Boondocks Hunting Podcast
Welcome to the home of the Boondocks Hunting Podcast Family — where real stories, raw experiences, and the outdoor lifestyle come together.
This is your hub for everything Boondocks Hunting, featuring our shows:
The Garden State Outdoorsmen Podcast, Chase the Unknown, and Echoes of the Hunt: Behind the Hunt — a deeper dive behind the story of the hunters.
From New Jersey whitetail woods to out-of-state adventures, we dive deep into hunting, fishing, conservation, and the mindset that drives it all. Join us as we break down tactics, share unfiltered stories from the field, bring on incredible guests, and showcase the passion behind the pursuit.
Whether you're a seasoned hunter or just getting started, you're part of the family here.
Tune in… and get ready to Chase the Unknown.
Boondocks Hunting Podcast
Obviously Outdoorsmen: From Florida's Swamps to New Zealand's Rugged Terrain
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Our returning guest has come a long way since his last appearance, bringing with him riveting tales from the wild terrains of New Zealand and the sweltering climates of Florida. Discover how he maneuvered through Florida’s unique hunting challenges, from battling mosquitoes to understanding the state’s multiple rut phases. Hear about the stark differences in deer quality and size between Florida and New Jersey, and why adjusting expectations is crucial for successful hunts in diverse regions.
We then venture into the heart of Ohio, where our guest shares his spontaneous hunting experiences on state lands with minimal pre-scouting. Learn how tools like Onyx maps and local advice helped him find prime spots amidst frequent deer sightings and unexpected encounters with other hunters. The conversation takes a deeper turn as we discuss ethical bear hunting in New Jersey, emphasizing the importance of regulations and the personal experiences of hunting bears used to human environments.
In our final segments, we compare the effectiveness of bows versus shotguns for bear hunting and the importance of prioritizing meat over trophies. Listen to thrilling accounts of bear hunts, the logistics of packing out game meat, and the unforgettable New Zealand red stag hunting adventures. From the challenges of international travel to the continuous pursuit of new hunting experiences, this episode is packed with insights and stories that will captivate any hunting enthusiast.
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Hunting Adventures in Florida
Speaker 1Ready to elevate your hunting game ? Check out Gilly Puck , a US veteran-owned company from New York . The first of its kind , patented pending product is built with the same pride and dedication we have for our country . Gilly Puck offers the Basic Puck Package , elite Hunt Package and Tier 1 Package , proudly made by those who served . Gilly Puck is designed for hunters and nature enthusiasts who demand the best . Visit GillyPuckcom today and use code GP10 for 10% off your order . Gilly Puck pride in our product , pride in our country . Hunting just got tactical . Welcome back to the garden state outdoorsman Podcast , presented by Boondocks Hunting . I'm your host , mike Nitro . Today we have back on somebody that we , I think what our first year we had you on . At that time you were under a completely different name . You guys went and revamped everything . Now you guys are under the banner of , obviously , outdoorsman mike . Welcome back to the show .
Speaker 2How have you been , I've been good . Thanks for having me . It's been a long time since , uh , our first one . I remember our first one . We had a lot of audio and video problems but uh , hopefully this one goes good and uh , we can rock from there yeah , no , definitely .
Speaker 1Um , you know it's like you said , it's been a long time . So what ? What have you been up to ? Uh , you know it's been what ? At least three , three and a half years probably . So you know what ? What's new with you ?
Speaker 2man , a lot has happened in three years . I mean the most recent . I just got back from new zealand on a stag hunt . Um prior to that , a lot of deer , a lot of bear , a lot of everything else .
Speaker 1I was down in florida for a year fishing hunting , so a lot has changed yeah , no , I , I've seen , you've been the the traveling man and you know , before we even get into new zealand and everything like that , I actually want to talk about florida . You know what was it like going from , from florida ? You're a jersey boy , you know , obviously , the fishing is incredible down there and everything like that . But you know what was it ? What was the hunting like down in florida ?
Speaker 2how different of a ballpark was it well that that was just a complete change up , going from the nice cold weather of new jersey through most of the season down to sitting in a blind in November in Florida with mosquitoes and the thermosel going . So I mean I didn't end up shooting anything down there . Luckily I picked up private property down there very quickly , like 20 acres right in the center like central Florida down in Myakka , and there was a ton of deer . I had a bunch of does , a couple bucks and it's weird , the rut down there . They have like two or three different sets of ruts Down in Florida that I ended up learning To where it was like February and there was deer running across the street Chasing does . It was a complete change up .
Speaker 1Yeah , the south . You know the last couple episodes that we've been recording and now should be out . You know it just seems like the South is so the it place when our seasons are starting to die down and everything like that and it's brutally cold . And listen , I love hunting in the dead of winter in that cold , snowy time , but there's a lot of people out there that if you want to go get your , you're kind of like your , your second chance at something like the rut is just kicking off down there . You know it's got two or three different phases , like you said , and everything like that . So there's plenty of opportunity down there as well , especially if you know you didn't have the rut , that you you would have hoped to back back east and in the midwest and everything like that . So you know that that's a pretty cool . You know situation going on there .
Speaker 1What you know you said you had a lot of deer . What was the quality of deer ? I mean , I know you look at the east and the midwest and you obviously , and you know canada , you know the food and everything like that is just it's on a different ball game . But I heard the are the genetics the same like ? Are we seeing as big of deer what ? What does it kind of look like for ?
Speaker 2you , I mean , it seems , florida , and like most of the southern states they don't carry the mass as they we do up in the northern states like a big deer , which I learned , which was wild to me because I had a camera out for about two months and I had a bunch of deer but nothing I want to take coming from Jersey . And then I showed some locals down there , like a couple of 120s , and they're like you're letting that walk down here . A 120 in Florida is like a giant buck . And I'm like , oh , I did not know that and I'm sitting here letting them pass . But it seems like the deer are generally somewhat smaller . They're not as like a brute as up in jersey and like maine , the northern states , and they just have thinner racks down there yeah , so so did that contribute ?
Speaker 1like you said , you weren't really seeing anything . You know , is that part of it . You're coming from a state where you know and yet again we say jersey like it's we're not talking about iowa or anything like that but the deer here are just so much bigger from everything that you know that I've heard as well like it's just a different ball game . And when you do shoot a , a higher class deer in new jersey and everything like that , when you go south , especially all the way down there , like I feel like you can't go into the mindset of you know , we're , we're in jersey and everything like that . You know , and it's a tough thing because you're seeing these deer on camera and it's like , oh well , no , there's got to be something bigger . There's got to be something bigger . That's not really . You know , I've done that already . I've I've achieved that in new jersey . Like you're looking for something different that might be a needle in a haystack over there yeah , and it seems like most of the southern parts of florida at least .
Speaker 2Um , they don't have the nutrition like , because it's not really dirt , it's more sand and they're living in swamps literal swamps and at least that's where I hunted . I mean there's a bunch of fields and farm fields out there , but it the first time I went and sculpted the property and kicked up a bunch of dough . It was an alligator , like 20 feet from where I wanted to put a stand , so it was complete change up from everything I was used to what ?
Speaker 1yeah , and that I was gonna ask you about that . Like you know , when you're going in , say , a morning hunt , you know it's pitch black . You know here we don't have to worry about gators , we don't have to worry about venomous snakes , spiders . You know hogs , you know , I know they got hogs down there and everything like that . You know hogs , you know , I know they got hogs down there and everything like that . You know , was it a little nerve wracking like walking in there and having to learn , have to deal with more of the reptiles and the venom aspect . I know , you know you've dealt with rattlesnakes before , you know , and everything like that . But you know , now , over Florida it's just yet again , it's just a different ball ball game the more south you go when it comes to reptiles and everything like that honestly , I'm still a little more afraid walking in the woods at night in Jersey than than down there .
Speaker 2But maybe that's because I was a little ignorant to the fact of everything down there . I mean , I did see a ton of alligators . I did have hogs charge me while I was fishing one time down there . Uh , honestly , I hate the fire ant hills more than anything else down there .
Speaker 1Yeah , you don't even I . You completely forget about that , like I couldn't imagine . You know , stepping on that , I've heard horror stories about fire ants oh , they're awful .
Speaker 2I wanted to jump in lakes down there . I think I hate them more than mosquitoes up here in jersey . Really , yeah , 100 that's it .
Speaker 1That's saying a lot .
Speaker 2That that's saying a lot as far as florida goes , um , it was definitely a change up in trying to like learn southern hunting , but I'm happy I went down there and gave it a shot . I didn't kill anything . I could have shot in hogs and does , but just not a 120 class buck . Um , I quickly just moved on from that property , went on and just really pounded the fishing down there .
Speaker 1Well , of course , like when you think about Florida , you're you're thinking about fishing and everything like that . You know , um , what was it like ? You know fishing there for you ? I know there's so there's so many different species , like what . What did you spend most of your time doing when you're out fishing ?
Speaker 2I fished a lot of golf course ponds , a lot of golf course ponds , and it was weird how most of the golf course ponds I fished ended up being saltwater , which I did not realize even really even five miles inshore , off of even the bays and the ocean . Uh , there was tarpon and snook in these golf course ponds wow , you , yeah , you would never .
Speaker 1I mean , I guess , because we're up here we would never guess . But down there anyone who's from florida's probably like yeah , no shit , that's kind of like obvious .
Speaker 2But they , yeah , that that's so , that's so weird yeah , and I'm down there trying to catch largemouth and there's snook and tarpon all around . I'm wondering why I'm catching nothing .
Speaker 1Nothing on a football dude oh , man , now that that's great and you know , and you know from from there , you know you , you had your florida experience . Would you ever do it again , like , would you ever go plan a hunt down there or anything like that ? Or do you have any , you know , want to go back south , or or just you did it already , you tried it and you know , maybe the the southern hunting style isn't for you I'd go back down there to hog hunt definitely not the deer hunt .
Speaker 2I do want to go back there to shoot an osceola . Uh , that was the main thing I wanted to shoot down there and I still have the property if I want to go down , but uh , just not in the cards for right now gotcha , of course , one of those .
Speaker 1Every turkey hunter's dream is to go down there and get one of those you know , or alligator Like . I really want to go down there and hunt some alligators and stuff like that . Alligator meat is absolutely incredible . Now you have the pythons and everything like that . I know those invasive species so I know people have gone down there and done that as well . But you know I also we're gonna stay on the , the out-of-state hunts . You also went in to ohio . Tell me about that . Did you guys sleep in your car ?
Speaker 2oh yeah yeah I am the definition of roughing it on these hunts and rob and everyone else that goes with me .
Speaker 1They hate me for it but I feel like it's it's you got to do it like . You got to try to do it while you still can like you know you might as well rough . It saves you , first of all , a lot of money on , you know , hotels and everything like that . But you know where did this idea come from ? And , and you know , talk to us about the , your ohio experience and everything like that .
Speaker 2I mean , the idea came from tagging out in new jersey fairly quickly and , um , into permit bow at least I tagged out fairly quickly and you know , permit bow , that's right in the rut . So I'm like I want to try a new state . I was hunting new york , uh , and I was looking into pa , and then I'm like , let me just try ohio . My buddies are going out there every year doing good , so let me go . And uh , literally I think it was a thursday , and I hit up , hit up everyone . I was like , who wants to come to ohio with me ? I'm going tomorrow . And we just packed the truck and went overnight and we had three , three or four days and I was able to get it done with a day to spare and it was one of the best just random hunts I've ever been on I love it , I , I love it and very , you know , successful for you and and all around and everything
Hunting Strategy in Ohio State Land
Speaker 2like that .
Speaker 1You know you , you first step into ohio , you know what . What's going through your mind as a hunter , like , what are you looking for ? And you know it was short-term notice . You , you had no pre-scouting before there . You know you have buddies there and that have gone there and everything like that . But like for you , when you , you had no pre-scouting before there . You know you have buddies there and that have gone there and everything like that . But like for you , when you you step out the car , are you on onyx or whatever map you're using ? Like what ? Or you know I think you use , um , the mood , the moon , uh , the app and everything like that . Yep . So what is the first thing you're doing ? You're stepping on a brand new area , completely different . What , what ? Did you kind of break it down for us with that aspect ?
Speaker 2Well , first and foremost , I spent the night before I left . I spent about four or five hours on Onyx just looking at state land pieces and for me I just wanted to see what was the closest , coming from where I live , coming from New Jersey . So I looked at a couple of different spots and I did have a buddy that lives out there and I sent him a couple spots and gave him I wanted his opinion and he told me one spot to just like kind of look at . And then when we well , everyone has their dream of like going to the ohio , the fantasies and stuff we're driving there , we almost hit , I don't know , maybe 80 deer , no exaggeration , just herds running in front of our trucks and what we ended up seeing a one nice , like 140 jump in front of the truck right opening morning , pulling down , like we're like okay , we're here at stateland , a 140 jumps in front of us and we were just like getting the candy store at that point . Yeah , yeah , but stateland down there . I mean I had a couple spots picked out on onyx and I was just looking for funnels , backs of state lands .
Speaker 2My mind process was just go farther than anyone would be willing to walk and look at the thick stuff and , honestly , I had about six spots on Onyx I wanted to check out and put cameras up in and five out of the six spots were just loaded with hunters . You couldn't take 10 steps without seeing another tree stand . We saw the deer . I was like the first hour I stalked up on a doe , bedded into 80 yards waiting for a buck , and then , um , I just found this one nice pocket in the back corner of state . I figured no one could come out of the private so and it ended up just being an absolute honey hole where I ended up sitting robin tyler that went out with me . They had a couple different uh experiences out there walking into hunters , almost getting shot and just really , jesus yeah yeah , rob on .
Speaker 2Uh , he thought he was stalking a buck and it ended up being like a decoy someone set up and and it like an old or old guy with a crossbow and just kind of picked up without identifying the target first , and rob did not have a fun experience there oh , my god , that's a horror , that's a horror story to to hear .
Speaker 1But you know it's , it's ohio , like it's just filled with a lot of hunters , just like you know you go to PA , you go to Michigan , you go to some of these . You know Densely populated hunting states Like Ohio's , that one I've been saying it for the last , like Two years now , I'd say , and I think almost everyone definitely would agree Like it's that most achievable state For a lot of us on the east coast , where it's like , alright , we can't go out to ohio yet or we haven't gotten the tags for ohio . I mean iowa or kentucky or kansas . But ohio is just it's , it's really not that far away if you're looking , if you're looking at it , and it's really reasonable prices , what big deer .
Speaker 1So you know , not only do people from ohio hunt there , you get filled with a lot of out-of-state hunters which I've heard it it's pa , it's west virginia , you know it's probably new york , new jersey , like . So you're just getting so many hunters in it and it's in an area and you know that's , that's the unfortunate things that's going to happen . I mean , you look at here in New Jersey , you can say the same thing . But I feel like during bow season you don't get it nearly as much during gun season . Gun season it's like oh , there's a stand , there's a stand . Everyone wants to just sit by each other and push deer and everything like that . So I think we get a little more relaxed .
Speaker 2I feel like not many people are out bow hunting that as much as you would look at a state like ohio . Well , I I'll tell you what . What ohio does right is you're allowed one buck a year . That's what they do right and honestly , with the amount of stands and everyone that we saw , I saw deer every single night . The night I killed my deer I saw about 12 or 15 deer that day and even rob and tyler running into so many hunters , they still saw deer . They still saw bucks .
Speaker 2Rob saw a 130 that he just couldn't get a shot at like 40 yards and it's just . I mean I only shot about like 100 inch deer but I I was completely happy with the experience . I saw a 150 working through the private . So it's like , especially the residents hunting state land down there , they're not gonna just shoot a scrap rack or a spike . If they have one buck tag a year , they're gonna wait for something at least decent . The out-of-state hunters we're gonna go in there and shoot probably the first buck we see , depending how much time we're down there . But that's what ohio does right versus jersey . You're allowed seven bucks a year .
Speaker 1It's it's actually insane . Yeah , it's . I'm not happy of the state of where jersey is and what they're doing . I think I get it that you want to , you know , for the insurance companies and they want deer gone and manage everything like that . But I mean , I really think that jersey we have a lot more to offer than what we really are are showing and it's never going to get to that full potential . If you can shoot 70 bucks a year because you're right , anyone's just going to pop any type of deer that they see come across because , guess what ? I got six more deer tags . You know , you , you can't really pass deer in new jersey so easily on like a public piece of land .
Speaker 1Now actually , um , funny story is this year I had this nice little I think like five pointer out in front of me he was going to be a nice deer in the next year or two . Right , I'm watching , watching him , I'm filming him , everything's great . He walks up A couple hundred yards . All of a sudden I hear a whack and I'm like , oh my god , I was like no way , sure enough . Yep , guy killed that buck . Hey , listen , great for him . I told him I was like listen , that's what you got . You know it's meat in the freezer , like . I completely understand that . You know I passed him and that was my decision . You shot him , that's your decision and you know . Great for you . But it's another thing . It's like you can shoot six more deer . You know , I think it was still , I think that was fall bow , I think this happened right and at the end of fall bow , so you could shoot whatever , and then literally you get a brand new permit all over again a couple weeks later . I think you know so it's .
Speaker 2It kills the , the buck numbers , and you know just the overall maturity of bucks for sure and not to mention with jersey , you have unlimited does in most of the zones in new jersey . So a part of me is like well , if you want me shoot a doe , um . But then again it's like I , I get it . If you have seven buck tags and you see a little scrapper and you know you have six more , why not just shoot him ? And I mean I've shot spikes . I shot a spike last year during muzzleloader season .
Speaker 2I can't be a hypocrite and say don't shoot the tiny bucks . But it's like to me it's about the experience . I mean , if you're just shooting every deer that walks out in front of you because you have the tags , I don't think that's right . I mean I also pass 120s and 130s sometimes , so it's not like I just shoot any buck or only let the little ones walk . So it's it's all scenario based with me too . Uh , if I grunt one in and it's a I , this is an insane hunt and deer chasing everywhere and I have a shot that I might shoot one over one that just comes into a corn pile . So it's all dependable . But that's just the issue with new jersey .
Speaker 1I mean , if new jersey only had one buck a year , I guarantee I wouldn't have shot that spike yeah , yeah , no , and I agree , I , I think , and then you would have the opportunity a lot , um , bigger bucks as well . Um , you know , like you said , it's a most zones are unlimited deer , unlimited doe . And then , even if it's not , I think it's like five , I think one of the spots in blair seven that we hunt , it's five I'm not shooting five in fall bow than five like that's still a lot of freaking deer . I'd be completely fine if they moved it to . Hey , you know what it's five per season . You know I mean cut it down . You know that that's how I want to see it . But you know what it's five per season . You know I mean cut it down . You know that that's how I want to see it .
Speaker 1But you know what , not everyone is going to agree . You know when . That's just where we're at right now , but you know there's there's not much that we can do about it . So you know , back on the , the ohio hunt , you know you have , you guys are seeing tons of deer . It doesn't matter your experience if you're running into hunters , you get . You found a honey hole , everything like that . You know kind of shape out how the , the , the hunt really like , where the deer come from . Like paint us a , a the best picture you possibly can , so we could , you know , we could , all you know , visualize it there so there were a couple corn fields um , along the road on public land , um , some was standing corn , some was cut corn .
Speaker 2The field that I chose was cut corn and , um , my thought process was just , I took the first two days and basically just scouted that and if I found a spot then I'd sit there for the last two hours .
Speaker 2And , uh , the last spot I got to there I didn't see any hunters when I pulled up , which probably was the main reason I hung the stand that night , um , but the next morning there were a lot of hunters there and , um , I worked back in there and I saw four or five fresh scrapes within 20 yards of each other , each other with a bunch of fresh rubs , working out of the cornfield along a creek , going into a bedding area , and basically it was a big funnel and I just got in the back corner of state land .
Speaker 2So I went in the very back so no other hunters could come out of the private and basically just have some type of shot at deer being unspooked by public hunters . And , um , basically , the side hills were just super , super thick bedding to where you would need brush pants and a machete to walk through there if you if you wanted to go scout up in there and , uh , I figured if they were just going to come out of that bedding , work the creek down into the standing corn or come out of the standing corn and go back in the bedding in the mornings , and that's exactly what they did the first night I sat there . I had does come out of the bedding area going into the corn that I could have shot , and the next day it was just nonstop buck action going through that ticket . And I was there first week in November . So that's right around where they just stop hitting scrapes as much during the day and I think this year we're going to go the end of October and try to Hit them more on that pre-rut .
Speaker 1Gotcha , gotcha , okay . So you guys Are going to be heading back , everything like that , so excited to hear about that and everything like that . You know , listen , I remember when you you posted on , you know that was it's a goal , I think , for a lot of people and I think you said it best . Like you know , when you're traveling to a different state , like that , you know it's all about making the hunt . You know it's not about who's shooting the biggest damn deer in the world , like it was a memory . Not about who's shooting the the biggest damn deer in the world , like it was a memory . It's . It's a hell of an accomplishment of what you did in within three days .
Speaker 1You know , with all that hunting pressure and everything like that , you know , and I think sometimes that's that's a lost in what we do , and I think social media obviously plays a huge part in that . But that's something that I think you guys do pretty well too
Bear Hunting Strategies in New Jersey
Speaker 1, as well . Like you guys shoot a lot of animals . You know some of them are big animals and then you know some of them are maybe on the , the smaller size and everything like that . But you you show you know it's okay to do everything .
Speaker 1You know , I think that's really what's lacking with um , the social media aspect of hunting , where people just have to assume that , oh , if it's , it's not a one 60 or up . You know that's not a good deer where it could be , like you said , a spike . You shot a spike with the muzzleloader and guess what If I , if I'm spike , would have walked out this year when , when I went out for two days for for gun season , best believe I would have shot that thing too , and you know it's me in the freezer . Like you said , it's hard to be a hypocrite because you know I would have done it under the same . You know circumstances , but I I think that's something that you guys do real well I , I appreciate you saying that .
Speaker 2I mean um , and it's not even just deer too , I mean turkeys . I shoot a lot of jakes . They come in gobbling and they they're talking like a man . I'll fold them right then and there the turkey . Wild turkey steak tastes great , but as far as um like like shooting spikes and stuff , I mean if the state just went like a three point rule statewide , that that would help insanely yeah and I eat everything I kill , from bear to turkey , to deer , to pheasant .
Speaker 2So it's not like anything goes to waste and honestly , the younger ones do taste better . But I'm out there for the hunt . That's the main reason I'm there . I don't care if it's a spike of or 200 inch buck yeah , no , it perfectly said and it's listen , I hunt .
Speaker 1One of the zones I hunt is a three on one side . I don't know if they got they officially got rid of it . Um , but I it's a night and day difference between the bucks that I'm after in that zone versus the bucks that I'm after in a . You know where you could just shoot anything . It is a night and day difference . Um , you know where you could just shoot anything . It is a night and day difference . But you guys , so you did Ohio before we get yet again to New Zealand , the bears . You know , I know the last time we talked , you guys are big on bear hunting . You know mom has done it . You've done it , like everyone bear hunts . You know Robert has killed some nice bears and everything like that . You guys do the bear hunting pretty damn well . You know what was it like when you guys first found out that bear season was coming back . I think what two years ago now . What ? What was ? You know what was the game plan from you guys the minute you guys found out that it was coming ?
Speaker 2back . I mean my mom was doing backflips . She loves bear hunting . I mean me . Part of me hates the bears . Part of me really hates like . I hate them because they're not like the typical you bear .
Speaker 2When you think of bear , you don't think of a jersey bear , because the jersey bears are more , are almost more , just like they're . They're garbage eaters . That's what they eat . I would love to try a bear for out of colorado , a spring bear . I guarantee it tastes 20 times better than a jersey bear . It's not bad , but they probably taste a lot better .
Speaker 2But , um , honestly , there's so many bear up in northern new jersey because we live in a pes a county and there's just bears everywhere . We see at least three to four a week , at least , jesus Christ . So it's just like and we're trying to bait for deer , sometimes depending where we're hunting . And I had five cell cams taken or ruined by bears last year . I had one rip it off the tree and carry it through the woods and I'm getting pictures of his inside of his mouth . Oh my God .
Speaker 2So bears , they're just annoying . I mean , if we wanted to really target a bigger bear , we can definitely try and do that . The one I shot this past season . It was actually a spot and stalk hunt for me and it was right after I just saw a really nice Pope and Young Buck I think it was the 11 pointer I was after . But he moved off with some does on state land and I ended up just turning around and working the edge of the swamp and the bear was just sitting there feeding and like all the swamp cabbage and that was just a chip shot at like 40 yards .
Speaker 1Jesus it's . It's got to be a pretty cool experience . You guys do it real well on the ground too . I've noticed a lot of your guys bear hunts have been on the ground and everything like that . I know I can't remember what year it was , but I think you shot that bear in the rain with the the angle of the gopro , I think , was behind it , and everything like that . That was a pretty cool hunt . I think you said that you had to drag that one out by yourself . Yeah , that one sucked that one sucked .
Speaker 2Um , yeah , but most of our hunts are from the ground . Um , I mean early on , when the bear hunt was a thing you couldn't really , or the baiting was a thing you couldn't really hunt over baited areas but you could hunt was a thing you couldn't really or the baiting was a thing you couldn't really hunt over baited areas but you could hunt on the ground and you couldn't really be in a blind . So they were always in some type of log jam or like a fallen tree , and that's kind of how we hunted them . And , uh , I did take a bear out of New York about two , two , three years ago . That was out of a tree stand . That was a great hunt .
Speaker 2Um , but most of our bear hunts are on the ground , that's . It just seems to be a better . It seems like most animals in new jersey especially , they look up . That's just my experience . They look up . No hunters are in trees and especially if there's food involved , they look especially . So even just being on the ground and playing even a mountain at your back , a rock face , a log jam , a lake , playing , the wind is just , it's a lot easier being on the ground .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah . I can't remember who said it , but somebody said that's the same thing . It's like in New Jersey the minute they get to like a corn pie or something like that , they just immediately just start looking all over up in the trees and everything like that , which is not normal deer behavior at all or not normal animal behavior if you have bears doing it and everything like that too as well . Um , you know , yeah , bear , I mean I love bear hunting . I've I've become obsessed with bear hunting over the last couple years . Um , you know , and it's , I love it . I mean , I love the meat . I'm 100 with you . Like , I feel like a bear some .
Speaker 1I can only imagine what a bear tastes like you know , somewhere in maine or colorado or something like that , where you know they're not eating any garbage or anything like that . Like you know , I can imagine what a berry bear tastes like that are just devouring berries all the time , Like that's something I would definitely love to kill as a like a blueberry or a raspberry type of bear that I know has been crushing just you know berries all damn day , but you know it's . It's such a cool experience . It's such a cool experience . I mean now you're do you , you guys do it from the ground a lot , like you said . You know is it just is there has to be a way , bigger adrenaline rush , like your heart's really got to be pumping , especially in the beginning , like your first , like time doing , I imagine , like it's just a whole different type of experience .
Speaker 1And you're hunting New Jersey's apex you know predator , if you want to call that , even though they don't really eat as much meat as people think they do . They're very big opportunists , I will definitely say that . But you know still an animal that could just one swipe , just take your damn head off . You know what's it like hunting them from the ground . On that type of aspect , hunting them on the ground .
Speaker 2It's just a lot of times when you hit them they'll like do the spin or roll or they'll like moan and you almost just want to like jump up and like knock another arrow real quick . I , I mean , I don't hate bear hunting . I like , I like bear hunting with the bow . That's what I really like .
Bow vs. Slug Bear Hunting
Speaker 2In my opinion . I think it's far more effective than a shotgun is . That's just my own opinion . I've seen way too many bears shot with shotguns and then not die or them just go super far . I think a bow and cutting through their fat is just so much better with the broadhead versus a slug . I I've seen , I've seen slut , we've killed bear that were shot with shotguns , that were shot three , four or five times and , uh , when we're processing them and we're going through , you can see where the slugs are going in when you're skinning them out and the slugs have stopped in the fat before the vitals , even though it was right dead where it was supposed to be . It just stopped it and mushroomed it before it got anywhere near it . Wow .
Speaker 1So in my opinion , shooting whatever broadhead you want to shoot , fixed or mechanical I think it's so much better than shooting them with a slug uh , the only bear I've killed has been with the slug , and you know I was happy to kill my first bear , but it just wasn't the same like killing something with the bear . I mean with the bow . Bow hunting is just what I love to do . And now my goal we're going to upstate New York and I think their bear season starts the 7th and Everyone's like oh well , you could take whatever you want . Nope , I'll be taking my bow . Like , my goal is to kill him with the bow . I will be doing it with the bow . I will not .
Speaker 1I don't think I'll ever hunt a bear again with a , with a gun , because , you know , I didn't know what , what that whole situation , but to me it just it't it . It wasn't the same type of effect that I would normally have on me if I , you know , was to harvest something with the bow . So that's the next goal . But that's a pretty interesting , you know , fact and I wish that'd be a pretty cool study . I will say that , like , I would like to know if there's any hunters out there you know that can you know , tell us your experience , especially if you use a shotgun , like I know a lot of the guys that black bear hunt that I know they use bows and everything like that , but I would like to know what it's like for you guys that use a slug gun . You know what's your experience like . Is it the same thing ? You know it's a big bear with all that fat I I can exactly see where you're coming from .
Speaker 2And it'll depend differently too . I mean , october bear is going to be completely different than a December bear and I feel like it's not all types of slugs either . I feel like it's more like that saboted , just that lead Like . If you use a , a hornady , like a red tip , that thing's probably going to blast through that thing . But if you're using like those cheaper slugs there are the slugs that I've seen mushroom before and if you are bear hunting for the first time with the gun or just without anything , just make sure you study that the vitals of the bear . Everyone's trying to shoot them . Where they shoot a deer and they're missing the vitals or they're only hitting the tops of the lungs and I can't stress that enough . You do not want to be tracking a bear through thick mountain laurel , that's not gonna die , it's just wounded center of center , that's what I hear .
Speaker 1That's , you know , uh , our , our guy pay and he smoked one , made it a little farther than we thought but still wasn't that far . Like you're really thinking about it , you know , and just this absolute beast of a bear and you know , just center of center . You know that's something that from the minute I heard about black bear hunting was hey , shoot a little further back , don't . It's not a deer , do not hit the front end of it . You know aim more . You know backside of , you know that center area and you know it's . It's just crazy , because when you're deer hunting , like that's just not where you want it and you're going against the norm and you know . But in the long run you're right .
Speaker 1I will say there's nothing like tracking a bear , you know . I will say that if , if you're not a hundred percent sure that it's dead , my anxiety this year tracking peyton's bear was through the roof because we we hoped that it was dead and we gave it plenty of time , but we just they don't bleed , like you know , deer too as well , because of all that fat and the fur and everything like that . So it's in your mind it's like , oh , this deer , this bear is not dead . This bear is not dead . Like you're expecting to see deer type of blood , but you're not seeing that at all . So that's another thing where it's like shit , is this thing really ? Is this thing really dead ?
Speaker 2but you do see it with the bow , though . In my experience I I've had very good blood trails with the bow and arrow on slugs . I tracked one this year . A buddy hit and the he took had a video of it it dropped . It took about 10 seconds for him to get back up and , uh , the guy that shot the bear was using a single slug gun . So the bear was able to get up and move away .
Speaker 2I had to get on my hands and knees for over a hundred yards in one area , but it was just up and down thick and you couldn't see five feet in front of you . And in that scenario I had four or five guys with me that would just kind of like circle the thick stuff and see if they could get blood out on the other side . So I didn't have to go through the super thick stuff and see if they could get blood out on the other side . So I didn't have to go through the super thick stuff and , uh , god forbid if the bear was in there . You're going face to face in their territory and you're going to lose every time .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , without a doubt , every single time you'll lose , um , and it's . It's even harder for us Jersey guys , cause you know , you know you can't legally carry a gun with you either . You know , at least some of these other states . You get to , you get to carry something else , but and I think that's another problem with jersey , but you know that's that's a whole different topic with with guns and everything like that . But , um , you know what , when you , when you're going into bear season , you know what , is there ever a goal like I know you said you're somebody who you know you're , you're probably gonna it's gonna be more situational or anything like that . But are you guys at a point yet where it's like you're gonna be going for the biggest bear ? It's still just for you guys , it's still such a management thing because you guys are running into just so many bears and everything like that . So I feel like you can't really be that picky as well I mean it's tough .
Speaker 2I was actually talking to rob about this , like last week . I was like do we actually try and shoot a big bear this year instead of the first bear that we come across ? And he was like , yeah , we should , at least one of us . And I mean I , I swear I saw the state record new york bear last year thing was easily north of 800 pounds easily , and we had some , uh , we had some pictures in in the town we live in of a bear easily north of seven two and he was consistently on camera .
Speaker 2Um , it's just a matter of like when you're out there and you see a bear that's bigger than like 150 pounds , 200 pounds , it's just like management at that point . We see bears on every hunt , every deer hunt . They ruin all of our deer hunts and it seems like everyone that has tried bear hunting , they , once they kill a bear , they rarely will continue to kill , kill bears . They realize how much work it is . They realize the meat isn't the best uh , compared to like a normal bear , and it does it . In my opinion it doesn't match up with venison even closely . And , um , they just realize how much harder of work it is like if you're by yourself and you're a solo hunter . To kill a bear is tough . That's a lot of work yeah , no , it is .
Speaker 1This is it's a much different creature . Um , you know , and your experience , you've done it all by yourself before too . So you know I couldn't imagine doing like like a deer it's like obviously a doe anyone . You know , I feel like most people could do that . You know , when you're talking about a big buck , you're definitely it's much harder , but then you're you're talking about a bear and then once you get a bear over a certain weight of you , know you're talking about a big buck , you're definitely it's much harder , but then you're you're talking about a bear and then once you get a bear over a certain Weight of you know you're talking about North of anywhere 200 plus pounds , you know You're getting that 250 , that Three 350 range . And what would you do if you shot A six or 700 pound Bear , you know an 800 bear , like in upstate Nework , like at that point , like you would have to pack it out , I , I would feel you know what else could you really do , especially if you're miles in ?
Speaker 2well , I mean , first off , if you're bear hunting , you you need a sled , you need a jet sled , the way that they are just all blubber and it's so tough to drag them out . They don't . You don't have a rack you could grab on , versus like a deer , uh , you're grabbing a leg and they're getting caught on everything . You need a sled , um , so , anything , I would say , under three , dragging one out by yourself . If you're in some type of physical fitness , you're able to do it decently . Uh , north of that , even with a sled quad , would be very helpful .
Speaker 2I mean , if you're north of eight , though , and you're miles in the woods , even even north of five , uh , you're probably gonna have to pack it out , and it's so tough in october , because that meat's gonna spoil
Meat Over Trophy
Speaker 2very quickly . You need to get that hide off very quickly and , uh , I think , as a hunter and a , your main purpose is meat , not so much the trophy , I would hope , if everyone hunting . So you're packing out the meat first , you're leaving the fat there and you're leaving the fur there , the skull and , um , surprisingly , bears that are like 300 pounds once you get that hide off and the fat off . They're not as big as you think they are , uh , once , once you get it down to the meat , so it's doable , it's very doable . Makes think they are once you get it down to the meat , so it's doable , it's very doable .
Speaker 1It makes sense that once you get to that point , yeah , it definitely makes sense . I mean , all that fat , I mean it's insane . But listen , we love using it to cook with and everything like that . We're big fans of the fat and everything like that . I'm just a big fan of bear . In general , I love eating bear . Um , I will agree , I think it's up there is actually one of my favorites , but still not the same as like a , I think a venison , or like elk . I love elk . I don't think you could really beat elk . How was the stag did you ? Were you able to take that home ?
Speaker 2we weren't able to take the meat home , but I did eat . Eat it like every night once . I shot it . Um , the stag meat was incredible . The best thing I've had out out there was fallow , fallow deer . That was the best I've ever had in my life . That was really good tender , really tender .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was just so it just fell apart in your mouth . It was unmatched but it was funny the guides out there they took . So I went with a buddy and the stag he shot was like eight , nine years old and they actually donated all of the meat on that animal to the farmer for dog food . They thought that meat wasn't going to be good and , like I tried mine , which he said was like six , seven years old , I told him I needed to try it . Even if you donate it , I need to try the meat of something I shot and I thought it was incredible .
Speaker 1I thought it was absolutely incredible . Yeah , no , I would love to try it . I mean , I'm down to try literally anything , especially if I hunted it before . So you know I'm down with whatever I hunted it before . So you know I'm I'm down with with whatever . Um , now that you know we're , we're starting with that whole aspect . Where did the New Zealand trip come from ? You know was , how long was this in the making before you pulled the trigger on this ?
Speaker 2um in the making . I always thought of it as like , uh , this is never gonna happen . And it was always just , uh , I wish I could go to new zealand one day and it never come . But , um , from the moment I was informed of my , my buddy , going on the trip it was about three months and I was like I'm going to new zealand I honestly thought it was like wasn't gonna happen . I thought it was just like , oh yeah , we're going to new zealand . And he was like , did you get your passport yet ? And I'm like no , I got my passport and I literally my passport came in like a week before we were leaving . So it just happened to all pan out and next thing I knew I was landing in California and then on a plane for another 20 hours to get to New Zealand insane , yeah first of all , before we even get to the hunt like are you a plane person ?
Speaker 1do you like to fly ?
Speaker 2I used to not be . Um , that was honestly .
New Zealand Red Stag Hunting Experiences
Speaker 2I've had worse . I've had terrifying trips on planes going to florida , but then that's only a two-hour flight from jersey , but going to california , then california to new zealand , that was over , I believe like 30 hours in the air and it felt like land . It was so solid . There was no turbulence , maybe a little bit going over like the , the rocky mountains out in colorado and stuff , but that was the best plane experience going and coming back , wow wow , that's .
Speaker 1I'm not . I've never been a plane person . I was okay with with going and I was perfectly fine coming back . But that's a long , long flight , like that's a lot of air miles and you know , for someone who I mean , obviously I want to go to alaska one day and everything like that . But after you killed that , that red stag , like I was like , wow , that's new zealand , like it started to pique my interest and I think I , you , you've started to hear more and more about the red stags and I think it's gotten into people's minds more .
Speaker 1But yet again , that's one of those things like will it ever happen ? You know , will I ever be able to do this Kind of like Alaska moose hunt ? Will I actually ever be able to do Alaska moose hunt ? Is it so , you know ? Know , when you book the trip , you have the trip and everything like that . You know , from a price perspective for anyone who's curious about it , what are you looking ? Is it like a , an alaskan hunter or something like that , or are you looking at , actually it's going to be a cheaper hunt , or is it still one of those big game species that you got to pay some money for ?
Speaker 2well , I mean , I'll tell you what it's probably it's probably harder and more expensive to go shoot like a moose in alaska than it is to go out to new zealand to shoot a red stag . Really , and I was honestly kind of shocked because I mean that there is no hunting season out in new zealand , so you just go there and hunt . There's no really regulations , you can shoot them year round and most of it , most of like the tourists going over there are shooting like farm raised stag and even me going there . When you think of red stag and you google red stag , you're thinking of like a 20 , 30 point animal . That's just absolutely enormous . And that's all farm raised which we came to learn the property and the guys . We got it with New Zealand Wilderness Hunts .
Speaker 2It was Carl and Sandy that took care of us and they basically do what we do in Jersey knocking on doors and getting properties , except our properties are tens of thousands of acres . So it's a property that I hunted my stagag on and it's no high fence where we went and apparently everything is high fence out there when it's stag gotten we had no high fences . It was 30 000 acres and it was just like never ending mountains of the same property and then and then we were joking about it out there . We're like high fence , huh ? He like let me show you the fence . The fence was a foot tall and they jumped over it . We were watching Stag jump over it and we're like , okay , yeah , this is not high fence . It was pretty cool . And I mean their price packages and , honestly , to go out there I'd probably go back there . What the price point was , if you go by yourself to the guides that I went to , at least , and just shoot a stag .
Speaker 2I mean their package was like five grand an animal for a stag , kind of it was right around that price point okay so if , if you combine that with like travel , if you're just going for a stag and you're not like staying anywhere else , you're going out there just to hunt , not be tourists , and uh you figure five grand , you're gonna tip the guides probably a grand or two grand , whatever that be , uh , you have to think of airfare , so whatever that comes out too , but even with uh the flights and you can't uh forget about the shipping costs of the , the rack and the hide and everything else back . So I would say , going by yourself , it's going to be like 12 , 15 tops to go out there and I mean that's not bad for going that far to shoot a stag .
Speaker 2No , not at all , not at all , I think that's , that's do that's doable and you're you're probably going to go home with something incredible . I mean , the guides , I really wanted to shoot one with my bow . These guys , um , they , I feel like they didn't really understand , because if you don't have a hunting season and you're shooting them just for meat and you live there , why shoot them with the bow , why make it harder to shoot ? So I mean , we had a couple different scenarios where I felt I could really sneak up with the bow and make it harder to shoot . So I mean , we had a couple different scenarios where I felt I could really sneak up with the bow and it just we were not on the same page . And then , uh , we passed up a really , really like bigger than the stag that I took or my buddy took . We passed him up because they felt we could do better .
Speaker 2And then it's just , you know , ignorance on our aspect . We don't know what it's like being there . We've never been there . They live there . They know what kind of quality stag are there and me and my buddy are sitting there mad because we couldn't shoot this giant stag , the biggest stag we saw all week , and the next night I see a literal 20 pointer giant stag working across this hilltop and I just couldn't believe it . So it's just a matter of trusting your guides and it's just an insane trip and I mean , uh , between me and him , I mean I only took the stag . Uh , I took , I , I took a stag and a hog and I shot at a bunch of rabbits that I missed at like 60 yards . A buddy shot a fallow , a stag and a tar , so so it was an incredible time out there .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , first of all , it looks , looks absolutely beautiful . Um , you know , and just all that , that range and just the ability to go there , like when you're , when you're up on that mountain , and everything like that , can you even believe that , like , hey , this is what I , I'm doing ? You look back four or five years ago , like , did you ever think , like you're gonna be in new zealand ? You know , backpacking out , you know this beautiful animal , um , you know , and such a trophy , like I , I couldn't imagine that that wasn't on the , the bingo , bingo cards for you ?
Speaker 2well , not even that . I mean even now , thinking back , I feel like I woke up from a dream , like it feels like it didn't really happen and I had to remind myself . Once I uh harvested the stag and I walked up on it and confirmed it was dead , I had to , like , like , take it in . I had to take a second , just kind of look around and soak it in , because I'm like I'll never be back here , and it was just like surreal . It felt like I was on mars . That's what I keep telling everyone . Like it did not feel like that actually happened yeah , no , I I believe it .
Speaker 1I mean , you know it's . It's just that , you know , I'm looking at some of the pictures and it's , first of all , just a beautiful animal , just just a interesting like , kind of like our elk , but just a little more special , I think , a little more red and it's . It's different , because we can't just go to colorado and everything like that and and go hunt . Where are they , as are they , what's their vocalization ? So it's they don't vocalize like like a , like an elk is . It would be more like a deer hunt , like how do you kind of hunt them so you're spotting , you know , spotting , stalking them ? Are you , are they doing any calling there the guides or anything like that yeah
Hunting Adventures and Future Plans
Speaker 1, yeah .
Speaker 2So we went . It was almost right in the middle of the rut . We got there in the back half of our time . There was the main rut and uh , it was kind of like a drought . When we were there , everything was supposed to be super green and everything was like burnt up and dead . They did not have a lot of rain . So there was and what we would call a field here in Jersey , a nice green field . They would call a paddock , so they would be like there's one green paddock here . Everything else is all dead . All these stag are coming to this paddock .
Speaker 2So we tried the first couple of nights hunting that green and the stags were everywhere . A bunch of young stags came out and just the big ones did not give us a shot . But the back half of the week , once we already tagged out and we just kind of wanted to soak it in , uh , we were out there . They would use a horn , like a hollowed out horn almost , and like roar at them and stags would come running in and and I , if I do go back , I need to plant it during the peak week because that's when I'm gonna kill one with the bow . Like they're out there , they're roaring and I you can't even , I can't even like mimic it , because like an elk would be a high pitch bugle , obviously , and a deer would just be like a low grunt and this thing . If I heard this at night in jersey , I'd run the other way and never go back in the woods . So , uh , it was very intense . We tried a couple different setups trying to call them in , and we called in a bunch , uh , just not , no , no shooters . And then , other than roaring , uh , we did some spot and stalking , we did some um , and we would hunt like in between like two valleys , so like the left side would have a wallow and the right side would be thick bedding .
Speaker 2Tell you what the biggest thing I learned from new zealand is , especially with that kind of territory and I think this will help me when I go to like colorado and stuff like that um , because you don't have an opportunity to glass a lot in new jersey , just never ending glassing , especially in hardwoods we , we would sit on a mountaintop , the same mountaintop for six hours to where I'm sleeping .
Speaker 2I'm like I look at this mountaintop for two hours already , I don't see anything , and the guys are next to me are like , okay , there's a chamois , there's a stag , that it , there's a hind , that , and I'm just like where ? And they're telling me where it is to the tee and I still can't see it , and it's just like they have trained eyes . Then , towards the back half of the week , I was able to pick up on a lot of it , what they were looking for , like the shadows and the thicker spots , and where these would actually be coming from . So it was just a different hunting experience , coming from New Jersey , hunting out of a tree stand and doing deer drives and that kind of stuff .
Speaker 1Now , that's absolutely incredible . So I imagine , like you said , Colorado is next on the list for you . What's the big hunt next for you ? Is it going to be Colorado ? Are you going to go back to Florida for some turkey , you know ? Are you going to do a bear ? Are you going to do the spring bear hunt before you do elk ? What's kind of next for you guys or for you ?
Speaker 2For me personally that's a tough one . Me and Robert are supposed to go to Colorado this September to go for elk , but the cards just didn't pan out . We switched up some jobs , personal life stuff , so we couldn't end up going out . I still may go out and I seems like my hunts are all last minute . So I mean I would like to go back to Ohio this year if I could swing it . I'm going to try going to new States , probably go to Virginia for muzzleloader hunting . My bucket list hunts are a grizzly and a moose with the bow . I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon . That'll be at some point during my life , but we'll see . I mean , as far as this season coming , I would just like to knock down a bunch of big white tail and maybe try something new , if it's in the cards yeah , that the grizzly and moose hunt , that that's .
Speaker 1That's going to take time , I think , for for most people and everything like that . But you know it's funny because I got I was going to go to actually colorado this year as well , uh , to do an outcome . But you know , with my engagement , everything and trying to plan a wedding , I do not think it's in the cards for me this year as well , um , you know so that that's that's on the standby as well , um , but it's once you start , I imagine it's pretty fun . You know you've accomplished a lot in new jersey .
Speaker 1You know , and I imagine you guys are having tons of fun now traveling around and and doing different hunts . I know you guys travel around for fishing . I know you guys go down to new york and everything like that and you know , do the salmon fishing and everything like that and all the incredible things you've guys done in florida and everything like that's everything else . But you know I I bet , like you said , it's it's a different type of style and you get to learn so much more when you travel to all these different areas to hunt or to fish and you know it's just like you're a brand new hunter all over again , kind of yeah , it felt like I just didn't know anything when I was there .
Speaker 2They were just showing me all these new things , new tactics that I thought was like I wouldn't even think of . And even hunting in jersey they could just . I I even view now every hunt , even if it's in Jersey , even if it's just a tree stand state . You got to learn something from every hunt , otherwise you're just not learning . And you got to pick up on everything , even if it's from a doe , or how the birds move in and they signal deer square , no matter what it is , even if something's stupid like that . You got to try and learn something out there . And that whole trip I mean I still have two weeks worth of footage . I'm still going through trying to make three videos out of and it's just . There's so much I don't know how to piece it together , but that will be out eventually . But you just got to learn on every hunt , no matter what it is . Just try and learn a new technique that'll help you in the future .
Speaker 1Yep I agree with you . Um , and then big question , what ? What was it the ? The switch for ? You know , was it because you guys were starting to branch out and , you know , move to different places and everything like that ?
Speaker 2so you guys switched up the name to obvious out obviously outdoorsman , which I I think is very fitting to as as well yeah , I mean , uh , I felt like I was almost , we were almost getting limited to new jersey and the fact that , uh , we were started the branching out going to florida , going to new york , a lot pa ohio , and just really started moving out there , um , especially now going to new zealand . I didn't want to limit it and um , I just felt like it was a better , better overall plan , getting people to at least be like Almost a community In a way .
Speaker 1And you know , something that's still going strong Is your guys YouTube channel that now TikTok's out there and you guys have Looks like it's blowing up on TikTok too as well . But you know , for the YouTube that's , I feel like , been your guys bread and butter For when did you guys have looks like it's blowing up on TikTok too as well ? But you know , for the YouTube , that's , I feel like , been your guys bread and butter for when you guys first originally create the YouTube .
Speaker 2I created YouTube for myself in 2013 . I just posted for myself and kind of just making like a library for myself , and then people started liking it and then , I think , rob came on board . I asked Rob to join the team in like 20 , I want to say 18 . So for a long time it was really just me , and even still now I'm the only one that's editing the YouTube videos , and if they film it , then I'm still editing it and still posting it up there . So I've been slacking a little bit . So that's just life is getting in the way . I want to get back up there and really start pumping out a lot more videos .
Speaker 1It's tough as , as we get older and things like that , the free time to do all these things is not like it used to . But , man , I mean it's . It's a grind that you guys are doing and you know that the YouTube channel is very impressive , you know , and I I enjoy watching your guys' videos when you guys post and everything like that . You know , and it's having now Rob and you know other team guys and everything like what , what are you editing on ? You've been doing this for so long nowadays . So what's your main editing tool for anyone who's looking to get into ? You know editing , filming their own hunts , or you know growing a a . You know a page for for themselves as well . What are some recommendations ?
Speaker 2well , I'll tell you what a lot of people like to suggest like final cut or premiere pro , through like adobe . Um , I've been using sony vegas for since the beginning , since 2013 . So I this is over this 11 years now I've been using sony vegas and then I've tried to jump to like premiere pro because that's what everyone's using . So let me give it a shot . I think premiere pro , compared to sony vegas , was trash compared to to what I've been used to . I think I liked it just because the ease of use is so much better . I'm able to work quicker on it .
Video Editing and Content Creation
Speaker 2And then , even if you don't want to jump that far in as a beginner , start with CapCut . I mean , capcut is an app mainly for like TikTok and Instagram and stuff like that , but I'll tell you what they have a desktop feature that really isn't that bad . I mean , I use it for a lot of my TikToks and a lot of stuff like that and it comes out . The quality is almost just the same . It's a little little more tougher with certain aspects , like if you're trying to green screen or stuff like that , but if you're just trying to clip together a video , capcut is an amazing app and most of it's free . If you want to just pay a couple bucks a month , you get the pro and you get access to everything .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , I agree with you . I think I'm in the same . I use Adobe Premiere . I use Adobe Edition to edit the podcast , but I use Adobe Premiere because one of my best friends , she , actually this is what she does . She creates commercials and everything like that . So she , I actually this is what she does , she creates commercials and everything like that . So she , I'm not spending all that damn money on adobe um to to do that , but she lets me , you know , use her account . So shout out to her guys , I'll use it .
Speaker 1It's , it's on the tough range , like it is obviously with reputation . You're , you're gonna learn it , but you , I'm a hundred percent with you with a cap and cut , that's what I use for a lot of my smaller videos , a lot of the Instagram videos that I make . You know , within reason , you could do a lot of the same things , kind of like what you said , but it's , it's still not quite there yet , but I , I highly recommend it honestly for a lot of people , anyone who's looking to get into it , like you said , even if you're somebody who's into it but just you don't want to spend the money you don't want to spend . I don't even know what Adobe's thing is , but I know it's a lot of money . I don't know how much yours costs and everything like that and what the pricing is with that , but you know it's . It's a pretty useful tool , especially the desktop edition like the desktop is , I actually enjoy using and I'll maybe probably do some bigger videos on that and also use adobe premiere at the same time .
Speaker 1Um , but it just depends . It's fun doing this . I will say like I do enjoy it . I wish I had more time to do it . Um , you know , working all the time editing podcasts and stuff like that , and you know , having a , a fiance and , and you know you , you got the the boo thing as well and everything like that . So it's life is not what it was like when we were first jumped on the podcast together for like three and a half , four years ago . You know , things have definitely changed , and all for the good , though .
Speaker 2All for the good , definitely , and I mean we're both learning every single day with hunting and editing . It's both of our content have gotten so much better compared to last time we were on there . It's insane , but it's not even close . And the backtrack a little bit with cap cut . Um , yes , it's behind in some aspect , but they are putting things out with ai that are not on , like premiere pro and sony vegas , like they have the text to speech-speech or the text-to-captions that , like for tiktoks and youtube shorts , it's just so quick just to put up a video , add , click on text-to-speech or text captions and it comes up at the bottom and you have you're done in like five minutes .
Speaker 1It's so quick , cap cut yeah , I'll agree with that too as well . Yeah , I , I use that quite frequently , so I'll agree with that . And you know you talk about our development and everything like that . I mean your guys like the quality of your guys stuff , what you know . Yet again we're going to that realm of you know . You're looking at from where you first started the camera gear , the photography and the editing . You know to now where you are just it's completely just night , and I mean this . A bunch of your pictures especially , you know look so professional , you know , and it they look really well done . Um , and then your video edits too have just it's gotten absolutely spectacular . You know what ? What cameras are you guys kind of running with , you know for for your seasons and everything like that .
Speaker 2I mean for some of my hunts , I mean my New York bear hunt one . I don't know if you saw that video , but some of my hunts are filmed just with my phone , and I mean even if I'm filming , filming , filming other people . I mean the new iphones , it's just the cameras are just unmatched for what it is . You could just record it on your phone . But , um , I mean I finally upgraded , I , I upgraded right before new zealand . I finally got a nice , actual like camcorder made for hunting . Uh , I think it's the canon z90 . I want to say okay , yeah , yeah , it's like the same one waddell uses for all his hunts too . Yeah , yeah , yeah , uh , got that . I mean , as far as the picture camera , I use a sony . Uh , I believe it's the a6400 .
Speaker 2We're all trying to jump on board with just getting nice dslr cameras just for that better quality content . I mean you don't want to look at stuff that's going to hurt your eyeballs . And as far as the editing goes , at least with me and the YouTube , that's just I'm trying to look at it as like , if I looked at video and I think something's boring , I cut it versus is it going to be educational ? So that's stuff I've been trying to play with . I try and pay a lot of attention to like creators , like even Mr Beast .
Speaker 2I try and look at his videos . What does he do in his editing with the little zooms , little cuts ? He always cuts frames when he's talking so people don't get bored , so it's just stuff like that and trying to just see what the people want on that aspect . But at the end of the day , I'm still just putting the videos out there for me and one day when I have kids , then we could just watch those videos and be like look , this is me 2020 shooting deer . So that's the main reason I'm doing it . Yeah , no it's .
Speaker 1I love that aspect of and you know I talk about that part a lot , you know , and it's I , like you said , that you got to feel , like you got to learn from from other people as well . Yet again , this isn't we . Didn't go to school for this . We , we , you know , we're learning as we go , but watching other Content creators , and it doesn't and it doesn't have to be hunting , and it doesn't and like it doesn't have to be hunting . You know , you look at some of the these other guys and you're you have to start picking up what they do because , like you said , you don't want it to be boring , and you know that's I . I know that it's .
Speaker 1It's still hard and it's something to get used to you for , for a lot of you guys out there and I'm , you know I'm trying to get better at it as well you know it's now when people ask oh , how long does it take you to edit a video ? Way longer than did before , because you know what . I rewatch it a hundred times and I'm always okay , no , I got to cut this out . It's too long . This , this part's too long , it's too boring . Okay , where can I add things in ? So when I'm talking , like you said , you're just not sitting there just talking to the camera .
Speaker 1Now , you know you , you get those , those other cuts . That now makes it a little more exciting and not so boring and just stale and plain to to look at . But it's a , it's a learning process , but it's definitely a fun one and , like you said , we we've grown a lot and you know a lot of the guys out there they've they've grown a lot and you know it's it's a lot of good things still to come to as well , and you know it's it's for the kids to get the kids in the outdoors and to show our families , friends , loved ones , all these incredible moments that you know that weren't there to witness it too . I know we can't always bring our , our moms into the woods or our girlfriend , fiance's , whatever loved ones out there , and you know it's's something to be proud of as well , for sure .
Speaker 2I'll tell you what if you want to really learn how boring your video is , show your video to a non-hunter . They will tell you straight up how boring that video is of this buck walking through the woods . I've been
The Challenges of Hunting for Beginners
Speaker 2doing that . Before I post a video , I'll send the video out to 15 , 20 people . I'll send the link out and be like just give me your thoughts , like , give me constructive criticism , don't be afraid to hurt my feelings is why I'm sending it to you and they'll be like well , the boring was a little slow . The beginning was a little slow . Uh , the middle you could have cut , like the buck that I shot permit bow last year . Really nice nine pointer .
Speaker 2I felt that was one of the best videos I've ever edited and some of the best content I've ever gotten . And it did very poorly on YouTube and I was shocked . My Ohio one did better . I mean now each video I put out I feel like it's getting better and better and better . But it's just amazing the stuff that you think is so interesting , especially when it's a hunt that you've like you've killed that deer and now you're editing the video .
Speaker 2You want to relive that whole hunt the deer walking in the deer drinking out of the river , the deer taking a poop , the deer raking a tree . Like you're , like I want to live this and then if you're trying to put it on youtube , you're going to get like five views because no one wants to watch a half hour video of a deer just breathing yeah , no , yeah , 100 , and quick on that , because I've I've said that you , I've always been able to tell difference on a lot of people .
Speaker 1Do you , does your fishing content do a lot better than your , than your hunting content ?
Speaker 2surprisingly no , in a way , surprise , I mean most of the I haven't . I just saw that today too . I was looking at back at a couple of videos I've been . I've put out to fishing videos in the past like three years . So I got to start putting more out because I'm just looking at the view count and not too many people hunt and film in New Jersey , hunt and film in new jersey , and the people that do , I would say there's only about maybe five percent that edit it well , because a lot of it just looks like crappy gopro footage or just poorly edited videos to where I watch it in the first five seconds I'm like nope and I click off and I watch someone else . So , um , I feel like that has helped us .
Speaker 2Um , as far as , like the new jersey deer hunt , the most of our , most of our hunts do very well on youtube and , uh , it sucks . We can't really post too much on tiktok because they get taken down and we get banned like multiple times . Um , but the fishing does do very well . I mean there are way more people that fish than they then hunt in the world . So I feel like that's a big reason and if you're not , if just a random person walking on the street . If you ask them if they've ever hunted or fished before , nine out of ten of them would say they fished at some point in their life . Versus hunting , so that's , I feel , why fishing does better yeah , I , I , I would , I would agree .
Speaker 1it's so much easier , so much cheaper too , you know , and not only that , it's just it's easier , but it's easier to get into . You know , with hunting , you just hunting is very overwhelming , I think , for somebody who didn't grow up in it , for someone who has no idea what the hell to do . I mean , you look at , you , look at our digest alone .
Speaker 2it is the most confusing thing in the world you need a lawyer just to hunt in new jersey , you , you ?
Speaker 1do it's . You know we , we've had this new hunter , um , you know I've talked about him a few times , his name's bass . You know he's in his 50s or retired and this , this guy , he hunts like no other . I mean his first year , last year he went over and a hundred hunts I think he shot like five or six deer . Like it was incredible . Like , hey , you're retired , what else are you going to do ? I completely get it . I wish , I wish I could do that , right , but he goes .
Speaker 1I don't understand these rules . There's like , how does somebody knew he , he goes ? If I didn't have you guys here who were Experienced in this , I would have gotten busted a long time ago , because it doesn't , and when it does Tell your rule , it doesn't clarify it . So there's so much gray area In our rules that I remember I think I asked the warden A question once and he goes . Well , depends on the warden . He question once and he goes . Well , depends on the warden , he goes . You might get away with it or you might not get away with it . And it's like , well , that doesn't help me , so that doesn't help . There has to be a clear . Just make it simple . Simplify the hell out of everything . If you're doing something illegal , it's illegal . If it's something legal , leave people the hell alone .
Speaker 2It's just very tough , and I mean , for people to get in the hunting without a mentor is virtually impossible . If you don't know anyone that hunts , it's very , very , very tough to be effective at it . I mean you can go out hunt and sit in the woods all day long and get lucky , but to do it effectively it's very tough . And to shoot a big buck is very tough if you don't know anyone that does it . That's why I'm thankful that I've gotten people like rob and tyler and a bunch of new people into hunting and now I have buddies to hunt with , because otherwise I wouldn't have anyone to hunt with .
Speaker 2And um , it's just uh , it's tough . And I I personally , at least , from new jersey I wanted to do like a step-by-step process , like a video series on youtube of like how to get your license , buying a license , the tags . I just wanted to make 200 boring videos of learning how to get in the hunting and be legal doing it and then be effective doing it . So that's why I've been doing a lot more tips and tactics , videos of like finding deer bedding areas and stuff like that . So maybe I'll do it one day if I find the time .
Speaker 1Which is so key I I mean all those boring videos though I mean and they may be boring to some people is so useful to the new hunter , especially like you know , obviously , how to get your license , everything like that . But you what you said how to find beds you can walk by , you could walk in woods and if you're not kind of like trained to like see it or pick up on it , you would never know that there's deer bedding right there , like you just wouldn't .
Speaker 2Well , even to simplify it more than that . I've taken a couple of new hunters in the past couple of years and even older guys . Not even like younger kids , I mean like older guys , like like almost 30 years old , even 50 years old , like a new hunter that just wanted to try it out the level of unaware they are in the woods of what they're doing is actually mind-blowing . Like you make fun of , like the joke of , like the kids stepping on the sticks with their father walking in the woods , these guys can't have zero percent stealth in their body . Like they step on every stick , they cough , they sneeze . They don't understand to move your eyes more than your head . Uh , they don't understand . They people just think you're in a tree , that they're not gonna see you and you almost need an earpiece earpiece in their ear to talk them through the whole hunt .
Speaker 2I , I almost did that this year . They got got on their first deer opening day and I'm like , all right , now reach for your bow . And he goes to reach for a bow , like this in the tree , and I'm like , stop man . I'm yelling at him . And then it's so situational too , because like the deer all looked up at him and half spooked and one had his head down . I'm like grabbing , bro , this is your shot . He's like , but you said not to move . I'm like yeah , but now's your shot . You have to know when to be slow , when to be quick . Yeah , and honestly , if you're getting into hunting and this is your first year you're looking to get into it you have to view everything as a learning curve too . I make mistakes every single time I go out there , and the mistakes you make need to be your learning lessons for the future . That's the only way you're going to be a great hunter . This is the only way .
Speaker 1Yeah , everyone makes mistakes , you know . I think you hit the nail on the coffin in the beginning , like you have to learn something new every time . I think that's probably , I think that's , like you said , the most important thing , because at the end of the day , if you're not learning , if you're not adjusting , if you're not gaining , I think , something valuable out of it , it's like , okay , there's no , like the it's . It's fun to learn , it's fun to be honestly , it's fun to be beaten by a deer or any type of animal , because then your drive to really one up an animal that their senses are just all around better than yours , and a animal that is hard as hell to kill regardless , that's going to fuel you . So you are going to lose nine times out of ten , right , it's just that one time where you're going to win and you're going to capitalize . That's going to make it all worth it .
Speaker 1Look , this year I lost almost every damn hunt . I went out this year . I had the roughest seasons , but it was one of the best seasons I've ever had . I had so much damn fun this year . And you know what ? I made a lot of mistakes . I did a lot of things right and next year I'm just going to take everything that I learned and even failed at and do it better and , you know , realize where I went wrong and , you know , hopefully capitalize in a in a big way and that's kind of like
The Thrill of Hunting
Speaker 1my hope for the season . But you know you're you're gonna fail , especially as a new hunter .
Speaker 2I mean , that's the , that's the best part about hunting . I mean I , I like it so much because of the difficulty that not everyone can do it . In my opinion , I think everyone should at least try it , you know , at least try it . We even just start by going to the ring . See if you like shooting a gun , see if you like shooting a bow . Um , at least try and sit in the woods , try and shoot a deer . Some people really love it , some people really hate it , and it's okay on both . But again , you can't say you hate something if you never tried it . Um , so if I was successful every time I went out , I wouldn't like it as much . Um , yeah , that that 10th time would not be as special if the nine times worked out , if that makes sense . You failed every time , which makes the 10th time special .
Speaker 2And then it there's almost a little bit of a remorse or sadness that comes over you when you do shoot a deer at some point , at least me personally . I mean there is that buck fever , there is that happiness and that recollection of the hunt . That's all there . But is the the best quote I ever heard was that I ? I wish I could breathe a breath back into them so I can hunt them one more time , especially when you're hunting a big , mature buck that you're after for a year and year and year . When you finally do kill them , that hunts over . But then the new story , the new chapter starts on a new buck , and that's why I will hunt until I can't walk or shoot anymore . So that's just how it is . There is always a new challenge , like I was explaining this to my girlfriend yesterday , like why hunt over a different sport ? And it's like stuff like and like .
Speaker 2I played baseball . I played sports my whole life and it's just like baseball . Football , there's no level of it . There's always the same aspect there you got to hit the ball , throw the ball , get it . There's always the same aspect there you gotta hit the ball , throw the ball , get it there . As hunting , every single thing you have to take into account , whether it's the temperature , the weather , the wind , um , how noisy the ground is , uh , the sunny , cloudy , where is , and then everything could be perfect and the deer just be on the other side of the property . That day it got spooked by raccoon earlier that morning . No matter what , everything is different and all the stars have to align for a hunt to work out perfectly yeah , no , it's , and that's , that's it .
Speaker 1Right there , I mean that's , that's the most important thing . Like that is everything that you , you , you want it to be as a , as a outdoorsman , I think , um , the frustration , the blood , the sweat , the tears that sometimes , I mean it's , it's all worth it . And , yeah , it's . When you kill that , that deer that you've been after or bear , or whatever for the longest time , like yeah , it's , like what next ? Like there's a second , that's like all right , like what is next ? Because I can't do this again . You know this was him , this was what I spent . Some people chase one deer for three , four years . You know I couldn't , I would . I would love to have that . Like let me choose my words carefully I may not love to have that , because then that might really drive me crazy .
Speaker 2Oh , it'll drive you crazy .
Speaker 1But like that chase you know of , that's something that you would always want back . I think also after that , like once you kill them and it all settles down and you get into bed that night it's like , damn , I want to do it , like I wish I had that deer again . Where I could , where I can do that , you know it's , it's a On . No other sport will ever compare . And you know I've played hockey at , you know , the one of the highest levels and I don't it . That doesn't even compare . You know I've I've scored a . You know we we won a state championship with , I can think , between 10 to 15 000000 people in there . You know I've played a game where you know in Canada that there is like 30 to 40,000 people there .
Speaker 1As a 13 or 14 year old kid , like that does not compare to even coming close to harvesting your , your , this deer or whatever animal you've been after , after , or even a close encounter where you know what . You didn't kill it , but now you're , you're trying to let your heart rate go back down and you know you , my stomach gets upset once that adrenaline rush and that buck fever gets in there , it's like , oh , like you kind of feel sick for a little bit like , and then you're chasing that high again . You're like you're chasing that , that adrenaline rush over and over and over again . We're just adrenaline junkies . That's what it is like . We are just straight adrenaline junkies , just chasing a high all over again 100% and it's just .
Speaker 2It's just a giant puzzle . Just hunting is just a big puzzle , especially white tails , whether it's finding sheds or their beds or trails or tracks . It's just a big puzzle that sometimes you never finish . I mean , I'm chasing a buck , uh , very close to my house . For the past three years now I've got one set of sheds of them . He's going to be six and a half this year . He was about 140 inches last year and , um , I hope he blows up and I hope I'm gonna kill him , so I hope so too yeah , yeah , I , I definitely hope so too .
Speaker 1So , uh , hope so too . Um , but , mike , you know we're we're gonna wrap up the , the , the second chapter of of you coming on this podcast . I mean , we cannot let three years go by before you come back on again . Um , you know , it has been incredible talking to you yet again and , you know , hopefully , you know it's been a while since we ran into each other . I mean , you know , I , I think the last time we saw each other was um the jersey , and I think this was before the podcast too . Um , I think we've ran each other at the , the show for jersey , for the garden state show , I think , at uh , gerard's booth . I think that's the last time we we saw each other , um , but it's .
Speaker 1We should definitely try to get all the guys together and everything like that . We we do throw some events and everything like that . So if you're ever in the area , you know , definitely stop by . We're going to be doing . We did our first annual game dinner , I think , or , yeah , I think , we did our first annual game dinner last year . We'd definitely love to have you next year and everything like that . And you know , definitely meet up at sometime soon , and you know , have a beer or whatever and talk , uh , talk hunting , and maybe do an in-person podcast , for sure .
Speaker 2Yeah , do an in-person podcast . Shoot the bows a little bit , shoot the shit a little bit . We'll . We'll have a good time . We'll meet up again , definitely for sure . But , uh , any last words , no , just thanks for having me on here . Uh , again , I'm Mike would obviously outdoorsman . Um , mike's a great guy . If you have not checked out his podcast , or if this is your first time listening to this podcast , uh , you need to do a deep dive in all its content . And if you're new to hunting , just stick with it and try and find a mentor .
Speaker 1You'll get there definitely , I appreciate that . And , yeah , keep
Connecting With Hunting Experts
Speaker 1keep on grinding . Guys , uh , you know all the links in for them are going to be down in the description below . Do not hesitate to hit them up because these guys they will help you out every way they can . You know they're a bunch of great guys . You know we're definitely gonna have to get a podcast before we go with you and rob on at some point , because we I definitely have to hear you know his story , how he's gotten into hunting and his whole past . You know success and you know , I know you were a big part of that and everything like that . But , coming from the fishing background , I'm very interested in hearing how that , how that went and everything like that too . But , uh , you know , thank you yet again for for coming on and you know everyone out there . I hope you guys enjoy this episode and we'll see you guys next time .
