Gathering Around the Hearth of Hunting and Holiday Cheer

Speaker 2: 0:21

Welcome back to Garden State Outdoors and Podcast presented by Boondocks Hunting. I'm your host, mike Nitro. I'm Andrew Fitzgerald.

Speaker 3: 0:29

I'm Justin Dillon.

Speaker 1: 0:33

We'll never get it right.

Speaker 2: 0:37

We will when there's too many of us. We could just never get it right. But, guys, this is going to be our Christmas special we got. I'm going to go over my unfortunate news. Wait, before we do that, justin, go a little closer with your hat, please.

Speaker 4: 0:57

I absolutely love it. My neighbor knitted it for me.

Speaker 2: 1:02

That is one of the best hats I've ever seen.

Speaker 4: 1:05

It's amazing and for the podcast listeners it's two moves having sex.

Speaker 2: 1:10

It's great.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Well, they're going to see this too, they're, you know? Remember, we got the whole. We'll make sure we clip this one. We'll clip this first part so everyone can see it. But welcome to our Christmas special.

Speaker 2: 1:23

We got some unfortunate news. We got some great news, you know, new people being added to die hard, just a whole bunch of things going on right now. So I guess I'll start. We'll start with the lowest of the low of boys. My Christmas has been ruined.

Speaker 2: 1:41

I have COVID and I am currently sitting in a hotel room, so I don't give my grandmother COVID. So Bianca and I are staying at a hotel. Bianca is the one that got COVID first and then gave it to me, and I was fine all week up until yesterday where I had a low grade temp fever. But really, the only thing that's really like been annoying me is just, as you can probably hear it, I just like just stuffy as hell. Yesterday was way worse and then, but besides that, I mean, you know, I think I was able to kill my first geese while I had COVID, so that's a positive. We killed a few more geese or one more geese goose the next day, which you know was an interesting hunt, but yeah, that that that hunt shouldn't have gone the way that it did, but it's a way she goes.

Speaker 2: 2:40

We saw a lot of birds Like I think we saw more birds that day than the first.

Speaker 4: 2:45

Yeah, yeah. But the birds that day, I mean, when we pulled up to the field they were we didn't notice that, like I got there before everyone, I was setting up all the decoys and by the time everyone got there and we were really getting ready to get into blind. I looked like over the hill and maybe like a quarter mile away in a different field, there was what three to 400 in the in that field already sitting there midday. So that didn't help. And then finally a farmer went and chased them and bumped them out and then they all flew. But then they were all just scattered and I mean that flock they didn't get any offer that were in that field.

Speaker 4: 3:17

The only flock that we got to come in was these ones that came from our far right like way far out, and I screamed on the call for no joke, it felt like 15 minutes for me, it was probably about five to 10, but just ripping on them, ripping on them, ripping on them. They went out of sight to our. They came all the way from our right, went out of sight to our left and then, as soon as they went out of sight, I kept ripping on it and then I kind of stopped. And then all of a sudden, here they come, what was it? Four or five pack over the over the left side, and then I just soft talked them right into the spread. It was good, but it was saying that was pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 3:52

Being with new to the whole waterfowl hunting thing and goose hunting especially, particularly since this is my first year targeting goose. You know, first of all, andrew was not even with us at this point. Andrew missed actually all of the action for the for the most part in the day and he was actually walking while we're letting up shots. But the cool thing and I never knew this was happening, justin explained it to me. So when they came in that first group, we shout at them and then they went to fly away and this one goose just literally just dropped, which got all the rest of the goose to fly back. At least what? Two or three more times.

Speaker 4: 4:32

Yeah, they just kept circling back at least twice. Yeah, you know, at some distance, not not super close, but enough to where you can try and poke at them.

Speaker 2: 4:40

Yeah. And then all of a sudden, next thing I know I looked behind me and Andrew's right by. He's like give me the gun, give me the gun. So like I'm handing the gun out, behind my freaking, my BB came off of the, the site, so then I was shooting kind of blind and everything like that. Like it was a great action packed. And then you know it slowed down and then it picked up and I think you know Justin will have to go more on it. You know later, when we talk about it, what we think went wrong with the you know our setup or with the trees or whatever the case is. But um, hey, good. But before I forget, because this is the most important thing of the, justin's dedication, our first hunt. Justin, you have to tell the story of what you experienced driving down and just your dedication to get Andrew and I on our first geese.

Speaker 4: 5:27

Well, so there was a sickness going around in my family for the past like week or so and I I didn't get it.

Speaker 4: 5:34

I mean I didn't feel sick and everybody just kind of had like flu symptoms, um, but I, I think it was a little bit in my head as well, but I woke up to go on Tuesday and I wasn't feeling great and the first thing I did when I woke up was try to eat as much as possible so I didn't have to go down and buy food down there and stuff like that. So I made a breakfast, a venison sausage sandwich and eggs and fruit and coffee and stuff my face as much as I could already not feeling great with that. Then I'm all ready to go. I'm going to Mono Parkway and I'm on the phone with Andrew. Oh well, before that I called Mike and I said hey, you know, I'm on my way, not feeling great, so we're going to see how this goes. Might just go down and take a nap and then we'll see. And so I'm going down and I'm on the phone with Andrew.

Speaker 4: 6:22

Then after that and I'm on the parkway and I just get that feeling from your stomach, you're just like Nope, nope, not good. And then didn't have a place to pull over and I'm driving and I just puke all over my lap, all in my lap, had a hold it in my lap. We pulled over on the side of the parkway, had to shed my layers, everybody was, I was brutal puke more on the side of the parkway. But then, after I puked, I felt fine, not fine. Not fine, I should say, but better. And then went home, through the clothes and the wash. Well, first, like, basically close them off, threw them in the wash, threw them in the dryer and was back on the road and there we went. And it wasn't the hunt that I wanted it to be, for that sake At least, but I mean it was. We got it done.

Speaker 2: 7:06

So yeah, no, it was, it was. And then I later found out that Bianca tested positive for COVID. So I'm like so you have Justin sitting here, andrew sitting here, I'm sitting here and literally just was like damn, I feel bad for Andrew, like he's in between two sick people, but you know Andrew being, you know the person he is, he didn't didn't really carry, so he doesn't get sick, so he had no worries about it at all. But like it was a, I still had fun, like it was. Like I said, it's a different change of pace and yeah, I definitely want to hear what Andrew has to say for it. You know, we finally got Andrew to do something else besides chase deer after he said he wasn't going to um and stuff like that. So I think he what done?

Speaker 4: 7:51

the last three hunts have been waterfowl hunts before, before he says anything, before he says anything, what I want to say is so he originally said oh no, I'm not going to like Turkey hunt now much I'm not going to like it. You know it's fun.

Speaker 2: 8:03

I'll go once or twice. He did say that.

Speaker 4: 8:05

He did he really addicted to it Then, um, maybe I'll go do something one time, maybe, yeah, maybe, if I shoot a deer. No deer went goosening, wanted to go back the day after and then went back on Saturday. So all I'm saying is that he could be convinced to do other things.

Speaker 2: 8:24

So I still think we haven't gotten to the push. I still think we haven't gotten to the funnest part yet. Like we're talking about, like it gets so much better than that, Like it gets so much more intense. I still think to me, honey ducks are so much better. I do like hunting geese because they do come in a little bit slower and it gets your time to get ready, especially if you're filming stuff. Like you get to get your camera stuff with ducks. You really like we don't really get that chance and I still think ducks are. Just it's so much better and a little more fun to hunt ducks than it is to hunt geese, especially because our limit is also a lot more with what does it as well.

Speaker 2: 9:04

But he's still yet to get into like the really really, really exciting stuff and I already feel like he's kind of starting to get hooked. Just like Justin said, he said the same. He was talking the same junk with turkeys too, and look how obsessed he got with turkeys. Like we couldn't get him to stop talking about turkeys. You couldn't.

Speaker 3: 9:25

And so, all right, a couple of things played into me going goose hunting. I kind of lost some target box. I was kind of at like a reset point or like a real low point where I had to just kind of change it up. I went Goose hunting because it was just at a point where it was just like, okay, I'm not, I'm not in the ballgame at any of my spots right now. I got to figure him out and go do something. So I I went goose hunting and it's definitely fun.

Speaker 3: 9:58

Like bow hunting is not fun. It's. It could be very miserable at times. Like shooting deer is great, but bow hunting itself is not fun. Goose hunting brings in the aspect of like being able to talk outside of the blind and kind of do whatever you want until you start seeing birds and then, and then you kind of get locked in. So for me and this probably isn't like Justin or Peyton or whatever you know, you guys who were die hard waterfowl guys, but for me there's no nothing upset, like I didn't shoot a goose the other day.

Speaker 3: 10:32

And for me that was that was, I had fun, Like I was in the woods, you know, with a gun, and I had pure, just fun, even when I got scum. So to me it's a good time. It doesn't have the intensity or even the close to intensity of a, of a white sail hunt for me, and it probably never will, but it's. It's fun. Like I could go sit there and, and you know, bust Justin's balls for three hours for fun, like, like I don't have to call him on the phone to do that, like I could make fun of him right there and it's which we all did.

Speaker 4: 11:04

I mean, we had a group of five yesterday and we were Tyler was there we were just outside the blind busting balls all day when it was quiet and it's so much fun. But I think that the and like you were saying about ducks, mike, and why you like ducks a lot more, it's a lot different when you're just a shooter in the blind or you're like the lead caller or like this, this setup guy and everything Cause like for me that brings so much more to it. Like that's why I love goose hunting because, like, where we're hunting a lot of times is a traffic field. So if you don't know a traffic is, it's like you're not on the X, meaning you're not where all the birds want to go feed. But with enough calling, convincing and decoys, you know you can. You can traffic them into your setup and being able to call them and manipulate them into doing things that they don't want to do is one of the most rewarding things ever and it's so much fun and that's really hard.

Speaker 4: 11:50

The intensity for me, like I love that, Like that's why you know you get a big enough fucking geese. Like I was explaining in the last one, you know I get buck fever just from it. Yeah, so it's different. It's different when you're in different positions in the group.

Speaker 2: 12:03

Yeah, and I will agree, I ducks and you know, hunting waterfowl hasn't gotten my heart rate close to what it is with deer. But I will say, when we that first hunt, after we finally got those geese to come in, the ones that we ended up shooting at, that was the like, probably the closest I've gotten to, because, first of all, it still takes a lot and you're, we're just seeing geese fly all over and like you knew it was happening. You just hear, andrew, can we shoot? Can we shoot? Can we shoot? Can we shoot? No, we like. I'm like, trust me, justin will literally say the word shoot Like, and for me it's easier because I've already experienced what it's like hunting with Justin.

Speaker 2: 12:47

I already knew, okay, the minute that these birds are in range or Justin thinks it's time to shoot, he's going to call it, we're going to get a pop. But I still my heart rate still like I did start getting that antsy feeling I really wanted to. My legs are tapping, you know the heart rate did start going up. So I definitely understand, with that many geese and how you felt that that one time where it's so loud, you hear the wings, you know they're just making so much like noise. I could see how it does Get your heart pumping and it is a huge adrenaline rush and calling and and you know when you're flagging them in and everything like that. Like that does probably add a whole nother realm, which I think this summer I'm going to learn how to call for geese. So you know, it just makes it a little easier. You said it's more important with with geese if I learn how to do that. So I think that's going to be one of the goals going into the off season.

Speaker 1: 13:43

Yeah, people underestimate how hard it is on geese, like Justin's saying, in those traffic fields I was thinking about this the other day it's like they're. They're stubborn, like they know where they want to go and to convince them to go anywhere else takes a lot of work. You know deep boys and calling and flagging like, let's say, you have to be perfect to get them to come into traffic fields like that. So I mean I can definitely understand. It was like once you start kind of participating in every aspect of it, it just it gets. It's a really different.

Speaker 3: 14:13

Like like hunting, hunting geese it it takes away which I, which I miss, like, for me at least, being a shooter, not a caller, not a decoy or not a none of those things. It takes away the personal feeling aspect, like like when I go, hang a trail camera for a white tail and I I put in the work, I I make the mock scrape, I hang the camera in the right spot, I see that right deer come in. I wait for the right wind, for the right day, I go in and you kill, you know, you you surgically remove that deer. With geese it's more like, it feels more like okay, now you got to manipulate him, like me and Tyler were talking about yesterday and he's he's kicked a ton of brush with me, fesan hot and stuff like that, and he was like I think I kind of like Fesan hot and better, because you got to kind of like hunt them down. You know, you got to like go, you have to go find them.

Speaker 3: 15:06

And I think that's like it's different with geese. With geese you're kind of just sitting and my first thought was like okay, so now you're really just sitting and waiting for them. Now it's more like it's pretty cool, like when you see them completely go in the opposite way and then all of a sudden Justin hits a certain call or whatever and you just kind of see him circle right back, like get real tight and just make a move real quick back, and or like when they're close and their heads are literally looking for, like the call that Justin's hitting or something Like it's, it's pretty wild, it's, it's, it's very different. It doesn't have that personal, almost like personal vendetta that you get with a white tail, but it's, it's definitely got its own. This is certainly in its own category of, of intense, I would say.

Speaker 1: 15:52

Yup.

Speaker 4: 15:53

Yup, 100%. And then that, that personal connection, then that changes when you're the one calling and making them move their head and then making that turn, yup, yup.

Speaker 3: 16:02

For now, still a diehard white tail hunter for now, but it's fun. It's fun, I'm thankful that you guys open up the doors for me with different things and doing different things, things that'll just never, never win my heart over like a white tail. But it's fun, it's a good time and I'm and I'm glad I I do it because you know you get to low points of the year like this and it's just like man, you know you're not having fun, so it's nice to go out and have some fun again. You know it brings you back when you like first started in, like that pure feeling of fun.

Speaker 2: 16:39

Definitely agreed. So before we dive more further in and then get into some Christmas talk and some other things that we were doing and stuff like that, while we get into introductions now, andrew, I'll let you lead, lead the way and give ourselves a introduction to the new guy. Team member for a diehard out course.

Speaker 3: 17:01

So I mean I can't say enough about this guy. I've been friends with him for probably upwards of 15 years and he doesn't hunt a ton, but man, he's one of the best fishermen I've ever met. I mean there's there's no one that he can't go toe to toe with on a child stream, in an ocean environment, on a lake, anything like that. I mean he's. When I think of some of the best fishermen I know and I'll and I'll experience, it's probably him and it's it's pretty funny to see that like, like, it's fun to see him come out hunting, because for hunting, hunting for him is like what I do for fishing, it's just fun, it's just you go out, it's amazing.

Speaker 3: 17:52

And now he's starting to get more and more into duck and waterfowl scene. But fishing is where he goes and you know, I think we we all agreed that. You know, maybe, maybe not just pure whitetails. He's always so much fun and seeing him do his thing on a, on a, with a vision post, pretty incredible. But this is my good friend Tyler. We've been friends for about, like I said, 15 years and he's going to be our newest member of the art. So what do you got to say? Any good?

Speaker 5: 18:24

We'll see, but we'll stop everybody. On Tyler, you know, like Andrew said, I've been friends with him for probably 15 years now. I mean it's funny, the way that we met was through fishing. You know we had a mutual friend back in when we were really young and we used to just go to like a pond locally. I mean we couldn't really go anywhere, we had no cars or anything. I mean we're probably grammar school age and you know I had a mutual friend come with me one day, brought Andrew. That's how I met him and you know I ended up fishing with Andrew the whole day talking, talking his ear off. He's telling me about stream fishing.

Speaker 5: 18:55

I was never really into stream fishing at that point because we were really young and from there kind of branched out, started stream fishing with him and his dad and you know, from there that took my heart. I mean just I like the aspect of. You know, trout fishing for me is kind of my number one thing, just because you have to same thing. It's more of like a track down. You have to find the right hole, you have to find the right water pattern in the stream. You know I've always liked that the most. I grew up lake fishing mostly. So you know I was big into bass fishing for a while but once I got to trout kind of took it over for me because I feel like the challenge is more rewarding at the end of the day because when you catch a five pound rainbow and you know, maybe like eight inches of water, it doesn't compare to, you know, just rolling on a lake on a boat and just tossing a lure in and catching a bass. The difference for me is that I mean lately so I live in South Jersey now, so I actually been getting more introduced to the coastal scene, a lot of striper fishing. I've been getting real digging this shark vision. I was talking to Justin about that yesterday. That's kind of my new challenge is finding the right spot in the beach where you know the sand bar isn't as bad, you get your bait out far enough and you hopefully get on to like a seven, eight foot shark would be great. But those are, you know, my new challenges now. But trout fishing is still my number one thing I love.

Speaker 5: 20:17

We go up to Roscoe, new York, every year. It's probably the best place around here in the East Coast that you can go find the right spots. It's probably the toughest conditions you can find up here without how shallow the water is, how it moves, where the right spot is. But yeah, for me I mean you know I love seeing Andrew in hunt season because you see the peak of his interest in what he's doing and you know what changes he needs to make and you know adjustments he needs.

Speaker 5: 20:41

And it's the same thing for me when I'm, when it's the fall, stocking for rainbows or whatever the case is in New Jersey, and I'm looking in the crisp weather, looking to see how the water is going to move, how high the water level is going to be, what spots are going to be where the holes are. So those are my challenges that I go over. But I've been just huge fisherman my whole life and that's kind of I would love to, and I'm very open. Andrew's always gotten me more and more into hunting in some aspects, and you know I'll never count myself out because there's still so much time to find a passion in that too. But you know, for me right now it's just trout fishing is just my number one and everything else falls behind it.

Speaker 4: 21:17

So yeah, and me and Andrew are talking about it. You know we wanted to add more diversity to die hard. And you know, now we have the water prowling, the turkey stuff that I do as well, and you know obviously deer hunt as well, but Andrew's definitely more obsessed with that. And now we got you know, I fish a lot as well, but now we got Tyler, who's all in with it. So the diversity in the page will be good in the future.

Speaker 3: 21:41

And actually Peyton had called me back in the summer and he was like hey, I'm, I know you fish Ross in New York. You know, can you, can you rattle off some spots to go to? And he actually got a little taste of what Roscoe looks like and I, you know I don't remember if we ever talked about how you made out that trip, but you know he was able to go up towards, like Bucketty and Motel and all those other you know famous spots. But that how did you make out when you went up there? Peyton just had a curiosity. I mean, it's been a long time I struck out.

Speaker 1: 22:13

I struck out entirely. So I don't know anything about trout. It's tough.

Speaker 1: 22:18

It's definitely tough. So yeah, I'm a bass fisherman like through and through and I guess like kind of after that, because I moved up to New Jersey and you know I don't have access to the boat anymore and it's kind of one of those things you need to kind of have if you're going to be. You know there's exactly exception to that fishing out of from shore, but you know, if you're really going to hit it hard, you kind of need a boat or kayak or something like that. So trout fishing something I see myself, you know trying to get into a little bit more, but that was kind of like my first like kind of heads up is like you actually are so far in, you know way less than you thought you knew. It's just like witches, I zero.

Speaker 3: 23:02

So and that's a tough place to learn to. That's not an easy place to learn.

Speaker 1: 23:08

You know, yeah, it's like I was just waiting just in old shoes and just with spinning rod and there's all these guys and probably $1000 waiters and $1000 fly poles and I'm just waiting in 50 degree water and shorts and old converse. So I definitely got some some funny looks but didn't catch any fish. But it was just kind of a pit stop on the way that I convinced my girlfriend to stop for and.

Speaker 3: 23:33

But it was cool and I definitely want to go back and definitely sparked my interest in going down the creek fishing stream fishing rather old I'd say we've been doing that trip, the Roscoe trip, for like the last eight to 10 years we were counting yesterday eight to 10 years we've been doing that for, and there was times that we go up for like two days because that's all we could do, or there's times that we went up for, you know, two weeks at a time, like, and we know like there's just so much. And what makes it so nice up there is that New Jersey, like you have to, you don't have to, there's always that chance, but you kind of have to fish where they stock, because that's just how it is here up there there's just such a large number of native trout up there where you just kind of go and just walk and you know find what's nice and what looks good, and you know it's the enjoyable part of trout fishing, where you can just kind of walk in any direction and kind of be in the game.

Speaker 1: 24:29

And I just love north man and it's like we, so we do. We do a similar annual trip for small mouth but then we'll catch the musky in there. But it just seems like you know the natives, that there's more places to fish and get less pressure and they just seem more aggressive up there and it's just, and they're always. I love it up there and upstate New York.

Speaker 3: 24:53

Our, our natives up there. We tend to see that they're not as bigger. Right, they're not usually as big, but they're definitely better looking they're definitely not as big.

Speaker 5: 25:02

They fight a lot harder. Their biting patterns are way more natural than the stock you would be. I mean, you could see you throw like one lure in a New Jersey where you throw a silver, gold, anything spinner spoon and you know anything's over there, they're just going to hit it because they haven't eaten since they've been stocked. But you up in New York they have. You know, that's where the fly game really comes in, where you know most of those guys. You'll be next to a fly fisherman with spinning gear and they're picking them off one and one and one. They're going to holes the size of the fish and they're like you're living room, like countertop, and they're just pulling fish out left and right and you know, yeah, there's no, there's no power bait up there.

Speaker 3: 25:39

They laugh at that a lot of the time. And that's what's funny, because I don't really change a joke about, but I'll see, I'll see Tyler change in every like five cast.

Speaker 3: 25:50

It's like an every five cast type of deal and he'll just change and change and once you find what works, it I mean it works. And it's so funny because my whole life in my life in New York and you can be analytical with his white tail hunting like you can't. You can't strategize for turkey, you can't strategize for geese, can't strategize for for trow fish in or any of that. And then now it's opening up my eyes to see like I've been friends with them for 15 years and it took me up until like the last five to realize he takes a different mindset to a stream, justin takes a different mindset to go chase birds, it's, it's, you know, there's, there's different things and it's and it's a good time.

Speaker 3: 26:25

And To watch and work a stream or to go out and fish in the ocean and stuff like that, it's, it's pretty, it's pretty cool to say so. I mean I still know one day I'll convert him to Did just a hunter and hope, forget about all that, that fish and shit. But he'll. Until then, that that's what you'll see from Tyler. But you did, you did come goose hunting yesterday. What do you think about that. I mean you pheasant hunted with us in the past, but you yeah, I mean I was.

Speaker 5: 26:55

It was cool. It was cool to be there makes cool to shoot the film. It's cool to see it from behind the blind. You know it's a different perspective where you're getting the behind the scenes of everything you're hearing just to make all the calls. You're you're seeing the. You're seeing the geese get off, turn around and fly in from whatever the angle is that? Maybe they can't see from the blind because you know you got to keep your head down the whole time and wait for you know Justin's called to shoot. But it was cool to say I mean I've been.

Speaker 5: 27:19

I've been duck hunting before a lot of my buddies down South Jersey. You're real big on that. I mean we have the whole coastal scene down there. You know I live, live on an island to work on an island, so I got a lot of behind the scenes with duck hunters down by me. I've been out on. Takahoe River is a big spot down by me and you know my, my buddies really big on ducks. So he'll, he'll take his kayak out. He has a million decoys as well. He'll set up his electronic ones in the water and you know you get to just post up in a bush and same thing make the calls and see if they'll pop in. But and I was real close to see behind the scenes- Yep, and we had a.

Speaker 4: 27:56

We had an interesting day yesterday. We started off. The first spot that we were was we had an amazing hide, like everything was perfect, and that's why we went there, because I just was so confident in the hide and with the, we didn't have a lot of wind yesterday. So when there's no wind, geese will sometimes just circle and, circle and circle and just look until they find something that they don't like and then leave not something that they do like and land almost. And so the spot we had at the start was great, but they just didn't want to land that close to the structure that we were next to, and so it was pretty frustrating in the early part in the morning and you know, we shot some right away and then we had probably at least Five to eight different groups work us and just not do it, and then after that I was like alright, we can't, we can't keep doing this. So finally, around like ten o'clock we made it move and we moved down more into the center of the field, away from the structure, more in the open, and it made the hide worse I mean, we're in an A-frame so, even though it's totally brushed, and I'm so OCD about how much it's brushing. You can't see any of the actual blind, only the cover, and but still it's a big bush in the middle of a wide open bean field and, surprisingly, they just liked it so much more. I mean, we we weren't even fully set up and we had a flock come in and do it right away. And so I think if we would have, if we would have been there from the start, we probably would have been limited real quick. But yeah, it was a good day.

Speaker 4: 29:17

It was a good day for for Tyler to see definitely a lot of action and you good. And it made it a little bit frustrating when, when we had three come in, there was like two there was it like a two-pack and a single and like the single was just a little bit higher than the two-pack but they looked so committed and they were coming in and the two pack goes to land one time and we like could have shot them, but then the single was locked up like 50 feet in the air above them. So I was like just wait. And then of course, they just picked up and left when we could have shot them and I was so aggravated and we watch them and there was a group probably a quarter mile away from us in a different field and, sure enough, we watch these geese fly over, locked up, cupped up and we're calling everyone in the blinds. I count down with like five, four, three, two, one, boom, boom, boom. None of them got up and that was real frustrating, but yeah.

Speaker 3: 30:09

I just didn't want him to shoot his first time, that's all you know, yeah, yeah, no, I wanted more for myself, so it was an interesting day with with interesting people too. I mean, that's yeah.

Speaker 4: 30:22

Yeah, we had a goofy crew and it definitely makes it makes it funny and more interesting, but it was good.

Speaker 2: 30:29

Yeah, and don't mind me guys, I am actually just finishing up our top 23 Listener votes and just getting them in. I'm pretty sure I have all them done by now. But before we get on to the Christmas talk, peyton, any update from you. I know you went out waterfowl hunting the other day. You're back home in Maryland. Hopefully we'll be back on the deer grind at some point once you get home. But you know it's a nice break and some time to Charelish and some waterfowl hunting and hopefully we'll get out and do some some more bird hunting. Do when you go back.

Speaker 1: 31:04

Yeah, yes, I actually been out much. I think the last time I went aside from yesterday was the last time that Mike and I went during New Jersey gun season during six day Basing with other stuff, and it felt good yesterday to get back out and I'm already Looking to kind of hit back some of that public piece that we were talking about trying to check that box of kill that deer. I'm public in this one really cool piece. I love it, marilyn.

Speaker 1: 31:31

But yeah, so when I'll see duck hunting yesterday, like I always say, like I grew up kind of duck hunting before everything else, my dad huge, and his best friend, or just die hard waterfowl guys, you know Year, just every year, is this new piece of gear and lay out boats. You know Making decoys in his garage. You know making. You know for body boob making this. You know making this wand, making the V boards. It's just that's what they love.

Speaker 1: 32:01

You know my garage is I don't know how my mother puts up with it, but my garage is turned into a Waterfall workshop and you know he, he lives in his truck, it doesn't fit in it anymore and his side so it's just shells and water fell here so we went out see ducking in the in the just be pay yesterday and I'm in layout boat, so just put out long lines and diver deep boys and it's funny. I watched. I don't know if anybody's familiar with Luke McFad and he's in big Instagram guy from Maryland and he did one of those. It's kind of like a tick tock trend there's like we're diver hunters.

Speaker 1: 32:42

No so, and that's. I watched it in the next, and after I finished prepping the boat to go the next morning, it was like all our decoys are in trash cans.

Speaker 1: 32:51

They are all long lines and they are all my dad painted in the blue bills. It's a different world, which you know. You know, you really, you don't really get to see. The country doesn't get to see, unless you have like a big radio. He's got like a boat that he bought just for this.

Speaker 1: 33:16

Yeah, you, just, you put out, you know, canvas back decoys on long lines or V boards and then you put big swan decoys because your spread divers only fly like this far off the water.

Speaker 1: 33:28

Now your scooters, your long tail duck, your bubble heads, Some blue bills, some canvas we didn't shot canvas backs there, that's more of a flat but some red heads but they fly this far off the water. So you have to put this one decoys out. It's just like a big white flag that they can see and then they can come in and they can start to see some of the little decoys, because they disappeared and bob in the waves and we got set up a little later than I think everybody would have wanted. But you know, we're setting up, we're putting out the last string along lines and there's scooters with their feet down, landing in the decoys and getting back up just with the boat 50 yards away, still running. So they wanted in hard before the sun came up and you know it's great flying just coming in all throughout the morning until like 11 o'clock we're shooting as shooting ducks and see duck on hard. I mean it is hard shooting.

Speaker 1: 34:27

you're sitting in a lay out boat up and down bob and up and down and you got to lay flat and then you got to sit up and shoot All their bail. It's not a lot of getting pumped up. I shot a, I doubled up Men, a Drake in a hand and I, you know, took those down. They were pumped up, they had their feet down. But 90% of your shots there You're shooting it, they are just your passion and they're coming miles an hour by you and every time you shoot the boat it is hard, it is humbling. I always thought it was a good shot and then you know I shot and missed it. Probably if I was shooting well or if I was shooting great because I think I shot well and I think the best shots still would get embarrassed out there. You know, just shot probably three boxes show. Yeah, I mean, it's tough when it's tough, when the birds are moving real fast and you're moving.

Speaker 4: 35:31

Yeah, that's the thing when you're moving.

Speaker 3: 35:34

It's like imagine running and shooting a goose like yeah, so don't worry, I know, peyton, you, aside from the duck, I kind of forgot about this. I went into the podcast making sure I wanted to bring this up and I forgot about it before.

Speaker 3: 35:49

But Funny enough last year yeah, last year. I mean Tyler, he's, he's my go to guy when I need help in the woods, like, and I need to move cameras and stuff, and he'll never complain. He never gives me any, any problems. He always he up and down the mountains in the New Jersey spots and this and that no problem. And so one day I told them I was like I need you, I need your help, I need to make a mock scrape here and I need to go adjust the camera and I need to go do this. This was last year and you know I got to do this, so we get done setting up the spot. And I was like, yeah, I'm gonna this year is going to be dead by this weekend. He's a gay think. So I say as a, he'll be dead.

Speaker 3: 36:33

Two days later, peyton, you shot that six pointer. You shot that buck that I was, I was rolling in on and he knows what, if I show him and I remind him which one, he would know exactly which one I'm talking about. It was a tall six pointer. And then you went in there to go adjust the camera and go set up a spot. And I don't know if that podcast came out this year or not, but that's my favorite boondock podcast because that was just, it was just funny how that, how that, all that went down. But yeah, so when you, when we went to go adjust that camera and that mock script that day we were after the buck that got killed two days later by Peyton. I had no idea who he was yet, no idea who I was yet we didn't know each other yet.

Speaker 1: 37:19

So it was pretty funny dangerous target. I was like it was.

Speaker 3: 37:24

It was just funny. I, I, that was a good time. I know I got a picture of him somewhere right here, that that tall mainframe six, and he ended up killing him two days later. So I remember that and it's just funny now because you didn't know me, I didn't know you. Tyler was there, he was a part of that and it was just you know within 48 hours that the end of time. It was pretty funny.

Speaker 2: 37:53

So yeah, and I do remember that I do. That was last year's episode. Peyton joined boondocks on a lot last year, right, it's been over a year now, has it? Or was it this year? No, it's been over.

Speaker 1: 38:08

No spring. Yeah, I think it was spring. I joined around Turkey season.

Speaker 2: 38:12

So then, so then, maybe maybe it was, it was.

Speaker 1: 38:16

February. We did that podcast. It was ready almost a year ago because I didn't start my page until January of last year.

Speaker 2: 38:24

Okay, all right, anything else, boys, before we get to some Christmas talk and a little holiday cheer, and then we'll, we'll call it so our 2023 wrap up where? Literally next next week.

Speaker 3: 38:40

Well, I think that wraps up. I think.

Speaker 5: 38:42

I'm going to you guys, go deer hunting.

Speaker 3: 38:44

You guys gonna be deer hunting much I mean yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:49

There's no way I'm going and if one year was up on.

Speaker 4: 38:52

If one or two deer show up in daylight, then I will, if not, no.

Speaker 3: 38:57

I got my wife's been. My wife wants a certain one bad and the worst way. He's been gone for a little while. We kind of thought he might have he might have took a dirt nap, but he actually just showed up the other day and the day that we were supposed to hunt the afternoon. He showed up that afternoon but we decided to not go because he hasn't shown face and I don't know how long. And he showed up two days ago four o'clock broad daylight. So that was just a real, a real fun, fun site to see. So she's getting real worked up over him. Good buck, we call him kickers. I don't know, maybe I just want you to take 120 inch main frame, eight point. I think he's got nine points.

Speaker 2: 39:42

So with a kicker, Now I have a question for you know, because this is exactly what we talked about, you know, in years prior. Do you think that you should have her stuck on just one buck, or do you think you need to get her just going out and just to kill anything?

Speaker 2: 40:00

This is what we've had this conversation multiple times. Right, and I get it. I definitely, because Justin, look at Justin, you know you can compare it to, for Justin, it's identical hunting, hunting careers, you know? I mean, do you, do you want to? Are you still trying to be like hey, listen, I know you want to put like, or are you just at this point, just like I, we're going to target this one specific buck, like, let's just go kill this one specific buck.

Speaker 3: 40:25

So start of the year I didn't want to do that. It's the same way I would take in anyone under my belt, like like one day he's going to go to your home and I'm going to tell him listen, target rich environment. Like don't do what I do, don't look at just one day, there's a lot of deer in the woods, there's a lot of fishing to see. Like don't just target one. But I think I think it's definitely partial my fault. I'm not a great lead by example kind of guy because I do it myself where I get locked in on a deer.

Speaker 4: 40:57

I got one boys, so it was great. Merry Christmas to everybody.

Speaker 2: 41:00

Just a Merry Christmas Merry.

Speaker 4: 41:02

Christmas to you guys soon.

Speaker 3: 41:04

Yeah, I'll see you later, Bob, but um, no, I don't need great by example and that's my biggest flaws that I don't I, I I tried to tell her this year, going into this year, I want you to feel a little bit more open minded and this and that, but um, you know she's got me and my father as as the guys that lead by example and those are the two words guys. I mean, I've watched my father pass up the year that he's bigger, 1520 inches bigger than his target buck, but nope, it's his target like he's got to go after that one single deer. You know you build a relation with that deer and the everything else. So that's kind of the rope that she's on and you know I hate it and I love it for her because she is going to make a career way harder for herself than it has to be. It is going to get hard.

Speaker 1: 41:54

I mean, I guess would you give someone because I've kind of come into this where I'm taking people that haven't hunted before and getting started interested in hunting like what would be your biggest piece of advice to someone, not necessarily something getting in hunting, but somebody taking someone new to hunting so that you think that they can start in a way that would be the most to hook them, to get them hooked, you know, to get that person that they're taking, to get them hooked on deer hunt.

Speaker 3: 42:19

So I would say I don't know, I guess my piece of advice to get someone into it, like I get them hooked on, either help. Is that what you said?

Speaker 1: 42:27

you were a little bit low, but getting hooked into like taking them, or I mean somebody taking somebody deer hunting for the first time, right, so like I'm taking my buddies never hunted before, like what would be the piece of advice you would give to me to get that person that I'm taking as interested as possible, without, I guess, necessarily going down the road? Is just like it's all about. Like one particular deer or you know, be patient, they're going to have a rewarding career.

Speaker 3: 42:55

Patience. It would be, mine, it would be. You got to be patient. And even when you're moving around and I don't mean patient in the sense of, like sitting down and just sitting there I mean patient for both people, like for the hunter to not get too aggravated when it doesn't go their way because it's not going to go their way. I promise you it's not the best of the best, it doesn't go their way, like it's just, you know, quote unquote, pro hunters like it still doesn't go their way. And for someone teaching someone else, there's something that you're just not going to account for, like you're going to make mistakes, you're going to pick the wrong spot, you're going to pick the wrong day or get in a little later a little early and you're going to mess up too.

Speaker 3: 43:37

So everyone's got to be patient with each other. I'd say I said that's a really big one and keep it fun, like First year. Thinking about Tiffany was hard for me because you know she never hunted before, you know, two years ago. So when I would first take her out and she'd make a mistake I'd be like come on, like how didn't you do that? And in my mind it's like I've been doing it my entire life. How did you pick that up? And in her eyes it's like why this is my second hunt.

Speaker 3: 44:02

Like so, for it was a lot of adjusting and then there was a lot of moments where I had to stand back and be okay, I'm not talking to my brother, I'm not talking to you know my father. You know I'm talking to someone that is so brand new and with Tiffany that was a new thing for me, like Bringing on someone brand new. So it was a lot of adjusting and understanding. Like they don't know you have to teach them and you got to be patient and you got to be willing to go out and go mess up a ton of hunts before it, before it happens your way. And I think that's like with anything. I mean you got to be patient with someone new, that's for sure. And now I mean she's different.

Speaker 3: 44:42

Now she, she learned quick. I mean we're in the woods all the time, so now I make her, I make her walk in, you know, take lead, I make her point out the deer sign and she still misses a lot. Of course. You know you got to be in the woods for years. At that point it's now it's just an experience and you just got to keep doing it to gain it.

Speaker 3: 45:04

But I mean she picks up on a lot of things that I see and I think guys have been hunting for years miss, you know. So she, she's definitely got an eye for it and unfortunately that's what scares me a little bit, because I don't know if a world can keep. I don't know if a world can take another person to just pick out one single deer and go nuts over like I do. But she's going to do it and Now that that's her dear, it's that are a bust, and she's got a couple other bigger ones on camera that she wants no part of. She wants that one deer or or nothing. So we're gonna, we're gonna say it's a great year, though it's a really it's like that next level deer for.

Speaker 2: 45:44

And I really, you know, to go off of that, like I kind of honestly with with Bianca, I've gone in the way of from the minute we got together I told her, if you are going to get into hunting your first year, I want to shoot whatever walks by. And I tell her every single day, she has her own camera, here's her own spot, here's her own deer. She has. Honestly, she had the best rut spot I could. I had no idea I was giving her such a good rut spot that like it kind of broke my heart a little bit. But I refuse to go hunt her spot because it's it's her spot, right, there'd be big bucks walking. Listen, I don't, I don't even. I told her I don't care. This is, if you shoot them, great. If you shoot this, the spike Push, shooting whatever.

Speaker 2: 46:41

And then I do, like what would Andrew said it is, you know, be patient, but also not only be patient, but their their own pace. I don't push Bianca. I don't tell her to go out. I don't tell her she needs to do this, need to do that. I'm not a ground blind hunter. I hunt. 99.9% of the time I'm up in a tree stand or I'm in a saddle, but she's not comfortable with that, so I don't push it on her because I don't want her to be uncomfortable, so things like that. But I know Andrew and Tyler they got to get going, so boys.

Speaker 3: 47:24

We're going to be getting into a tune where there's there's more common. We just gotta get past the holiday here and we're going to be back out in the woods. So, jason White tails, I, I hope, I hope to see a couple more dead bucks down from everyone and and then we're strolling into Turkey season. Right, I mean, that's only a couple months away, right?

Speaker 2: 47:48

That's yeah Not far.

Speaker 3: 47:50

I'm not even.

Speaker 2: 47:51

I'm not even worrying about Turkey.

Speaker 3: 47:53

Merry Christmas guys. You guys have a Merry Christmas. Talk to you fellas later.

Speaker 2: 48:01

But you know, kind of what else I don't. I don't push her, I don't, you know, I just get her. She refuses to use the crossbow, and that's not me telling her not to use a crossbow. She has her mindset on using compound. But I have gotten her to. I said, hey, listen, I'm going to read, I'm going to get our crossbow restruct because I have one, just in case I would like you to use that for bear season, make sure you know. And she said, ok, but she will not use it for dear. She's this great shot, great shot. But I just don't know if her poundage is high enough, and it probably is. But like I still don't feel comfortable 40, something like in the 40s, and I, every off season I crank it up higher. So maybe, you know, hopefully she'll be at 50, but still, you know, I just I feel more comfortable. She used the crossbow for for bear or something like that. But she has her mindset and her goals and I just don't push her.

Speaker 2: 49:01

I say, hey, you want to go out? If she says yes, then we go. If she says no, you know she's busy. She didn't grow up in this world. She's got her own job and her own stuff so like it makes it difficult. But you know, just don't push. You know try to make it as fun as possible and do Don't put them in uncomfortable positions. You know, like, if you're afraid of heights, that's something you got to work on in the off season. You know, if you know they don't want to be alone, you got to make sure you're with them. You know, and stuff like that. And just you know things like that. That's definitely my advice.

Speaker 1: 49:34

Yeah, no, that's good advice, I definitely think it. But I think it's also person dependent, right, I have a buddy that's gotten into hunting in his first home list are getting in Virginia and I think he was interested in it is hard to shift aspect of it, right. So I did, you know, drag him up a mountain. You know, every day before three days. You know, we did hit really hard and I think he was, I think he liked that. But then there's definitely some people where it's like you kind of got to give them the softball, you got to give them the T-ball version of running fresh. You know, there are some people that are like and this might be people that you and there are some people that are interested in it because it's hard, because they want to do hard things, and then there's other people that are just kind of curious that will get there, but they just kind of need that T-ball first. They need T-ball hunting first.

Speaker 1: 50:42

And I think that you mentioned crossbows and I think that's a great way to get somebody into hunting, especially somebody that might be that's not familiar with guns. You know, I've taken this for granted, brian. First time I shot it I was in kindergarten, so I just drawn up with him. So I think if we're granted it's like the loud noises and the recoil are creating, that doesn't really faze me. But if you've never grown up with something, you know it is, I can unsympathize with how it's being really intimidating. Yeah, it's an explosion. You're holding your hand, but crossbow, you know it is easy. It's not as easy, but it is easy to kill a deer with a crossbow. You know it is like a gun For the most part. You know you put the pin on, you pull the trigger. So it's a great tool. It's not loud, it's not scary, so I think it's a great tool as well. It should be utilized for really early hunting, and if you could get the key into your own bow.

Speaker 2: 51:45

Yeah, I agree, you know I'm not a crossbow advocate, but I get it Whatever it has its purpose, whatever it needs to be, but I'm somebody and I will say this on every podcast. I don't know, I will tell you to your face. I believe, like you said, beginners, you're new, you can't. There's a reason why you can't shoot a compound bow. But there's also a point as a hunter and you know this may be me, but if you've been using crossbow in your 18, 19, 20, 20, and now you've already got some experience why not switch to that compound? You know what I mean and I get it. There's also people that may not have the time and you know they do it for me to read.

Speaker 2: 52:27

Yeah, there's so many different, but I do want to see people getting away a little bit from those crossbows and moving into a compound bow or New Jersey I know it never happened because too many deer are shot with a crossbow but, like crossbow, have its own season, kind of with like the gun season, or you know it could be a little longer. Just, you know they should make early season like the start of early season. They should make that bow hunting like compound and recurve. Only you know, and then October 1st, when the rest of the state opens up, then you can make that, that, like that could be the crossbow, like, hey, now, now you can use crossbows, like I just think, because crossbows are so much like a gun. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 53:15

Also people that can't the cancel a bow back, I 100 percent.

Speaker 2: 53:20

Then you get the doctor's order, but still it's still the same thing, because it's like hey, you know what, there's still people that can't hunt just because they're not in the correct zone and they still have to wait till October 1st.

Speaker 2: 53:33

Anyway, I'm not saying that, you know at least. At least this is still like hey, we're still using the crossbows, but give me the people that are using compounds and recurves a little extra time to hunt before. You know, I just like I don't, I don't mind if someone ever shoots my target buck, I really don't. But I do feel a little like if it's somebody with a crossbow or a gun, if it's another person that shoots with a compound or a curve, like I've not, I'm like, ok, damn, like, I just have this thing, like I just I'm just so and against them, and it may, this may tickle people the wrong way or anything like that. I think whatever needs to get you into that outdoors I can. I backed it up 100 percent. But at some point there has to be made an adjustment to moving to a compound unless there's a medical reason or something like that.

Speaker 1: 54:24

I can see that you being like a diehard compound bow guy, yeah, I can see why you would think that or why you would feel that way. I'm kind of. I like I'm a bow hunter and I want to shoot you with my bow, but I also like home with everything and that's kind of something that I've wrestled with this year during gun season. But I just think you know I like to participate in every season and that's kind of how I grew up. You know we would hunt bows and crossbows. I guess grown up I shot my first year with a crossbow and and then in college, when I didn't have time to really practice with my compound bow and I could only come home and hunt Thanksgiving, I'd shoot deer with a crossbow. You know, even though I'd hunted for five years but I just didn't. I had my bow. I couldn't ethically shoot a deer with a bow. I hadn't been practicing for three months, it wouldn't have been right. But then, now that I have the time it's so time demanding also that you know especially somebody like me who doesn't live near range like I can't shoot my bow in Jersey City. So I I'm committed and I'll drive an hour to the closest archery range Pretty frequently.

Speaker 1: 55:43

But I can also sympathize. It's like I work five days a week, I'm on shift work, I'm working constantly. I get very limited time to get out in the woods. I don't have a place to shoot a bow. You know I can also sympathize there. It's like quite it could. You know, I can only get out. I don't have time to practice all the time, so crossbow is the only way to get out in the woods, especially to stay like New Jersey. It's like you, if you're only going to hunt with a gun, you can't hunt until December. So I mean, personally, I see a lot of people ragging on crossbows online and I just feel like it's just not. Leave the Instagram comment, keep it right, that down. I mean somebody's picture out of deer with a crossbow and rip them, you know. But I definitely also understand my point. There are people that are just lazy.

Speaker 1: 56:35

It's like they have they live on an island. It's like they have they live on an acre. They there's nothing wrong with their shoulders, you know, and I would. My buddy is like he shoots a crossbow. He had major shoulder surgery. He can't pull a bow, can't barely shoot a shotgun against his shoulder. But you know, there are definitely people that like there's no reason you shouldn't be shooting a compound bow, like you. Just don't do hard things.

Speaker 2: 57:04

But you know, that's, that's.

Speaker 1: 57:06

That makes it so hard.

Speaker 2: 57:09

Yeah, and that's the one difference. Like, I'm not going to ever rag on somebody on Instagram or social media or anything like that. Like, if you that's what you use, I'm always going to congratulate you. Like, the problem is, when you people do say it on social media, make somebody feel bad about themselves. Like, listen, if that's what you're doing, that's what you're doing. The coolest thing about having this podcast and having this platform is I just you know we get to speak our mind and our truth and listen. I just think that there should be maybe a little something to be done there. It's very situational. You know, every situation is different and I 100% understand that, and you know, I agree with that as well. But it's more for the people who just are lazy about it and just don't want to do it, yeah, yeah, and that's kind of ruined it for everybody else.

Speaker 2: 57:59

So you know, but besides that, like I have what you're talking about, I've New York, new York. I know, I know, I know 100%. New York has a separate like bow and crossbow crossbow. Let me look it up right now. But when I last time I hunted in New York they did.

Speaker 1: 58:19

That's interesting. Yeah, I mean you said, if it's like a couple of weeks different, just give the people that are only shooting compound bows, or maybe the people with medical exemption, a couple of extra days, a couple of extra weeks. When the seasons I worked with them for all of October, all of November, all of December, all of January what 20 weeks Almost. So I mean taking three here just for archery in early September. I can get down with.

Speaker 2: 58:54

Okay so, and someone can correct us if I'm wrong on this All right, so let's see so. Deer hunting season hunters using recross mode during the last 10 days of the early bow season in the northern zone are not subject to an antler deer only requirement of the early muzzle loader season. Okay, that's not All right. In the northern zone they have early bow hunting all WM use September 27th to October 20th. Then they have a crossbow season October 11th to October 20th, and then they have a regular season October 21st to December 3rd and then a late bow hunting which is December 4th to December 10th, and then for the southern they kind of got the same thing early bow hunting season October 1st to November 17th and then a crossbow not in WM use, bj or eight C November 4th to November 17th, and then a regular and late bow hunting, kind of the same thing. So it seems like there is a little a little different. Yeah, yeah, so northern zone and regular I guess bow hunting is just bow hunting and then they have a crossbow time. So like a northern zone you can bow hunt September 27th through October 20th, december 4th to December 10th, then for crossbow it's October 11th to October 20th Regular season, I guess maybe is both October 21st and December 3rd, and then muzzle loader is so like. It seems like they do have their own different like thing.

Speaker 2: 1:00:34

But if anyone out there listening from up the state New York and they 100% know the answer, please let us know so you know we're giving out the correct information. But before we get going, it is Christmas time. Payton, what are your top five Christmas movies?

Speaker 1: 1:00:51

I'll find the Christmas movie. I'm being home alone. Guy, the first one, I'll be the first one alone, I would say. I like national anthem.

Speaker 2: 1:01:08

I think we got this yes, yes, yep, there you go, yeah, top five.

Speaker 1: 1:01:18

I love those old cartoons, like when I was a little Santa, the year without Santa Claus, yeah, rudolph Great, and then die hard. I considered that.

Speaker 2: 1:01:29

So I was going to add, so that was going to be do you consider a die order? Okay, that's it. That's a good list. I mean I'm going to have to go kind of like. So obviously national and probably my top one for Christmas is with Vince Vaughn. I'm a huge fan of that. Obviously, you can't never go wrong with home alone, or home alone too. Then the OG Grinch movie, like the original, not the cartoon, the Grinch with Jim Carrey, that is a good one. And then you know what? I hated it as a little kid. You know, man, this is hard. So it's either between Santa Claus Santa Claus movies, yep or a Christmas story. Christmas story is such a classic and I like I said I didn't like it as a kid, but now like it's always on, so I always watched it. Oh, it's on 24 seven.

Speaker 1: 1:02:34

I think on Christmas 24, seven. I didn't like it as a kid either, because my family would just turn it on. Yeah, I've seen this five times today. I'm sick of it. Let's turn something.

Speaker 2: 1:02:46

You know. But you remember those classic when he puts his tongue to the pole and freezes and I remember, I'm pretty sure we tried that as a kid. And then you know shooting the eye out with the BB gun, you know, those are like, two of the iconic like. And then the soap when he gets his mouth washed out with the soap, but that's a classic and, yeah, die hard, you got to, you got to give it to die hard. It is a, it is a Christmas movie. I wonder how many people agree with us what you know. Are you a Christmas shopper, like, do you do it early or last minute?

Speaker 1: 1:03:22

So I I come in like it goes in ways where I buy like I think I'm being good and I'll buy most of it, like Black Friday, cyber Monday or maybe even before then, and then like I'll just like, oh, I'm mostly done, and then I'll do the second half, like two days before I have to go get something after this, after he's done here on Christmas Eve, and it's good. And then I procrastinate like the second half until like the 20th, and then I'm like, oh shit, I don't have it.

Speaker 1: 1:03:55

I mean it was just, I was terrible. I was always like two weeks, like a week before.

Speaker 2: 1:04:01

Amazon doesn't help to like knowing that you can get presents in like two days. Amazon definitely has kind of made it worse.

Speaker 1: 1:04:08

I problem is like oh, I just know that, and then, I'll do it and there'll be like it'll be the 23rd and like, oh, it's not going to be Christmas at 9 pm, yeah, but what the hell.

Speaker 2: 1:04:21

I'm the. I'm the same with you like I've gotten some done. Early this year I got. We got derailed with with COVID so we didn't get to finish our Christmas shopping. But what is your favorite family tradition from your childhood? You got a family tradition for.

Speaker 1: 1:04:42

Christmas. Yeah, so this isn't a Christmas one, but we think it was on everything Thanksgiving morning, which was awesome, but I feel like it's worth noting in this kind of podcast kind of theme. But we used to do oysters, to get real oysters on Christmas and sometimes we still do, which I love and we would just leave them out in the garage. It was cold enough. You can just leave them out all day and you just go out in the garage and shock a couple oysters and have a really good one, which I love.

Speaker 2: 1:05:15

Yeah, yeah, now I get that. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool and I don't think I really have a tradition is just like you know, christmas Eve, family over eating tons of food, opening presents, like I think we are supposed to bring in the ugly sweaters and make that a family tradition with Bianca and I, but of course, this year when we get ugly sweaters we cannot be with the family, so, but besides that, yeah, no, I can't really can't really think of anything else. Christmas Eve is our big thing where European and stuff like that, so we celebrate Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is just kind of like a laundry around just chilling. But, yeah, what do you remember? What's the coolest gift you ever gotten for Christmas?

Speaker 1: 1:06:07

I got my first bow for Christmas. Well, actually I got my first car for Christmas too. I think 2008 Ford Explorer was 155,000 miles on it for Christmas one year. I drove the shit out of that thing. You got it stuck in fields, you know, drove it hunting, you know. It seemed, you know, had the carpet all blood up and to wash it out in the back. But yeah, first I got the Christmas. But I also got the bow that I shot that buck with last year for Christmas. You know my dad originally bought it was a funny story he originally bought me a Savage 220, 20 days slow gun that I shot the buck with earlier this year and he liked it too much so he had to keep that for himself and go buy it and buy a compound bow.

Speaker 1: 1:07:00

That's too funny I mean, I had to be open that to. He's like this one's mine, but it was almost yours, but it was too nice I had to keep it, but I think he's gonna. I'm eventually gonna get it because he's gonna quit. It's all gonna come full circle, yeah, yeah, from the flood guns in Maryland, and then there's no only flood gun. So I'm gonna end up getting that upgrade. I think he's already mentioned it, so I'm looking forward to that.

Speaker 2: 1:07:29

That's hilarious, I you know for me there's this one Christmas. The people are going to laugh or if the fiance hears this, you might yell at me. My first playboy calendar. And the reason why I remember is because I got it and then I had to go to Canada next, the next day. So we went to, we had a Canada tournament and I left it and I remember telling all the boys and I would like all the like we're like 12, 13 years old, so like I was telling all the boys, I was like why, like you didn't bring it? I was like no, I did not bring a calendar with me on to a trip to Canada. We spent, you know, like a week or two weeks in Canada and stuff like that. But like it was a talk of the you know the locker room, like we're all like 12, 13 year old boys and you know I got my first playboy calendar and you know it kind of reminds you back in the days of you know the older people bringing in the. You know the playboy magazines and stuff like that, before everything was online, and I feel like that's something I remember. It's not even because of you know, it was just like this. So I take teenage beginning, teenage years memory. It's like damn out of all things, like that was. That was the one thing that always stuck out to me. It was it was funny.

Speaker 2: 1:08:51

I remember that whole Christmas like I was watching Fantastic Four that's one of the Fantastic Four we just got out, but it had just come out Like I had. We were using Walkman. There still wasn't, you know, an iPad or iPods or anything like that Like to listen to music. I remember we took a train and had the Walkman and I had the big timer CD in it and I was listening to that constantly. But and you'd have to if you wanted a new, new song, or if you wanted not a new song but into somebody else's did, you had to literally open it up, take out the CD, put it. A whole nother CD like 50 Cent was back big and back in the day and stuff like that. So I was listening to a lot of big timers, nelly and stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 1:09:37

I remember that train ride was and we got stopped at the border. This whole train it took like two to three hours and we all decided we'll never take a train again to Canada. It took so long just being at the border Cause they didn't check everybody on the train, yeah, and like the dogs were there, like it was like it was usually drive, but we're like for some reason I think because it was Christmas, like the Christmas holidays and everything like that but most of the team decided like hey, like let's take a train in and everything. You know the train and everything, like we'll all be together. And we went to Ottawa and I think that's what I realized. I hated Canadian food and I'm pretty sure my mom got stomach poisoning. I'm pretty sure, like a bunch of the kids on the team got stomach poisoning, if I remember correctly. It was a rough time. It was. Yeah, they're for the Christmas time yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:10:29

Sorry, canadians, I love Canada, don't get me wrong, I love Canada, but like winter up there and Christmas up there, I will say, though, is unbelievable, and I wish we had a white Christmas, and like it would snow, like so I 100% like skating on the canal and everything like that. Like I spent a lot of time up there for hockey during this yeah, that would be awesome. Yeah, and we haven't. I haven't been able to do that. I don't think I've skated on a pond since, like 2014. It hasn't been like consistently cold enough, and I used to do that all the time.

Speaker 2: 1:11:02

Like those are some of my favorite snow sledding. You know my grandpa, we used to wax the. You know the bottom of our stuff, and we'd be flying down. Like I take my gear. To the last good winter storm that we had, I took the you know the cart that I used to drag the deer out and the one that you used to drag the bear out, and everything like that. I use that. Like I, straight up, just like I'll use that thing, flies that thing. I almost got decapitated one year cause we took that and we didn't see the fence, and I went right through this freaking fence and right underneath it and like that thing is. It's serious. I do love it.

Speaker 1: 1:11:41

So, as it gets old, do you think you could do any ice fishing this year?

Speaker 2: 1:11:46

I always say I always say I want to do it, I would love to try. So, like, if it gets cold enough, I think we should. We should go out and try. Obviously, yeah, like I it's been, but it's never like. It's sometimes like the cold day will be like or the like we're working and it's like, well, how it's so hard to plan ice fishing when it's one week and you have then, you really yeah, like my cousins, they do up and main and everything like that and they, they absolutely love it.

Speaker 2: 1:12:14

But definitely, if it gets cold enough this this winter, we definitely should give it a try. But, guys, I think that's that's what last last one. What is your meal, your Christmas meal? If you could cook a Christmas meal, what would it be?

Speaker 1: 1:12:29

Would it be? Would it be game meat in it? Yeah, yeah, I think I'd do a prime rib. I know a lot of people do. We always do turkey and ham and that's fine, but I know other people do prime rib and I'm like so jealous, that's my favorite. Yeah yeah, I eat wild game. I've eaten only wild games in the last probably two months exclusively, and nobody eats probably more Wild game than me.

Speaker 2: 1:12:57

No, you have no choice. Your freezer is just. You have no choice.

Speaker 1: 1:13:02

I mean, I'm sure there are people that eat more than me, but I eat a lot. So but prime rib is it's different, it's bad for you, it's not sustainable, it's all these things. It's maybe ethically questionable. I know I get it. I'm well aware it's still delicious, it's. It can be 100%. No, definitely I agree.

Speaker 2: 1:13:27

I, you know, for me we eat a lot of stuff. We eat filet, we eat crab shrimp like duck, Like we. There's so much options at our Christmas Eve dinner. But this year I was really excited to make bear meatballs because they came out so good the last time and Bianca loved them and we were going to make that and I think we're going to put bacon, wrap it in bacon and everything like that. Bye, it looks like that's a no go for this year, so next year that's going to have to be one of the things that we make.

Speaker 1: 1:14:00

You just reminded me of a lot of the game thing. I shot those sea ducks. We shot five sea ducks, I guess. Last thing Everybody goes to hawks and sea ducks. A lot of people don't eat them, feed them to their dogs. Everybody says they're up to the issue they taste. Now that we've been shooting a lot of sea ducks lately in Maryland, where my dad is coming, we got to figure out what to do with them.

Speaker 1: 1:14:26

We can't just give them to people, we're giving them to the dogs. We got to figure out a way to. So I'm going to try, I'm going to breast them out, I'm going to try to brine them, brine the shit out of them, and then do something with them and see if I can get these things to be good. So keep you guys posted on that. If I can do the sea duck recipe, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2: 1:14:49

Yeah, I can't wait to take care about that because it's such a good like that's right, like it's. Most people don't really eat them and I can't remember when we shot last year and just it was like, yeah, they just taste too fishy. That cooked them and yeah, there was a fishy taste but I just like seasoned the hell, like you know, and I had it sent in a marinade for for like two days and everything like that. Like just really did my best lime juice, everything like that, just to get as much out of it as you can. But you know, let us know how that goes. But I think that's going to wrap up our Christmas episode. We'll be back for our new years. Our 2023 new years wrap up a lot of stuff going down. You know we're going to have our top episodes of the year. Each person will have the top five most downloaded on, you know, off the streaming. And then we are currently kicking off. You know it's already done. The first round is already completed with our top episodes of listener votes and the winners so far are going to be the final chapter of feature America Mike 99 problems featuring Kyle Urban Pursuits episode. Our 100th episode corporate to wilderness featuring Gavron, the what would you do episode, team Wackenstack rookie hunting, buckeye Brothers outdoors, our turkey talk, team Buffalo outdoors turkey talk segment. A breaking barriers, buzzer beater, white tailed bloodline episode, our standoff in the wild. Return to the hunt. Archery strong only bows are mock scrapes episode, legacy pursuit, the round table segment, the outdoors in colors and then the last archery adventure episode. So, starting either Wednesday or Thursday, we will be going off to the next round and it's going to be, you know, each will face off against each other. The top seven, I think, downloaded or voted on and got moved already to the first round past the first round. So it's going to be returning to the hunt and standoff in the wild, going against each other.

Speaker 2: 1:16:59

The Buckeye Brothers outdoors versus less archery adventures. Then you got legacy pursuit versus turkey talk. You got breaking barriers versus our mock scrape episode. You got the only bows versus our buzzer beater episode. And then we have team Buffalo versus the round table segment. We got the outdoors in color versus our turkey talk episode, and then the white tailed blood line versus our archery strong. So make sure you guys go vote on that when they are up and yeah, we'll see what the number one lesson I think I think the final chapter is going to take it. I think one of Mike's episodes are going to take it. He just has such a good, strong following. It is probably one of my favorite episodes to do a bunch of. There's a lot of good episodes, but either the final chapter is by prediction or maybe the urban pursuit I don't know. Urban either the final chapter, urban pursuit or something like that will take the cake.

Speaker 2: 1:18:09

But oh, and the winners, they'll get some free merch. I'll send some free merch and then you'll automatically we'll come up with something. I'm going to do this from now on every year. We're going to get better and better each year. So, guys, I hope you guys enjoyed our Christmas episode. I hope you guys have a happy holidays. Merry Christmas everyone out there, for everyone who's spending time with their family, Really enjoy it. You know, hopefully no one else out there has COVID and everything like that. Actually one of our guys, Bobby. He's currently at home with COVID as well. He's had a really rough season. I think he's been sick what like five times. It seems like every month he's got a new sickness and every time he's going to hit the woods.

Speaker 1: 1:18:50

He's down so excited that he gets sick again.

Speaker 2: 1:18:55

Two young little kids at home, I think. You know. The one is just, I think, turned one in. The other one is not that much older and maybe like two or three, I don't want to mistake on that. So like a lot of germs going around with the little ones. But you know, get well soon, bob, and hope to get you back out in the woods soon. And you know everyone happy holidays and we'll talk to you guys next time. Merry Christmas.