought.
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And don't let.
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Don't let the.
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Your nerves, I guess is kind of don't let your nerves or
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nervousness of of experiencing something.
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Get you out of hunting.
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Let it rejuvenate your soul and into new and exciting things.
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I guess it's kind of how I'd bring that around.
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I'd say I'd say don't definitely don't let it scare you off.
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But but do also come with an education of like, you know, out west,
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Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada.
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We have huge bucks.
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We have huge elk and the animals get huge because they've never seen a human before.
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Yeah.
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So to find an animal like that, you're going to have to go places.
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People don't usually go.
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And and you could be rewarded with a trophy.
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But it's not all it's not all fun and games.
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The large majority of it is hard, hard work.
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Yeah.
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You're going to ride this trouble bus.
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Yep.
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Right.
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The struggle bus.
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Yep.
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It's just something we all have to ride on.
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We ride it together.
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But every once in a while, we let, let a couple off to have some success.
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All right.
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We're going to jump in here with a break.
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And when we come back, we're going to be with Chris Sereno of gun talk right after this.
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and tighten up those groups.
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Well, look no further than rimmington ammo.
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Yeah, the stuff in the green box is super accurate.
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And they've got everything from hunting ammo all the way to NRL like match ammo.
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So check those out.
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Remington premier from premier tip,
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hack you tip to match grade ammunition all in that green box.
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You love you trust and you adore.
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Find it all at remington.com.
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All right, we're back with gun talk hunt.
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And we've got Chris Serino in studio talking about a rejuvenated spirit for the hunt.
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Chris, you and I kind of like melded together into a beautiful teaching.
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Union and it rejuvenated your spirit.
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Talk through that.
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It did.
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And honestly, that sounded a little weird to me, right?
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I teach in hunter education has really helped my passion come back,
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especially you know relocating to Louisiana, not knowing what to do down here.
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And what that hunter education class did for me was not only make me excited about hunting
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because you see all these bright young faces.
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But it also educated me because I'm learning more about Louisiana's hunting laws and rules.
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And when you when you don't understand anything, you get intimidated.
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Right.
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Well, it's an easy thing to do.
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And you see it, you see it on the other side on the training side of things.
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But like when you lose a an interest in hunting or it just doesn't seem like a,
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I'm not saying it should be a priority, but it loses its luster.
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Like it's got it, there's got to be a catalyst for like that rejuvenation.
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Well, the people you hang around with, the area you're in of course,
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because you know, if I was in the city, it wouldn't, it wouldn't probably have been this easy.
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But I'm out in the country, obviously.
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And I have you and I have really cool people I get to hang around with.
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But what is it?
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What is it that I truly loved about being in the woods and hunting?
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What was it?
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And it was being by yourself.
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Well, you know, I, I mean, you do enjoy those quiet times.
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And as your life gets busier, sometimes those quiet times are bad because your brains work and I,
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and it's thinking about it.
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But what did I truly love?
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I'll tell you what, watching the woods wake up, watching the woods go to sleep.
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And you know, and I'm listening to these guys talk and I can't remember which one said something about,
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you know, taking a nap between lunch and two.
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Lunch and two.
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Okay.
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I can't tell you how many deer I've shot between 10 and two because of all the people walking in and out of the woods,
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especially if you're in public areas.
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I mean, people get cold, they get frigid, they want to eat, they got to go, they got to go party.
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All that stuff.
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And I tell you that's my high alert time.
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Oh, yeah.
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Well, I mean, that's high alert time, but because animals do tend to start to move a little bit later,
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depending on time of year, like early season, I've, I found that they're going to move early,
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just determined by temperatures and hunting pressure.
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And you know, they're not used to having all those that pressure on them.
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And then the later in this season that goes, they move back because it's the breeding season,
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they're chasing their, their, their chasing down those ladies.
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But I just, I go back to like us teaching Hunter's education.
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And it's such an easy way to give back.
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I find, I don't know what you think, but it's, it's easier for me to give back that way.
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And I do, I try to take at least two to three new hunters a year.
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Like if they haven't been out or they haven't been out in a while, like that was the,
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that's one of the coolest things.
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And I took a guy out once, like you'll enjoy this story.
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So he has never hunted, always kind of had an interest in it, but no one to take him.
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So I take him and he shoots a doe.
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I just like, Hey, come out for a special dose season, a little shoot a doe.
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And, and he shoots it.
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And I'm like, Hey, I gotta go get the truck.
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I'm going to leave you here.
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I'll be right back.
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Like I get back and he's just standing over this deer with his hand on it.
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And I can tell that like he is, he is emotional.
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Like he, he is shook like because he knows that he, he, he ended, he shot a deer.
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He ended a life.
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Yeah.
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I know.
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He did.
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And, and like you could tell he was emotional about it.
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And I was like, you okay?
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And he goes, he goes, yeah.
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He goes, this is a little bit more powerful than I was thinking it was going to be.
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And I was like, well, that's good.
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That's a good thing that you have a little bit of emotion.
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Yeah, you should have respect.
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You should have respect.
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And then he goes, he goes, he goes, man, he goes, my family's going to really enjoy this meat.
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And I go, there it is.
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I was like, all right.
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Right.
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And like little moments like that, like help me like get a rejuvenated spirit.
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I never really fully lose it.
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But it's like moments like that for me that go, man, you're doing the right thing.
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Yeah, because my kids are grown and they're gone.
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And I do remember Colton's first year.
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And I remember I was getting something out of my backpack and I heard him over there.
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And I heard him say, I'm sorry, buddy, but I had to get something this morning.
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And he was over there.
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I turned around and looked at him and he was in Eltown next to that buck and he was petting him.
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And he was really cool about him.
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I mean, he wasn't upset about it, but he was like, he had respect.
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And that's a cool thing, you know?
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Well, I like it that he was like, it was you or nothing.
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Like I was going to be you or me.
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Yeah.
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You were me.
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I'm sorry, but yeah, I'm sorry, buddy.
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You know, it's funny because everybody I take to the woods pretty much does the same thing.
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It's just a pure thing.
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I mean, everybody, nobody, nobody is like, oh, man, that was great.
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And look at that.
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Oh, my blue is guts out.
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No, everybody's always.
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It's a reverberal.
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Like, wow, that was like powerful.
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Like a self, it's like a, they're connecting.
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Like I think it's those little moments that I'm like,
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yeah, well, you know, we came from cavemen and that's what they did.
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They still resemble that.
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Yeah, I know.
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Some was still act like I mean, there's still you may look like a caveman, but I act like one.
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It's that there is some truth to that.
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But yeah, I'm looking forward to getting back into the woods.
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Of course, this year, out on, on the, you know, private lands, which are some,
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I saw my public around here because I know what you're going to encounter.
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You never know.
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So what guns are you?
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What guns would you say are there are guns that rejuvenate your spirit every year?
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You know what?
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I really like hunting.
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Listen, I never got to hunt with bold action guns because we always
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hunt with shotguns out there and lever guns.
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So so last year I did that this year, I'm actually contemplating taking a lever action
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gun like a 45 long cold, you know, with double tap hardcast.
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And you're in the method station stage.
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Yeah.
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And honestly, I would like to get my mausoleater out again when preventive rolls around.
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And I know primitive years and really primitive.
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It's single shot and it can be breach loading, which is really not very.
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I would take patch and ball.
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I take my old, my old cat, your old Flintlock.
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It's not.
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I don't have any Flint locks, but you have a percussion side lock.
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Yeah.
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No.
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So that'd be fun.
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Yeah.
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And so I'm thinking about those things and honestly, I'm considering getting back into
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I always hunt with crossbows and I'll aisle because I never I have I have bows,
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but I'm not good with it now in practice.
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But crossbows are cool because I can I can kind of slip into the woods and I can
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just walk around.
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Yeah.
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And honestly, I see more deer walking around and just spooking around in there.
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And I walk sit, walk sit.
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And with the crossbow, you can do that.
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Oh, yeah.
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And it's all year long, which means you can go when it's nice out right in the
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early, you know, early seasons and spend more time in the woods.
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Cause really the more methods you use, the more time you get to spend in the woods.
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And after all, it's all about time in the woods.
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And since it's spread out over so many months, if you only go, uh, you know,
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a couple, three, four times with each, you know, method for hunting,
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yeah, you get that much more time in woods.
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See, my problem is is that every time I am like going out the woods or anything
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like that, like it's always like close locally, there's not a lot of deer.
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And the deer that I've seen are very small.
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They look like yearlings.
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And then I go up to Oklahoma and I'm driving, you know, I'm driving so much back
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and forth between there and Louisiana is that like that wears on me.
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It wears so much on me that like primitive season comes around, but it's a
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week after your youth season.
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It's a week after.
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And so now I've got to go, although I want to make another trip, Oklahoma.
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You need to start killing small deer and Louisiana.
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I mean, honestly, the hunt is the hunt.
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I know me.
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No, you're right.
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For me, it's about the hunt.
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I mean, you saw, but I go out last alligator I killed.
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And obviously that was not about the gator's size.
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No, it wasn't.
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I still say that was that that was one of the smaller gators I've seen.
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It was the smallest gator.
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I think I've ever seen really, but no, it's not that small.
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I mean, you said you met, you said four foot nine inches or foot nine inches.
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That's a tiny one guy.
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I just let you know.
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All right.
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Hey, you know what?
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Let's bring everybody back in here.
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Mike, what final shots have you got for us?
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Man, I think something that all hunters, all shooters should do is take a new person shooting.
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You know, set them up for success.
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We talk about that on our podcast while all of us secretly, well, maybe I'm just the only evil one secretly watch,
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you know, the YouTube shorts or whatever it is.
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And you see the fails of watching these guys shoot overpowered firearms that they're not ready for.
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You know, while that may be funny to laugh at, you know,
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that's that's a person that's probably not going to come back into our sport.
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So set someone up for success, take them out.
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And even if you can't change their mind, they may be anti-fiery, but as long as you can get them to at least give a little
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smirk like, yeah, that was kind of fun.
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Like your job's done.
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Yep.
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Man, that's a, it's a great point in taking, taking people and, and I've,
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by the time this airs, I will have taken a new, he hunts a lot.
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He's never shot his first buck.
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So hopefully I've got some great things to report when this post.
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But I took him out before season.
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He wanted to come out, help fill feeders and stuff, which I thought was ridiculous because we were leaving Friday.
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We were coming back home on Saturday.
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So that's 22 hours of driving in two days.
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And he wanted to do this.
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The kids 12 years old.
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And I took him out there, filled feeders, got everything ready.
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He saw where he's going to be hunting.
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He is completely jacked to go hunting.
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And I took him out.
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We set up a real quick range.
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And I had him shooting out to 500 yards.
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He's never shot anything over 100 yards.
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And he is, the kids hook now.
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And so hopefully you're exactly right.
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Hopefully we just continue to breed little successes like that to transform who is going to be the next generation of us.
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All right.
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Let's jump over to Matt and Idaho.
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Matt, final shots.
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What do you got for us?
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Honestly, just anybody, if you didn't come up hunting, maybe you're not a huge hunter, but you're curious at all.
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Like you said, take somebody new hunting, but like trying to embrace that.
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It's a huge part of this, this country's history is feeding ourselves off of the game that's here.
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And take granddad's old rifle or shotgun out in the woods.
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Get you some game meat and enjoy it with your family.
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Man, you just, you like, you hit on something that I hadn't initially processed.
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And I'm glad you did.
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Like maybe it's a new method that will rejuvenate your spirit in the outdoors, like taking your grandfather's rifle.
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Like that is, that is awesome.
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Like I think that's a great tip.
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That's probably one of the like better ones I didn't think about.
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So, but yeah, that's awesome.
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All right.
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We're going to jump over to Chris right now.
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Chris, your final shot.
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Let's hear it.
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All right.
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I've been thinking about this for a little bit.
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And quite honestly, I think that getting back into hunting for me was one of our favorite analogies.
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It was eaten the elephant.
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And you know what?
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You don't have to have everything you need to get back in hunting.
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You don't have to have it all at once.
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You don't have to have the best gun.
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You don't have to have the best clothes.
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Get the old clothes out.
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Get the old seat that you sat on in the woods forever.
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You can buy a new one next time.
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You go to Walmart or you can buy a better one.
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But it's it's eaten the elephant.
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It's just little bites at a time, you know?
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And just getting out there for even if it's just a portion of a day,
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you get a few hours out there with your old gear and your dirty old, you know,
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seat that you sat on in the woods.
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And and you know what?
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Those feelings come back because I started that when I was thinking about this,
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I thought, you know what?
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That's how I did it.
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And it really did.
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The feelings came back.
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The smells of the woods, the sounds of the woods.
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You know that little bit of tingle because you're all alone out there in the woods.
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And you get a little, you know, you get a little scared, especially in Louisiana.
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I mean, because there's stuff out there.
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So yeah, you know, get back out there.
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Don't think you got to do it all at once.
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Don't think it all has to be, you know, all A plus gear and and attitude.
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Just go out and and spook around.
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And when you start seeing the tracks and the scat and all that stuff,
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you remember why you loved it.
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That's yeah.
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I don't know where I can go from there because these guys covered all Mike, Matt and Chris,
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my final shot is this.
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I don't really think you've lost it.
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I don't think your, your spirit is gone.
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I just think you've got to find it.
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And whether it's taking someone new, trying a new method,
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the only way you're going to find that spirit of the hunt is just to get back out there.
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That's it for me and gun talk hunt.
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Folks, you know the drill.
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Keep those muscles pointed in a safe direction and always be on them.