The Clock Is Ticking

Speaker 2: 0:21

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

Speaker 1: 0:27

I'm Frank Vestika. I'm your host, steve.

Speaker 2: 0:30

Bolnar. Welcome back guys. It's another good week, another successful week, another fun adventure that we've been having. We're right around the corner Roughly. There's three days left, or two days left in most zones, and then you have the extended period, which will go for another two weeks. So we're almost at that finish line, with a deer season. What a world went in. It's been an interesting journey, but, man, I can't believe. It's already over. It's already almost over. We're right there.

Speaker 3: 1:08

It feels like just yesterday was opening day. Yes and no. I would agree with you for the most part. But then there are definitely moments this season where I'm like, especially in the past couple of weeks, from like man, thank goodness is over, I'm ready for some tech here or something else. It's been a long season, but it's been great, it's been awesome.

Speaker 2: 1:30

Yeah, today I was like I actually funny story, so I get set up and I got out early because I was going to make a move closer, but I just didn't know where the deer were coming from, so I didn't want to. I was like you know what, let me sit back up on this ridge again. So I was out there like four, four and a half hours early and I knew they don't really move until maybe the last hour, maybe maybe even like sooner than that. So I'll sit up there. It's cold. I haven't eaten. The only thing I had to eat today was like a croissant and a banana and I was starving and I was like I can't sit here and watch Gordon Ramsay and not eat anything. So I literally climbed, climb down, hiked all the way back to the left, all my stuff, hiked all the way back to the truck. Here's a quick check literally like the next exit down down the road, went to quick check, got myself a whole bunch of food, drove all the way back, ate most of it in the, in the truck, hiked all the way back in, climbed all the way back up, ate some more. Perfect, Like. I got back in with like two hours left to spare, and you know. Then then, once you know you got that food in your belly, it's like all right, like everything's so much better now.

Speaker 2: 2:46

Like you know, I stopped moving as much, I stopped like, and I just sat there and I just like chilled and the coolest thing was, like you know, worked out, I had three doves come in. I didn't really they were silent, I didn't really hear them. And then I heard a twig snap. I looked up and right when I looked up, my phone started going off because they're right in front of the trail camera and I was probably about 60, 80 yards up on a ridge. I'm able to watch everything. Like I got a great view. I love it. It's a great spot, you know, to do an observation set really.

Speaker 2: 3:22

And yeah, these deer were skittish. I mean, I didn't really even move much. I think I took my binos out and that's really about it, and I think the binobag just dangled a little bit too much and that's what they picked up on. And yet again, I'm like 60, 80 yards away. You would think it's like all right, you're all good, but these deer have been hunted all season and literally the one lead doe, the nanny doe, she just nope, took off, tail up, took off running and the rest of the two ran after. But the good thing is they didn't blow at me or anything like that.

Speaker 2: 3:58

It was a windy day too, so you know, I'll take that as in. Maybe they just they saw a movement that they didn't like, but they weren't 100% sure what it is. But they're not going to feel like take that risk, probably because they've been shot at probably multiple times at this point already in the season. So they just said, nope, let me just get out of there. But the good thing is they didn't blow. So I'm expecting them hopefully to be back either tomorrow or Wednesday and be able to get a get a shot on it, because I'm moving closer now. I'm definitely going to get into that killing range. I know the trail that they're coming from today confirmed it all. So I left, I took my six down and put them in a stump that, had that it's done, it's just completely dead and shallow, and I put my sticks in there, covered it with leaves and I just that's it, took off and headed home and we'll be back out tomorrow. Nice.

Speaker 3: 4:50

Good, that's awesome. Yeah, you see, you see these guys on the different channels, right, they're out there hunting and they've got their microphone, you know whatever, wireless, a Pell on whatever, and they're talking to the camera and they're whispering and the deer is, like you know, 20 yards away and you're like I can't do that, like I can't even. I can't even lip, like, move my lips, like as if I'm like someone's trying to read my lips. I can't even do that. How are these guys talking with these deer these close? So I totally get you on that note. Yeah, it's.

Speaker 2: 5:25

It's always kind of blown my mind when, when you see that Maybe it's also cause, yeah, like you said, they have the mics and everything like that. So like I guess, yeah, but whenever I don't, I'm not talking ever when, when there's deer in front of me, like I just like it would have to be like a really windy day, rainy or some type of other sound coming through for me to like maybe decide to talk, but still then, like I swear they just they pick up on it. If it's dead silent, like it's, you're not getting, you're not getting away with much. Especially this time of the year, I think early season, you get a lot, a lot more pull and you know you get a lot more. You get away with so much, but right now there's just literally absolutely you. Everything has to be dead Perfect, like even the wrong movement.

Speaker 2: 6:14

You know you were talking about a few episodes ago, steve, like you had to make sure you didn't move and you're literally straining your eyes to try to see because, like that small amount of movement at this time of the year could completely just blow your hunt.

Speaker 1: 6:30

There's zero cover, yep. And even if they hear like your tree stand like, even like, pop a little bit, any little thing, no many people. I hung up on this year because I had the phone in my hand. All of a sudden I look up and there's a dare. But they all figured it out.

Speaker 2: 6:47

Now when I hang up.

Speaker 1: 6:48

They're like all right, he's got there by him.

Speaker 2: 6:52

Yeah, no that's I like. That's why, kevin, I always wear headphones in. So I wear I always always, just in case, because there's been times where I'll forget to either turn my phone on do not disturb, or I think it's on silent or something. I go to look and like the music or something just starts blasting. So now I just keep everything in my ear, even if I get a phone call, like I'll answer the phone don't get me wrong Like I'll talk to be on their face time. If, as long as I have service, I've shot deer and I shot a bear on FaceTime, you know I've shot, you know a pretty sharp deer on facetime.

Speaker 2: 7:30

Yeah, yeah, two years ago I was on, I was on the phone with Kurt and we're FaceTiming because he had bears right in front of them and they were working towards me. So like going through the game plan and strategy and everything like that and we're just like all right and we almost got it doubled down. I got a little too trigger happy. I think it ended up spooking one of the bears. But yeah, I'm a huge, huge believer in at least wearing some type of headphones. Gosh forbid, and you know, or if you have other hunters we use during gun season.

Speaker 2: 8:01

Like two or three years ago we used, we downloaded a walkie talkie app and it actually worked out like perfectly and we're able to communicate Well and it didn't matter where we were. Like it was honestly one of the best things where you all just go like hey, like you know, there's deer moving here, what's everyone up to, and you click and then everyone would get it and so, like if I'm in the stand or the saddle or if I'm doing a drive like you're, like you're getting updated right away because it's going right into your, to your ears and it's. It's honestly one of the best thing that I think we should definitely try to use, like next year. I love the app, especially if we do any like hunting together and stuff like that. I think it's highly useful. As long as you have, as long as we're not in somewhere where you know you lose service, it's pretty good.

Speaker 3: 8:46

I was going to say it's like, it's like bringing back the old. Next tell yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:51

Exactly, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 8:54

No.

Speaker 2: 8:55

I, I agree it's, it's 100% like that and it's a. It's great, you know, because sometimes, like we talked about, like hunting deer how to give you so boring sometimes and it's like I always like hunting with you know, other people, even when, like when we're in the same tree, it's just so much more exciting. And you know, jess and I we covered this on a earlier episode it's like, instead of texting someone or or something like that, it's like hey, like you can get your second opinion, because the person sitting right there like hey, like what do you think? What? What should we do? Oh, that deer is coming in. You got extra eyes. Yeah, just like it's crucial for a deer when they're in their herd looking how many more eyes they got to look out for a danger. Now we have the extra you know eyes to. Oh, there's a buck there. I may have never seen that. Thank God, you know you get. You got another person out there to catch something that that you're sometimes not able to see.

Speaker 3: 9:49

Right, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 9:52

But Steve, let's how. How, how'd your day go today? You know, you got out, you're originally going to hunt. Then you did some scouting. You know how'd that go. What? What did you encounter?

Speaker 3: 10:06

Well, friday, I was out as well, actually hunted on Friday this past week, and that you know we can get in that a little bit. But as far as today is concerned, I was going to go out and hunt and basically, on the hill, the heels of what I encountered on Friday was the basis for the decision to not go out tonight. Yesterday is the first day that I actually have had a buck on camera and daylight, and so I knew he wasn't going to come in two days in a row. And I was right he didn't come in tonight and so I said you know what I'm, I'm really okay. I've only got two days left. I can't get out either the next two days. I'm okay with Friday being my last day and I've been really eager to get out and start scouting some of these properties that I've been e-scouting for a couple months now, and obviously all the free time goes into hangs and not the woods for new places. You know, yeah, I'm definitely checking on spots. You know the three or four spots that I've been hunting this year, places I'm still going, but I just wasn't willing to dedicate that time until after the season for these new places, and it's really interesting, you would ask me, I think, the first podcast that we did three weeks ago. It asked me what it's like hunting down in South Jersey, and so I'm going to do my best to keep this on positive note, because the season's been a grind for me personally and it's been because every single place that I've hunted I've had someone all public, no private, all public. I've had somebody try to either kick me off public or tell me there's no deer there, or try to intimidate me, or had a camera stolen or all these different things. And tonight, when I went out again, I did kind of a different approach and I did some recordings of this and I'll release it later this week, some video of kind of this experience.

Speaker 3: 12:08

Tonight between being in the woods I actually went and knocked on some doors. I knocked on some doors of neighbors who their properties are adjacent to the access to a large swath of Wharton down in our area, and the reason for what that was. I've changed my approach. I'm not asking them for permission, I'm just letting them know that I'm in the area, just letting them know that, hey, my car's going to be parked out over here. You don't have to worry that someone's doing something nefarious. You don't have to worry that someone's sneaking around your property. I want to be upfront and honest with you. If you want to have this conversation, if great. If not, that's fine, I'll just go about my business.

Speaker 3: 12:47

But I went and I spoke with this woman, the neighbor, and I told her hey, you know, I live in the area, I'm planning on scouting this piece of Wharton. I know that the property, your property, butts up against the access point. I just want to let you know I'm going to be in here. Well, it was crazy. You just, all of a sudden she was like, oh, we already have people hunting back there. Okay, all right, on your property. And she's like, well, yeah, well, they have a horse farm. And so I was like, well, yeah, on our property. I'm like you mean in Wharton as well. She's like, well, well, once you get into the woods, it's all bogged back there anyway. So I mean, and I'm like, here we go, like, all right, so you're trying to detract me from going back here. Obviously you know the people that are hunting here. Well, I just, you know, I didn't realize just just how you know crazy y'all hunters are like, as far as you know, you know pissing on your territory and all that. And you know, I'm like, yeah, I said you know it's, it's, it's definitely a thing. And she's like, you know, well, people put a lot of, they put a lot of money into baiting and everything and all that. So I understand it. I'm like I totally understand, man, I get where you're coming from, I said, but it is public, so I'm gonna go ahead and go back there and scout and okay, all right, well, it was nice to meet you, this and that. So it was a good, it was a good experience overall. You know, I'm glad that I did talk to her.

Speaker 3: 14:16

The other house that I went to On the other side of this access point. The gentleman wouldn't come to the door. I saw him later as I was leaving, but whatever, that's fine. And so I Went back and I scouted this property and I probably went back about, I probably did about a mile and a quarter, because I only had an hour to kind of go on this, because I Pulled a camera from another piece of property I was done with for the year and did some, had some other chores, but I got back in there and it it was. It was wet, but it was wet because we just got a whole bunch of rain.

Speaker 3: 14:51

You know, and, yeah, where they're boggy. I mean, there's literally Bogs like blueberry bogs and I see so much of that in this area. There are a lot of Abandoned blueberry bogs that have just grown over and the forest has grown up around them. And you know, back in the day, however long go, 40, 50 years ago people were doing blueberries in these fields and it was abandoned. And now you still have the mounds that go, for they're like trench mounds and they go for 50 hundred yards through the woods and it's like, wow, this is a great browsing spot. Like there's a lot of you know, there's a lot of brows here for these deer, like this is awesome.

Speaker 3: 15:32

It was still shallow into the woods, but I was like, okay, this is cool, this is a good spot. And I went back a little further and I found somebody's feeder, I found the ladder stand, I found a hang on and I marked everything and I was like All right, I can find a way to get deeper in here. I'm not even close to hitting this 200 plus acre parcel here. So I think it's still got. It's still got some opportunity there and, like I said, I kind of recorded the process and I'll be able to put that out a little late this week and kind of have a first you know first-hand View of what kind I went through. So but but it was good overall it was good and I'm glad that I got out and there'll be a lot more of that.

Speaker 2: 16:18

Yeah no. I listen, it's, it's People are territorial, like the woman said, and it's a hundred percent the way that she was acting. It's a she knows those people or you know, yeah, and but I Like, I agree with, I understand both sides of the story, but yet again, everything's public and you know I would have responded as she goes oh there's bogs. I was like perfect, that's exactly what I'm looking for like that.

Speaker 1: 16:46

Yeah, you always think about it after the fact, though sometimes yeah, yeah, and that's the thing.

Speaker 2: 16:52

Yeah, I once had a um, I once had a woman she lived right across the street from WMA that I've hunt and I still hunt now. I think she passed away and Bianca and I were actually pretty close to buying her place. Oh, wow it. Yeah, we tried that. Just unfortunate thing, because of her age and everything, she didn't keep up with it.

Speaker 2: 17:14

So the town owner, like it can only be cash offer, like we're only taking cash offers Because I guess it wasn't going to pass certain you know, you know things that it needed to pass, so I guess no bank wanted to do any. Look, you know what I mean. Yeah, you're more yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:33

Yeah, so it had to be somebody who had a lot of money that could tear it down and build it back up, in which they did All right. But you know, I remember we, we parked one day. We're just going into a scound I can't remember exactly what we're doing. This is years ago and we pulled over to the side and she comes out and she goes you can't deer hunt here.

Speaker 2: 17:58

We're like okay, like Okay, and she's like you know, I feed these deer and you guys just come in here and kill, like yada, yada, she was starting to go off you know, and I was like, listen, man, I'm like I understand what you, what you're saying, but at the end of the day, state land and there is nothing that you can really do about it. And you know, I'm, yeah, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3: 18:25

That's when you tell her I won't shoot your deer. Yeah, yeah, I yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:32

As long as they stay over there on that side. My year over here, but you know, that's a different story.

Speaker 2: 18:42

But she threatened to call the cops, which you know I Think that was just her bluff, because I think she's done it enough times where they've come out and you know, told there were issues trying to bluff, and I said, well, yet again, that's part, no problem, I can call warden, you know, and you know we just let the warden figure it out like that. You know there isn't not gonna go back and forth with her, you know, and I was like, listen, if you call the wardens or call whatever, I'm going in, I got work to do, I'll see them when they come out. Of course, never came out, anything like that and, unfortunately, like you're just gonna get that, you know, and try to handle as best as you can because at the end of the day, if we act out, we're the ones that are gonna look bad.

Speaker 3: 19:27

Oh, absolutely. You know, yeah, you have to go to, you have to go in with the right mindset, you have to go into it and I think we can all appreciate that. We understand that. You have to go into it Thinking that you're going to meet resistance.

Speaker 3: 19:41

In most cases, yeah, and from all of my experiences this year I can, you know, definitely attest to that and that's a, it's a thing. I don't know if it's, I feel like it's a Jersey thing and I'm sure there's some other states that are that way as well, but I just the bulk of my buddies in other states like Kentucky and Iowa and all these different places, they just don't run into this stuff. But I think it's because it's a different culture, but it's. But it's also weird because culture is embedded in our areas, whether it's where you guys are at or down here where I am, and other parts of the state, like that's it is. People know, they understand, so they shouldn't. It shouldn't be this weird thing where people are Oblivious to the fact that hunting takes place and that we have rights. I think it's there. They're just trying to do everything they can to maybe Keep, keep things the way, the way they want it, for lack of a better way to say that.

Speaker 3: 20:38

I had a guy early, early this year I was going into a piece and I was speaking with him because he had a Building that he leases, that butts up to the, to the public, and so I went, I was talking to him about maybe parking on his land. He's like no, no, I don't want that and everything. I'm like that's cool, that's fine, I'll park right over here. There's a spot off the road and he's like you know, I don't even really know why you're going in there. There's, there's no deer in there anyway. And so I just kind of smiled. I looked at him and I just said you know what, man? That's cool. You keep telling people that all right.

Speaker 3: 21:09

You just keep telling people there's no deer in there. That would be great. I'm not gonna show you photos.

Speaker 2: 21:17

I love.

Speaker 1: 21:20

Oh yeah, I used to get the whole thing where everybody used to be like oh oh, we already drove it or something. You know, we kicked everything out there's. Don't go waste your time, you know so.

Speaker 2: 21:31

I Listen, I'm I don't know if people ever believe me, but I'm pretty damn honest when I, when I talk to people, like I, yet again, like I'm not gonna give you the direct coordinates to my spot, but I'll tell you about the area, like, especially if you're a new hunter. It's like I like because I, if it happens, often like, oh, like you know, man, I'm struggling, like I don't see, and I'm like, well, you know, sometimes, like, yeah, you know what, there really isn't that many. The deer population here Just really isn't that strong anymore. It used to be right you could walk these fields and you'd see 12, 13, 14, 15 deer. Now you'd be lucky if you see one.

Speaker 2: 22:08

And I'm being a hundred percent honest, whether they believe me or not, because people do lie like now you know they're like, oh, they're talking about big bucks. I'm like, yeah, you know there's, there's, you know they're around, you just got it, you got to find them. Like you have to go Deep, honestly, and you have to get into the nitty-gritty, nasty stuff. I'm, I'm gonna, I tell them straight up, or be smart and hunt around Residential. If you can hunt that public that butts up against private, then you're in great, because you know what we talked about on the podcast anyway. So you know, I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna whatever, but I'm not gonna give. Drop you my coordinates.

Speaker 3: 22:48

I'm not gonna show you. You have on X, you guys can look this up, you know please see all me, it's.

Speaker 3: 22:56

Spartan forage on X. Go down Noted and you can find this stuff too. I'm not telling you where I found my dear or the Small little pieces that I would like to keep for my own. You know, and I struggled with that too, because I got two guys that moved into our neighborhood this this year that I met and they're like they saw me wearing some you know hat, whatever sit car or whatever it was, and they're like, oh, do you hunt? And I'm like Like, yeah, yeah, I'm. They're like you hunt around here?

Speaker 3: 23:25

and I'm like, yeah, sure, and they're like oh man, I really want to get into it. Where do I go? And I'm like, well, you know, warden state forest is just around the corner here, like you, can you know? You know, listen, it's, it's just the way it goes, like, yes, yeah, we have our spots and yes, we're territorial because and especially down here, and I imagine to a certain extent up in your guys area too, there's a lot of people and you're on top of each other and, yeah, it's a, it's a Definitely a lot of hunters that are using small, finite amount of resources.

Speaker 1: 23:59

So, yeah, it's almost like you got to take turns you know, yeah, no, absolutely, because I think I might have told Mike this.

Speaker 1: 24:08

It was one day I think it was in September I went to my stand ready, had a lock on spin there for a while now, went to go get in it Also, and I saw some move in the corner. I there's literally a guy set up 30 yards facing my tree stand and I just looked at him and I was like All right, just like what's the calm down, like you know? And I was like, hey, like you know, I got a stand over here. He was like who's like? Oh yeah, I saw, I didn't know that you were coming today. He's like but if you would've came earlier I would've moved. But it was only like three o'clock in the afternoon when it gets dark at like almost eight o'clock, you know.

Speaker 2: 24:50

So I was like I am no problem, you know that right there drives me crazy and I will be complete like yet again that I hate that more than anything Because and it's more like I can't think of everyone to think the same as me, or the guys that I hunt with and hang out with, and everything like that. But like I Talk about all the time whenever I find a spot and there's already, stand there, okay, that exit off that, that area, and I got to move at least a minimum of at least a hundred hundred fifty. You know it depends on how thick, but like I got to move. I'm always like, when I'm Prescouting a spot that I've never, yes, I'm looking down at the ground to see, you know, sign, everything that. But I'm also a lot of it is. I'll stop and I look and I'm looking for stands, I'm looking for blinds, looking for trail cameras.

Speaker 2: 25:42

Yep, you, you got to use other people to scout and not to hunt over their setup or right next to them. But it's like alright, now I know I have to respect this person like, can you, can? Would I be mad if someone walked up on my spot and Hunted right next to me? Yes, would I be mad that someone Walked up on my spot and went a couple hundred yards away and cut me off. No, because at least he's being respectful enough to give me the space, and you know, working around that, you know that I can't be mad at him for Probably doing what I would. I would probably do exactly the same thing, and you know what? Yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:22

He just made an adjustment before I could make my adjustment. But hunting right on top of somebody like I, I can't. I can't stand that. You know there's been times where you go out and within a I don't know a 10th of a mile, I found seven stands all like right next to each other and they're all gun hunters. I know for a fact they're all gun hunters because no one bow hunts it during that time of year and I'm literally like I'll look and I'm like how, how, how do people Like to hunt on top of one another, like I don't want to get into my spot and be able to wave right next door and like no, don't want to do that.

Speaker 2: 26:58

I love to be so far away.

Speaker 3: 27:00

Not with a bow and definitely not with a gun. No, I want to be, you know, and it's, and that's the thing too, right it's. I ran into that tonight, walking through the woods and seeing that stuff, and I'm like you know, first of all, that's my exact thought, actually, mike, just like you said, as I don't want to be anywhere near these people Because I know and it's, listen, it's no, no offense to to you, but you want to put a feeder out on public land and you want to hunt over bait and that's your modus operandum for how you do things. That is totally cool. I mean that's fine, but I know that's not where big bucks are coming in not in daylight, not, and maybe the rut, but most likely not, because I saw so few nice bucks, like Mature bucks, come in on bait this year. They avoided it like the plague, honestly, and I think that's a like, during daylight hours at least, and I think that's a normal behavior, especially for our pines deer down here, which are already pretty skittish.

Speaker 3: 28:05

You know they're wary of everything, because you know they they're. The pressure is constant. It's constant all year round because there are people out scouting there, people driving by. You know I've stopped on the side of the road to see just a glass of field. You know I don't even have access. I don't even have access or permission to hunt. It's it's private and I'll stop and within if I don't move within 30 seconds. Those deer are moving and I know those deer are pressure and that's in the off season. I they're doing that.

Speaker 3: 28:36

So as far as going out into the woods, I don't want to be anywhere near where people are putting a ladder stand and a permit stand up and and a feeder. Those aren't the kind deer that I'm after. You know I want to be away. I know I got to go deeper and if they're. But that's the beauty of it, because if you're drawn like those hunters of anything, and that style of hunting is helping us because they're drawing the deer in an area and they're pulling them in, so maybe I don't have to go two miles in to find these deer. They're going to come in the area, but maybe I only have to go two or three hundred yards away from that in order to get on a deer, a buck, that's bedded who he is maybe coming in in the night to get a snack, you know, or he's browsing in the area. So I don't know. I think there's a positive, you know there's. There's a way to look at it. Look at that situation positively for sure. But I totally agree, there's no way. I mean, all things are relative.

Speaker 3: 29:33

If I'm going in and we're in state forest and I want to set up next to a guy 50 yards away or 30 yards away, it's public, you can, you know, you can do that. Is that a total? You know what move? Yes, I would never do it, you know, because you're just going to tee the, you're just going to tee the guy off, right? Yeah, I've seen it Plenty. I mean the area that where I killed my buck this year the third time I was scouting there.

Speaker 3: 30:00

I came in and I met this gentleman before. He owns the property that the public butts up to and I'm walking within 20 yards of his property line and I come back and I see him and he's literally standing there in waiters and jean shorts with his arms crossed staring me down and I'm like, oh, here we go. And I'm like, oh, hello, so and so. Yeah, I met you last year with so and so we're out here scouting. Yeah, yeah, uh, huh, you going to hunt this.

Speaker 3: 30:27

Honestly, sir, I don't know. I mean, well, I mean, you know I'm old and you know there's no deer back in there anyway, and and and I'm like, well, sir, I couldn't tell you if I'm going to hunt here or not this year. I'm scouting, you know it's July. I can't, I can't tell you. I said, no, really is it your business? You know, I was trying to be very diplomatic and nice about it and he got, he got infuriated. He's like, well, I don't have much longer on this earth to live, and my sons and I want to kill some deer too. And you know, and I'm like geez man, like well, you know there's 400 acres out here in this place.

Speaker 3: 31:01

Why are you going to be right up next to my problem? I'm like, well, because that's where the deer are, sir, like I don't want to go over. I don't want to go over it in the scrub pines, where there's no browse and no food. I'm over here in this area with the deciduous, where there is browse, and that's why. So, come on, don't be silly man. But yeah, those are the experiences you have, you know.

Speaker 2: 31:20

I'm not I'm not even 20 or 30 yards, you know away from him, it's just in general, yeah, anyway you know, I completely get it and I also get you know before we move on, I I get protecting your smaller pieces way more Like that is a big hush hush for me, like those smaller pieces are the key to giants, you know, and those are the areas that I'd much rather keep my smaller spots than my, you know, big ones, obviously, and it's not. It has nothing to do with walking in, has nothing to do with the distance walking in, but my odds of killing a bigger buck, I think, are probably like double in those small ears. Because it's unpressured, most people don't think to hunt there. And you know these deer, deer are a little more relaxed and plus they're using private property constantly. So they're, they feel pretty safe within that you know avenue that they're, they're traveling on. So those are the, those, those hidden gems there, those are the spots that are. You just zip the lip and just oh yeah absolutely.

Speaker 3: 32:33

I had the.

Speaker 2: 32:34

I had the.

Speaker 3: 32:35

I had my backyard this morning. I left for work before in the morning to cover the morning show and I had deer right right in our backyard, right you know, trying to browse through our garden and I'm sitting around like man, like we got it pretty good through here, and that's probably what I'm going to spend more time doing is trying to get into the adjacent parts that connect to these honey holes and trying to scout them more to see, because these bucks, they're, they're. You know we've got a huge development that's right next to us. There's over a hundred homes in it and they're three quarter to an acre lots. It's a huge development. The deer literally betting and living in these people's backyards you know what I mean. And then they're traveling through the one area. What we call our honey hole is a transitory area and it's a perfect. It's a giant transitory area to go from one development to another and then they live in these places. It's not uncommon, it's just the way the neighborhoods and everything is built around here.

Speaker 1: 33:36

Yeah, see, see, like, especially up by me. The only thing that hurts me with with, like, the property I hunt, is you have to park in their parking areas. You can't just drive and pull off the side of the road oh, look at this spot, it has to be in their parking area. So sometimes I'll find a honey hole, but it's like there's no way I can access it because I have to park there, you know. So that's what makes it yes.

Speaker 2: 34:08

Anyway, the wife can drop you off.

Speaker 1: 34:11

I have had that happen a few times. I tell her you know not so much anymore, but I used to have her drop me off at first. So then you still get the stairs, like how did he get in here, where he come from, you know? So I'm thinking I got to try to find more of my honey holes and try to have that as a possibility. So yeah, for sure I think it's. I just think it's crazy Like there's so much like places to park and everything, like we shouldn't have to park in your parking area but whatever it's.

Speaker 2: 34:46

Yeah, I did it.

Speaker 3: 34:49

Well, yeah, I mean, and that's, and, like I said, maybe said before, like my opening day dough, I killed on a two and a half acre piece of public and I did not park anywhere near it. I have a. This is cool, right. So everybody's in not to go too far into another subject, but everybody's into the motorized bikes, the e-bikes and all that right, and I'm like I can't afford that. So I went online and I'm like I bet you I can get a pedal big fat tire bike and I bought one for 150 bucks, like it's like a $700 bike.

Speaker 3: 35:23

Somebody wanted to get rid of it and I'm like, cool, I'll pedal. I got no problem with that. Great. Now I got a fat bike I can do. I put liners in it, awesome. So I'll park somewhere else and I'll ride to that spot. No one has any idea that I'm ducking into this little area over there. You know you got to do what you can to protect your spots. You know that's just little little tricks right there that I learned and I even went so far as to even buy like the military grade netting. You know that goes over it. I roll it up, put on the back of the bike with a bungee. When I get done, I ditch the bike, I lay that over top of it. You can't see it from the road, can't see it anywhere. You know so great that's a great topic.

Speaker 2: 36:05

I'm happy because I actually was going to tell Frank to you know, because I know you also hunt by your house like get it, get a bike. You know Listen. I've had my eye on an e-bike for a while now.

Speaker 1: 36:17

I pull the trigger on it. Every year I go to the outdoor.

Speaker 2: 36:21

The show, bianca and I go and we'll literally sit there and I'm like, well, maybe if we had, like, I know, this year or the next two years, it's definitely a hell. No, but you know, maybe someone will buy it for me for a wedding present, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there you go. I do want to. I do want to eventually get an e-bike, but something I really want to get into and I'm hoping it can be this upcoming year. I just need to find the place of story is kayaking in. Oh man, yeah.

Speaker 2: 36:50

Or can do it you know whichever, and using the water access to get into some of these spots and I've been like the last few years like that, has been like one of my goals and I'm hoping to eventually achieve that where I think the guys that do it, that it's it's so smart like you it is Get to get in these spots that really no one else is going to get into, you know, and that would help on just public land so much, there's nothing sexier than seeing a deer in a canoe, right, I mean absolutely.

Speaker 3: 37:27

I see you like someone, some of the guys on Instagram. I saw them earlier this year and I just I I tagged them in a repost on the story and I just wrote life goals like on their photo you know, but it is yeah, it is.

Speaker 1: 37:43

No, it is because, like, a lot of my spots are literally by the river so and I always got a walk there which is always, you know, a mile and a half, two miles, whatever it is. But I've always told my wife like I got like this 12 foot boat, but I'm like trying to pull that out of the back of my truck at three in the morning by myself.

Speaker 3: 38:03

Like yeah like that's.

Speaker 1: 38:05

You know that's a hassle. So actually I was telling her. Actually I think, like a week ago I was like hey, like I think I'm going to look in the alternative. That way I could go down the river to my spots and possibly find new ones using the onyx. Yep, she's like that's a smart idea, cuz I don't want to help you drag.

Speaker 2: 38:26

You could get yourself the propeller to and then especially getting back upstream or you know wherever you're going.

Speaker 2: 38:31

I mean, that's gonna make it a lot easier on you, you know. Then you know, my only thing is I'm clumsy as hell. I Am with all this camera gear and you just I heard that's the one thing. You just got to be really careful doing, you know. But I love those hunts. Yet again, a dream hunt of mine is Alaskan bull moose doing a float hunt. So like the water canoeing it, that is like I can do that for whitetail deer and which it will become a Thing, you know, once I pull the trigger and find the storage where I could put that you know, a canoe. That it's gonna, then it's gonna, it's gonna happen. But until then, you know, yeah, just wait and I'll be fine.

Speaker 2: 39:17

You know, but it's like you know Steve said it is. It is just sexy seeing those pictures. It is our hunting, it's our hunting porn, like it's like whenever I what are you looking at it's like? It's just a buck and a canoe and you know.

Speaker 2: 39:32

Yeah the antlers and everything like you know it's it's my guilty like thing that I like, I love, like if I see a video on YouTube or anything like that, it is a must-click like yeah, I will watch the name here for any other video, like it is. It's probably one of the coolest ways, I think, to access a area to hunt.

Speaker 3: 39:53

By. I think I'm gonna have to. I'm gonna have to make one of those memes where you see the, the man, the woman laying in bed and the girls like I think it's thinking about other women and I just want to put a bubble of a deer and a canoe up.

Speaker 1: 40:05

They're gonna have to make that.

Speaker 2: 40:12

That is, it's true, though like it yeah. Steve, want you give us your segment that you texted us about the other day and oh yeah. This is one's gonna be a good one guys.

Speaker 3: 40:26

So it's, it's. It's funny and it's. It doesn't have to just be this season, to be last season too, or any season for that matter. But I was thinking about it because I literally, on my way out this past week, on Friday, I left something in the woods, and so I text Mike and I text the guys. I was just like we need to do a segment on Things that you left in the woods during the season, either by accident or intentionally. So I Guess I'll start off. I, yeah, yeah, and you know what it's.

Speaker 3: 41:00

This one has happened more than once. So on my Matthew's bow I have the stand. I can't remember what it's called, whatever, but it's a. It's a stand that clips on to it so you can just rest it on the ground and the engage limbs. That's what it is, and so I Put that. I always have it on my bow when I practice in, and it's always in the garage hanging that way, because I'll take it out, and so many times a season I have taken it out into the car, drive to my spot, and most time I remember to take them off before I head in. But this past time, past couple times, I've gone in with them and I get to the tree line and I'm like I'm son of a gun, so I set it down somewhere where I think I'm gonna remember it and I never remember it. So I've left those in the woods before I got a really cool.

Speaker 3: 41:50

One of my favorite cheap Upgrades that I did this year was I bought one of those HSS bow retractable bow lines.

Speaker 3: 42:00

It's just like a little yeah, yeah, yeah, the little handles, yeah, it's like 30 bars, like 30 feet, I think they're like $24.

Speaker 3: 42:08

And so One time on my saddle it got clipped and it came off and it pulled the metal bar away from the device and from that point forward I could never get it as Snug against the plastic and so I so many times I've dropped it. I've left it in the driveway once because I knocked it off by accident. Well, on the hunt that I did in In the snow as I was, as I was getting up into the stand, I knocked it off and it fell into the snow and I'm like I got to get that when I leave and, sure enough, I got down and I remembered it, but it was dark and I like and it's cold in my hands in the snow and I'm like I'm not digging for it in the snow right now, and now it's been like a week and a half and I'm like I gotta get back in there and get this. Not that I couldn't order another One, but I hate the idea of leaving something in the woods like, oh my gosh, what do you got Frank?

Speaker 1: 43:06

Yeah, no, I was definitely Happened to me quite a bit this year. So I've left. I've dropped literally my like my harness route for when I get up in the tree. You know to harness up I thought I put in my bag. I go to look in my bag. It's not there. It's standing five feet from my tree stand. You know. I've dropped flashlights, I've dropped my knife this year, like Like I just can't win my wife's, like seriously, like You're just gonna leave all your stuff out there. You know I'm like no, I'll go back and get it. I was like I got to try to retrace my steps to make sure I find it first. But it's always something, man, it's. It's crazy what do you like?

Speaker 2: 43:52

oh Well, first of all, I don't I can't remember if I told this on the podcast this year or not. I might have, but I'm I'm not sharing for anyone who's new and hasn't listened to the story. This year Mid-summer I started dealing with a lot of allergies. My allergies were I've never really had allergy problem, but this year, like everything was just on a whole other level because how warm winter has been and my doctor said Basically everyone's on a whole different level. So Before I knew as my allergies first, so I thought I was dying, but I would get like all dizzy and everything like that. All in heat, like you, it just felt horrible. Where I feel like lightheaded or wherever the case is my had fluid in my ears, everything like that. Like everything was going wrong. So Going into the season it was still going on. It wasn't on any allergy meds yet or anything like that. And it got to October and at this point it had gotten so bad that I was actually having brain fog. You know, just forgetting things.

Speaker 2: 44:57

I over the summer, like I drove home with my tailgate open. I thought I closed. It drove almost all the way home a guy on the, you know. I got on to 24 and he pulls up. Now he goes your tailgate to open side Pulled over. Thank God my boat didn't fly out like everything was good. So that was a scare.

Speaker 2: 45:17

But the worst thing it was at the range before a black bear hunt.

Speaker 2: 45:24

And you know, usually I don't have my quiver on my bow, but this time I did and I'd taken it off when I was practicing sending some arrows. And then I got into a conversation with a couple of guys and Just completely I left it there, didn't notice for like two or three days because I still went out and hunted and I did not notice that hunt. I did not have my quiver because I was doing more of like a Scalin and stalk and spot and stalk. So I wasn't again to stand, didn't set all my stuff up, I had it on my back and Went home, still didn't notice, and I think I went to work the next day and then, like a day or two later, I go to hunt and I'm like Where's my cover? I'm like where I know it was here, like where is it? I'm free, I'm looking all over the place. I look and do the truck, everything like that, and I'm like I freaking, left it at the range, so I went back to it.

Speaker 2: 46:21

It was gone. So someone got a free white quiver with four arrows with my separate tips on it For like, fully custody. You know, great like, cool, like.

Speaker 3: 46:33

You would think people would hand that in at the range. Yeah listen. I would have.

Speaker 2: 46:39

I wish they would have, or at least listen.

Speaker 1: 46:43

Give me the quiver back because you can't really use it like you really can.

Speaker 2: 46:48

OK, you take, or you take the broad heads like. All right, I understand that you left the arrows or whatever. You take the broad heads and the you know my lighted knocks. Ok, whatever I get that, leave me the.

Speaker 1: 47:01

you know everything else, because you know, I'll just throw more stuff on it, Like.

Speaker 2: 47:05

So I had to go literally that day I was freaking out call the store. I was like, hey, you guys got it there, Like this is what I need. They're like, yep, we got it, Drove all the way there, picked it up, drove all the way back and I was like I was going to go hunt. But then I was like you know what, it's already like it's too late, Like let me, this has been a terrible, like terrible time. Like let me just go home, went home, set up my quiver again, and you know, then I started getting on allergy meds and Stop forgetting things. But you know, I don't forget usually. It's usually like stuff fall on my bag.

Speaker 2: 47:41

You know I've, two years ago, two or three years ago, last day of the season, shot a doe, gutted her, and this was my fixed bay buck knife that I love this knife so much and I just threw it into the cavity of the deer because it was. I didn't want to put it back in and everything like that, Because I still didn't get a chance to clean it. So I threw it into the cavity of the deer. I just threw it into the cavity of the deer, dragged the deer out.

Speaker 3: 48:07

Nice, it fell out oh no, so there's somewhere in the woods and I went back and I looked.

Speaker 2: 48:14

I was like, ok, I tried retracing my steps, but it was also pitch black when I was doing this, everything like that, and never been able to find it. So eventually someone will find that knife years and years and years later to come, probably, you know, and it's going to be a fossil.

Speaker 3: 48:29

Yeah, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Someone's going to be like oh, this is the tool they used to use back, you know, 100 years ago.

Speaker 1: 48:37

So what is this next time, next time?

Speaker 3: 48:38

you make sure you put the knife up in the esophagus, that way it won't come out. Yeah, smart.

Speaker 2: 48:42

Smart, yeah, now. And then the last thing. I do this probably once a year, whether it's in the off season or whatever, because I like to hang my cameras up in a tree. So when I'm either setting up, changing batteries, doing whatever I do I'm also I'll bait out the minerals out. I will do multiple stuff. Sometimes I'll leave my sticks there and completely forget and I'll never forget.

Speaker 2: 49:09

I think this was it was like two years ago and these are, these are my bee sticks. So I only take one with me. So, but a bee stick, you know, runs you about a hundred dollars stick. So I don't, I don't want to lose these. These are I love, these are my favorite sticks.

Speaker 2: 49:24

And I guess I don't know when I went to change batteries or whatever, but I completely left the stick right there and I didn't notice for like a good two weeks until I went back and hunted that specific spot and I climb all the way up, get set up. I'm looking around and I look at the tree and I'm like it looks like my stick. I'm looking, I'm like that is my stick. I'm like, oh my God, I was like I forgot my stick here, like and I knew someone else was there Like I got a person on camera and everything like that. Thank God they left the stick and everything like that. Yeah, thank God, and I think it could have been because I had. They probably saw that I had a cell camera and I had a picture of it.

Speaker 3: 50:18

But yeah, that little bit of accountability with the camera, yeah, what they're doing.

Speaker 2: 50:24

I think they will get them thinking it does it 100%? Does? I've had cameras. I've had SD cameras broken into. I've had like I'm not going wood, you know, I haven't had one, you know, but I've had SD cards, like the actual cards stolen, you know, and to me. So I'd rather you take the cell camera, I mean not the cell camera. I'd rather you take the SD cam than the SD card. Leave me the SD card.

Speaker 1: 50:50

Right, you know, take the camera.

Speaker 2: 50:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah, like you know I mean, but ever since I've I've gotten cell cameras I think it's just something one people just notice a lot more plus, they're hooked up to your account. So even if you do steal it, you can't like I don't know. If there's, you could probably do it, re, you know, rewire it or whatever the case, but I'm not 100% sure because I think it depends on the camera. Yeah, Um yeah.

Speaker 3: 51:17

I know the reveal kit, the reveal cams, have their own SIM cards. So yeah, and you can't get I mean, you have to open up that camera in order to get to it. You're basically, I think it's hardwired in, so it's like soldered into the board. It's not like a traditional, like you know, regular phone where you can pop it out, that kind of a SIM card Cause when I had my cam, my reveal cam XB, stolen this year, I contacted reveal and they're like oh yeah, if anybody takes that camera and they try to, you know, bring it back online. We'll get a notification now that you've told us it's stolen and our GPS will track it and we'll have the cops go out and confiscate it. I was like whoa, stellar, okay.

Speaker 1: 52:01

All right.

Speaker 3: 52:02

That's a. There's a selling point. So I don't know if all the sell companies do that, but I know reveal does yeah.

Speaker 2: 52:09

I, I, yeah, I've heard great things about reveal and I run Moultrie now too as well. Huge fan of Moultrie. We'll break those down and like a YouTube video and stuff like that. Um, nice, but I, I don't. It's definitely, you know something that I think it's. It's always and it's always in my mind, Like I'm not going to steal somebody's things, stuff, but like, yeah, I just don't like being on somebody else's truck and because they're going to think that I may be up to no good, so I just don't like the the assumption.

Speaker 2: 52:39

So I try to avoid cameras as much as I can because I just don't want someone to assume and then me be on the internet even though I didn't. You know I'm not taking your stuff like I could care less, like I'm not. I believe in karma, so I'm not going to take your stuff, sure, because you know I don't want my stuff stolen, you know?

Speaker 2: 52:56

Um, so it's. I think it gives some people especially if it's up high and that's why I put my cameras up high Like that's a whole other avenue. It's like, oh, now I got to work to get this thing down and I definitely might have my face on that camera and everything like that. So it's a big like. It's a big no-no. So if you're looking to get into cell cameras, that's a really good reason to. It's going to cost you money, yes, but it's a really good reason to get into cell cameras.

Speaker 3: 53:24

And if you do immediately buy an extra stick, like you said, I don't even recommend getting a double, get a, get an AM seal two step eight or as well, so you can really. I mean I put my cameras at 15 to 16 feet. I mean I can get them up all while, yeah, almost that high, 12 to 15 probably is more accurate, but I put them up that high. The average person they might be carrying a stick in. They are the chances.

Speaker 3: 53:50

I mean I'm not trying to give anybody any ideas here, but the chances that they're bringing in a stick with a two step eight or as well. I mean it's just my dad would always say a locked door keeps honest people honest, you know. So it's like just that little extra bit of prevention, you know, for that it might, it might save you, it might save you a camera. It might save you a hundred hundred and fifty bucks, you know, and maybe that's worth it. You know, and I mean I'm the same way as you are to Mike as far as being on camera, like I don't even care about people thinking I'm stealing stuff, because obviously I'm not. I just don't want, especially like we just got done talking about in a very territorial area. I don't want people knowing that I'm in there.

Speaker 3: 54:34

I just I just, and I, I, I I've had a dollar for every cell cam that I walked past scouting this year and early like over the summer, and I just I'll tell you what it raised my aware, my awareness. You know, it's like when I'm walking through the woods the first thing I'm looking for are feeders and, and you know, hang on, or mostly ladder stands, or you know, hang on with with the double rungs going up. And my immediate thing is okay, where's the cell cam? Where is the cell cam? I know it's here and I did that tonight when I found the feeder. I'm like walking on, I'm like a good yards out and I'm like all right, if I'm 50 yards out, for the most part I'm probably not going to be on this person's camera. And I sidestepped around and they had it on the opposite side of the feeder and I'm like all right, there you are.

Speaker 1: 55:20

I got you, yeah, yeah, cause I had somebody one time, I guess I was walking in the dark. They got me on camera and the guy actually found me on Facebook, oh jeez, reached out to me. It was like hey, we hunt the same area. Like I would like to talk to you about it. You know, I was like hey, like sure, you know like, and I was like how the hell did he find me on Facebook? You know like, it was just, it was crazy. I was like, I was like, oh God, that's creeper mode right there, man.

Speaker 3: 55:54

Yeah, I was like I don't know if I all right.

Speaker 1: 55:57

It's not me person, though, and what he really wanted was he didn't want to share and he wanted to be able to manipulate the situation.

Speaker 3: 56:06

That's absolutely. I shouldn't say that's always the case, because I've had good interactions like that Some of my close friends now obviously that's how I met them as we hunted the same area and became friendly, but then there's plenty of other. You know situations where that's just not the case. Yeah yeah, you hunt on Tuesdays, oh yeah, okay, well, I won't hunt on Tuesday, then, all right, sure yeah.

Speaker 2: 56:31

Yeah, I agree with that Exactly. Listen, I've met a lot of great people. You know I've a lot, absolutely, you know, but it's always a before I. You know it's always a test trial. It's different, you know, with the podcast. So I do a lot of advertising and stuff like that. Like I give out the business card and everything like that. You know that's how you're going to. You know marketing is, but it's before I do. I got to. You know it's reading the room. You got to like it's so much easier to feel somebody out in person than oh, hey, I saw you on it. Like you saw me on a camera and you searched me up. That's a red flag right there to me. Like, yeah, I don't know, I don't want to be that with you. I go missing like yeah.

Speaker 3: 57:16

You want to put a business card on my car or something you know. Like that's how I, that's how my buddy Larry, and he left his business card on the side and and I took me a couple of weeks but I finally called him.

Speaker 1: 57:28

I was like man, I'm on public.

Speaker 3: 57:30

When are you going to try to tell me I can't hunt here? And you know we hit it off immediately as soon as I called him, and it was my wife I don't know if I told you this before, but my wife was the one was like are you intimidated? Why won't you just call this guy Like, yeah, All right, cool Now I just got shamed by my wife. Okay, I guess I'm going to make the call.

Speaker 1: 57:46

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 57:49

So let's get into our, our, our newest segment and it's going to be, I guess, dummy of the week or whenever we do this. So on December 6th 2023, cpr, you know, del Viala was contacted for a complaint of a dumped bear carcass along this along the roadway in High Point State Park, devella, and Lieutenant Holmes met with the complaint uh, complaint and located a total of three dumped bear carcasses. The bear carcasses were collected and taken to Winningham Bear Check Station to be weighed and. The carcasses were collected and taken to Winningham Bear Check Station To be weighed and and a record search of potential suspects was completed. One of the bear carcasses had a distinct wound that a wildlife worker remembered seeing on a bear that was checked on Monday at the Flatbrook Bear Check Station.

Speaker 2: 58:40

Three bears were brought in at the same time to be weighed on Monday evening and were to were of similar size to the dumped bears that were recovered along the roadway. Through several phone interviews and the three hunters who had harvested the dumped bears were contacted and confessed and the confessions were obtained. Summons for dumped, for dumping a carcass on state property and for not removing all the edible meat from the carcass were issued to the hunters from the December 2023 bear of law enforcement report Fish and Game Council. First of all, my reading was terrible on that. I am sorry about that, guys. I will get away.

Speaker 1: 59:19

I will get better once I have to like once.

Speaker 2: 59:21

I do this more and I'm reading and also remembering that.

Speaker 1: 59:26

I'm recording a podcast and it's like it's just, you know it's.

Speaker 2: 59:28

It's a little got my mind going a little bit, but what, first of all, bear meat is so good to weigh?

Speaker 1: 59:42

All of that meat.

Speaker 2: 59:43

You are an idiot just alone for doing that. If you're an amicute believer of you, eat what you kill, I get it. If you're hunting coyotes, for you know, and you could say the same thing about bear too, but bears are actual, like it is a great meat to have. I can't talk on coyote or fox because I've never had one. I've never had one. I would definitely try it, but that is you know. For me, you know we got to get those numbers down to help the turkey population. Bear it's. It is known to be a good meat, like, hey, listen, if you're not going to eat it, donate it. Just donate the meat. Don't throw it out and donate that meat. I mean that's what the journal talks about Wanton weight. I mean it's not just about meat, it's about the meat.

Speaker 3: 1:00:32

I mean, that's what the journal talks about Wanton waste, right? Yep, wanton waste is, what I think, the official term on that yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:00:40

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:00:41

So I mean it's like you're, it's, you're breaking the law right there. I mean that's yeah, I don't know, man, that's, it's not cool.

Speaker 1: 1:00:48

Obviously and that literally happened. It's like five minutes from my house where they dumped those bears.

Speaker 3: 1:00:56

What's up? All the criminals up in Newark Jersey. What's going on guys?

Speaker 2: 1:01:02

Yeah, that's cause we're getting, you know, you know those some of us there, we got all.

Speaker 3: 1:01:07

We got all poor people down here. We can't afford to throw a carcass in the woods.

Speaker 1: 1:01:14

So I was like oh my.

Speaker 2: 1:01:15

God, I wonder what. I wonder if they're going to let it know what their sentence or what you know their tickets are going to be. But it's, it's perfectly what we're talking about last last podcast, you know. Is that something that I believe that they should lose their license over? I don't, I don't think so, but I think it needs to be a pretty big fine. Like, I think that's something that where it's like hey, listen, this is the case where you do this again, yeah, you're a hundred percent losing your license, but we're going to find the hell out of you for this, like you know what was the?

Speaker 3: 1:01:54

what's the purpose then? I mean, what did they? Just take the head to have the mount, or? Or what did they? What was the purpose of killing the animal then? Was it just for sport? I mean, I don't. I mean I'm sure there are people that are I like that, but I don't understand that behavior personally.

Speaker 2: 1:02:11

I think the problem is that New Jersey, with banning the bear hunts, you have a lot of pissed off people and I know for it, like I've talked to a lot where they're not saying these people are admitting that they've done this, but they know of people, especially farmers, that they shoot the bears and that and that they leave them. Like, look at Peyton's bear. Peyton's bear had a nine millimeter slug in in its face, right, yeah, I imagine a person thought, hmm, I'm going to shoot this bear in the head, it's probably going to die, right, right, you know, off speculation, the state created a problem, murphy created a problem where people probably had to do a lot of legal stuff, you know, and Bears were, were killed or bears are now looked at as we need to kill them and just whatever. It will check it in and I listen, at least they checked it in like they could easily take probably, you know not true.

Speaker 2: 1:03:08

You know, at least they checked it in. But it's like, if you're going to do it at that point, these bears were already checked in. Yeah, checked in. Yeah, he's a record of this.

Speaker 3: 1:03:17

Come on, just go do something, put it somewhere else, especially on the other road.

Speaker 1: 1:03:22

Not only that, but then they dumped in the state park. You know, like you do not think anybody was going to say it. Yeah right.

Speaker 2: 1:03:32

It's um. Listen, I don't. You know, frank. I don't know if you've ever shot a bear. Steve, I don't think you you shot a bear.

Speaker 3: 1:03:39

No.

Speaker 1: 1:03:41

It's a very thorough 2011.

Speaker 2: 1:03:43

Okay, you're okay. So it's a very thorough thing, steven. For anyone out there who doesn't know, we do have episodes where we do explain and everything like that. But, like with American Mike, they knew the my. All Mike had to do was give the the crossroads of where he shot his bear and they knew the exact bear. They knew the bear. They told them I okay, you killed this bear here. Wow, this is where you killed the bear. Yeah, and it was exactly where he killed the bear. So the thoroughness of the state that goes into these bears, it's it's top notch. Like it is pretty cool. Like I, next time I kill a bear, I'm going to film the whole entire thing because, oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:04:24

I think it's so unique and I do like that.

Speaker 2: 1:04:26

It's really cool, like you're interacting with. You know a bunch of people that work for the state the wardens. You know, um, smart, smart scientists like these are got. They know what they're doing. You know they take a tooth sample, they do this, they do everything.

Speaker 3: 1:04:43

So question about that, because I was curious about this as soon as you said that is, that are those metrics and that data. Has that been there forever or not forever? But has it been there for a long time or is that a byproduct of the non lethal course that they went in trying to do population management like what? Where did that come from that? They know have that much granular data about these animals.

Speaker 2: 1:05:11

Do you know that, frank? I believe they're doing that when you shot your bear right, so this has been a long time, but they do that with your two. So they from you know, before we move to the, you can do it online and everything that you had to bring deer into the right, I don't know if they had the whole. You know you had somewhere there to get a two sample and do all these things that I'm not a remember that, but for now at least, let's just say from at least probably 2011, 2010 state of New.

Speaker 2: 1:05:42

Jersey has been doing this thoroughly and I don't I don't see them ever stopping. I actually think you know what. It's a smart idea just to see how healthy their bear population is, and everything like that with deer. It's just a little too much to do just because of oh yeah, I get that.

Speaker 2: 1:05:58

But with bear, I think it's an excellent thing, like I think it's something they should always do. I think it's it does help keep people a little more honest yet again. And you know, hopefully this is a learning lesson for any idiot out there that do not jump bears. Listen. If telling you you try it. If you don't want to try it, that's fine, send it to shelter or you know something like that listen if you you want to donate to me and give me bear, me to listen, you give me on Instagram. Like that listen, I would happily take bear meat like it is by far, like it is up there, and that's how much praise I'm giving Steven. Hopefully you'll, you'll be able to try it out at the game dinner and everything like that.

Speaker 2: 1:06:43

Hopefully it's not gonna be not gonna be gone by the time you know, probably gonna be one of the first things that that's gonna be gone is the bear. It is just a great. It is great eating meat and you can do a lot of stuff with the fat too. So like, yeah, beautiful animals are, they're one of my favorite. And yeah, you know, dummy of the week goes that guy.

Speaker 3: 1:07:04

Those guys change my opinion a lot on on bear and I'll get into the full backstory sometime. You know, maybe we do more about bear related podcast, but you guys have already changed my perception of it because my only previous experience with bear hunt was up in Ontario and I was not the one who had a tag, but we were up there doing wall a wall I week and one of the people that were with us, they had a tag and they they shot a bear with a, with a bow, and the bear was maybe I don't, I couldn't say for sure but maybe 2030 pounds bigger than a cub. You know it was. It was a very small bear and I we were all excited to go and see the bear, see what they got, and they were.

Speaker 3: 1:07:54

The guide was skinning the bear out and had the whole thing hanging over a big 55 gallon blue barrel and he got to the head and he looked at the the two people that were had hunted the bear and they said you want, you want to meet?

Speaker 3: 1:08:11

And they just looked at the others and I said no, I don't want that and the guy literally just cut the head and fell into the barrel and it was done and I got so turned off because they didn't take that meat they didn't use. You know, this was 20 some years ago. I mean very early on in my career was it cemented in my head you eat what you hunt, so I was very turned off by that. But it's cool to see you guys and see your excitement about it and the fact that you're using not only the meat but the grease and everything else and there's a lot to it and it's made me change my mind. Maybe I will, you know, because I was very anti hunting bears for a long time because of that experience. But now I'm like maybe, maybe I'll give it a chance, you know.

Speaker 2: 1:08:54

I think back then I think it really got more popular with me. Either you know, and Stephen Rinella and him praising bear meat, you know, or you just have to know somebody who, from a family or something like that, really close that that's what they used to do, because it's yet again same thing like before I got into and you know, shout out to American Mike, he's the big, he's the one that really got me onto hunting bears and his love for for black bear hunting and everything like that and he's swore by it. And then I started talking a lot of people and almost I've only met one person so far out of you know, the I don't know since 2013 that doesn't like black bear meat. You know, and I don't know if it's. Maybe they shot a garbage bear that only let mostly eats out the garbage. But if you can get, yet again, they are what they. You know, if you got a coastal bear, it's gonna be very fishy. Like that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 1:09:55

You want to listen. I want to bear that it eats a lot of berries. Like I want a black bear eat blueberries and raspberries and stuff like that. Like that's what I right. Yeah, um, you know they are what they eat and you know yet again, before we could have literally, and we will have another whole podcast on this one. You know further and but I love how? Because you have to thoroughly cook black bear, love it. It's not like deer. From what my experience? Because I cook the hell of it, because I am not risking gosh forbid anything. Yep, yeah, because there's fat in the meat. It doesn't overcook like you would cook a deer okay, it doesn't like it actually doesn't dry out the same way.

Speaker 2: 1:10:38

I imagine at some point yes, it's going to dry out, but it takes a lot longer to dry out then you would be cooking a deer. So deer, obviously, medium, rare, medium. Yeah right, yep, black bear. We can't do that, so I took a quick a note.

Speaker 3: 1:10:57

This and all the other, yeah, yeah, yeah, well done.

Speaker 2: 1:11:00

And then, if you're not sure, I always say, just cook it even longer you know, make sure you'll notice, you'll start to see the grease and you like it's sizzling and everything like that, yeah, and then, if you don't finish it, you put it in the fridge. I pulled it out the fridge the other day and there's literally grease was on the meatballs because it still had all that fat it still has, yeah, built into the meat, even though it's.

Speaker 1: 1:11:29

I don't know how to explain it like beef marbling almost yes, yeah, it's, it's, and I don't know if it depends, like on the type, like on the time of year. You shoot the bear because, like I shot mine it was December and, yeah, it was like the same thing. When we were skinning it, you were literally your hands were slipping, because it was the fat was like so greasy, our hands were like literally like slipping off it.

Speaker 2: 1:11:55

Wow it is. It is something that I've heard. Year obviously is a big, but people don't. Yeah, people think that bears only eat meat or they eat majority. Actually, no, they eat majority of nuts and berries and stuff like. They're actually really clean eaters. For the most part, are they opportunists. Will they go through the garbage? Yes. Will they eat a deer or meat? Yes, but majority of a black bears diet is actually a corn, berries, things like that, everything that you know. Deer eat at every the lead. Almost that's that's what they eat. So, yeah, but I can't wait till. Can't wait for back. Black bear season hit around the corner, because we are going to be doing another full dive into into black bear season just a quick question about that.

Speaker 3: 1:12:40

Do you know how many tags were, how many tags were out for lottery and how many were actually claimed?

Speaker 2: 1:12:49

so cool thing. They do it like I didn't. I don't, do ever do lottery. I stopped. I used to do the lottery like oh, you have to do lottery. There's so many tags like it doesn't yeah it doesn't get filled up.

Speaker 1: 1:13:00

Yeah, yeah, so it doesn't get no no, it's kind of like turkey too.

Speaker 2: 1:13:04

For the most part, you're going to get like something. Yeah, if you're going to get something right and for this I just I forgot like straight up them bunch of us did not put in for a lottery because we knew like alright, like there's going to be, that's not. I don't know why they do the lottery. I don't, I don't, I really don't, because it doesn't make sense to me, because the same price it's available they're not selling out. I don't even think up at where your frank lives, that where they're selling out yeah, so you just bought yours, you see yeah, that's what I did

Speaker 3: 1:13:40

too, how much is a?

Speaker 2: 1:13:41

bear tag two dollars, two bucks. What, yeah, yeah two dollars because it's alright here's the thing, because black bears under the management, it's a management hunt gotcha it's a management hunt, which I think they should.

Speaker 2: 1:13:56

That's why Murphy can do what he does, because wild New Jersey Fish and Wildlife they don't really. They're not in full control because we're using as a management, like deer. Deer is not under management, dears under an actual game animal. From my understanding, what I was told, black bear is not under a game animal, it's under a management hunt. So that's why, from my understanding and I could be wrong, but from what I heard, that's why you know, murphy or whoever wants to get rid of the black bear hunt, they can, because now we have three years left to hunt black bears and then they we have to go through the whole situation all over again. Are they extended? Are we gonna have the? Yes, so we're under a four year. Yep, so we have three more years, which and that's another thing You're gonna have more problems that pop up if you ban it again, like just make it a game animal.

Speaker 2: 1:14:50

That's it I. I Bump up that price. I don't believe it should be two dollars. Is it great that it's two dollars? Yes, of course, but Yet again we have one of the most. We have the most densely bear population in the state and the country. Wow, and you're charging two dollars.

Speaker 1: 1:15:11

Yeah that's wild to me.

Speaker 3: 1:15:13

Charging two dollars for a bear tag, but you just up to the fees on all the firearms stuff by like 500 percent, Mm-hmm you know, if I e-card went from two dollars to fifty dollars, your permit to carry one from fifty dollars to two hundred. You know it's like but but no bear tags, two bucks.

Speaker 2: 1:15:31

That's great, yeah, but you know it's a. It's a. It's a great thing, but it's also like yet again we talked about the last. If the state wants to make some money, listen, I'll easily pay 50 bucks.

Speaker 3: 1:15:47

Sure.

Speaker 3: 1:15:49

How much people are paying for elk tags and other animals. You know out there well, and that's I mean that's got to be. How many other states have black bear hunt or any any species of bear hunt? Is it something where it's a tourism thing you know, being able to come to Jersey because of the densely populated bear population to come and do a hunt Can they push it in that way, or is it? Is it just resident? Only see, I would love to do a pod. I can't wait till we do a podcast is just barely.

Speaker 2: 1:16:22

Yeah, we'll get into it. So we'll basically wrap it up We'll say are finishing Things, and because we're already pushing it yet again, we hit like, yet again, two topics. I don't think we really got to much else. Great conversation, yeah, but it is that time of the year. If you are looking for minerals, it's about to be fishing season and turkey season. Head over to to racketers, sense and lures to check out all your stuff. Expect, listen, minerals, huge key for this time of the year. The fishing trout lures that he has, top notch. I absolutely love them. He is coming out with more new products and everything like that, so stay tuned. Will, of course, be mentioning it the minute they drop and everything like that. It is official we will be at the great American Outdoor show, I think from the eighth to the eleventh. I believe Frank will be there the sometime at that weekend, or 10th or 11th. We're waiting on Steve to see if he's gonna be making it wait on Peyton, but we'll definitely be there, for sure.

Speaker 2: 1:17:28

I'll be there for a couple days, so gonna bring the podcast equipment. May do some podcasts, but you know love going to the show. It's an absolute blast. Just found out that, um, whether you like him or not, whether whatever your political view is, trump actually is going to be there.

Speaker 2: 1:17:48

Yeah, so it's not because I don't want to meet him because I don't really care, but I'm not gonna be at the show while he's there because the traffic is going to be nuts, yeah. So I'm not gonna even put myself and be actually like I don't want to go like it. At the same same time it's like no, don't worry, we'll go away before because I think he's gonna be there at five o'clock and we'll leave before.

Speaker 2: 1:18:12

You have to deal with all that Traffic and nonsense, yeah, it's gonna be packed, so and it's, the show's already packed as it is. I don't want a bunch of nuts, whether you like. I said, whether you like him, whether you not whether you grew with them.

Speaker 2: 1:18:26

I just don't want to be there for any of that. You don't need that. Yeah, yeah, you really don't. Like I want to go. You're already busy enough. As it is like I want to go do what I need to do. You know you go have like a drink at the bar, eat some great food, yeah. And then also another thing that's official, obviously, as our Game dinner, and on April 6th it is also the start of New Jersey trout fishing season. So whoever wants to, if you're traveling in, you can come fishing with us. If you're just come to, if you want to just come fishing with us and I even go, whatever.

Speaker 2: 1:18:58

We're gonna be fishing during the day. We're gonna do the event. Next day we're gonna be back out at fishing. We're gonna be doing a raffle. There's gonna be some great food there. We'll be going over a bunch of stuff. Come meet everyone, not only just us. I, you know whoever else is coming. The gonna have people probably traveling in and everything like that. It's going to be a great time, the more.

Speaker 2: 1:19:19

I think we'll make be making that official now an announcement, I think on February 6th, so give people a two-month notice if I haven't already damed you, the people that live especially far. I've card already already let know, like hey, just to let you guys know, heads up, we're gonna be doing this if you can make it great. I know it's a far traveling, everything like that, but I wanted to give the people who are really traveling far a head up notice before I let everyone else who lives in Jersey and Long Island like that now but super excited for that, can't wait to see that. Our pre-order sales for the shirts and just got done, so I'll be putting in that order for new sweatshirts and everything like that soon. The guys, I think that's. I think that's everything. Any last words from you guys before we back on night and next week.

Speaker 3: 1:20:11

No, no, just you guys that have another two weeks, get out there, get hanging. You know, keep, keep your your stamina up. It's only a few short weeks and then we'll be on the turkey and postseason scouting, shed hunting, all that. So you know, finish, finish strong.

Speaker 2: 1:20:31

That's exactly what it is. I listen, I'm not gonna lie people last. No, I really did not want to go out today.

Speaker 1: 1:20:38

I.

Speaker 2: 1:20:39

To go in such the lazy mode right now. It's like that part of the winter where it's like I like do I really want to go, but no, it's just finish it out, because I know in, yeah, two weeks, in one day, I'm gonna be kicking myself in the butt because I'm not out in the woods, that I'm bored at home and and doing all the other stuff that I need to do. So, yeah, get out there. Yep, stay safe, shoot smart. Hope you guys get something down and we'll see you guys next time.