Speaker 1: 0:00

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Speaker 1: 0:59

Welcome back to the garden, state outdoors and podcast presented by boondocks hunting. I'm your host, mike nitre. I'm frank mastica man. I just. This one means a lot to me because I have never had a childhood friend on this show, someone who knows me on a like a whole other. You know level. Um, I got one of my good buddies who I grew up with in the town, played hockey together. We went to high school. We let's see what three union county championships together. Um, you know, he was actually one of my favorite pictures that we have together is, uh, us celebrating together after we scored a goal against chatham. I gave him the, he scored, I got the exist and that was the first game, uh, after my grandpa passed away, um, and we have this sick sally picture together. But my great friend tim yeager, welcome to the show thanks for having me, buddy, glad to be here man it's.

Speaker 1: 2:04

It's been a long time coming now. Uh, you know, for all those who don't know you out there, give us a quick, you know rundown, even though I gave a pretty big rundown for for yourself.

Speaker 2: 2:13

Give us a quick, quick rundown yeah, uh, you know, me and michael go way back. Uh started probably in what second or third grade when we started playing hockey together for junior devils. And then, uh, he had a little hiatus when he thought he wanted to go to a private school and realized that probably wasn't the best fit mike's not a khaki and blazer shirt wearing kind of guy and made his way back to a public school where we reconjoined as teammates playing hockey. But yeah, I mean, I don't know, that's kind of our background together. And then last two years I've been working, spent two years working for Ducks, unlimited, and then you, you know, back into my natural habitat of oil and gas now. But what?

Speaker 1: 3:13

what was that like working?

Speaker 2: 3:14

I working for ducks unlimited I'll tell you what it uh, it was honestly incredible. Um, I actually got to see a lot of where those dollars meet the dirt and where money that you know outside of your general fundraising banquets right. So those are a lot of overhead. Um, because it costs a lot to put those on. You're funding those events so people have a good time to make other donations, like what I was doing. So I was a director of development.

Speaker 2: 3:51

I was securing large sums of money from donors to go directly towards projects, and there are different ways that you can do that, right. So you could say I want it unrestricted, like wherever DU needs the money the most. You could say I want it unrestricted, like wherever DU needs the money the most, you put it there. Or you can do it in specific project areas, right. So, like the prairie pothole region, where that's the breeding grounds for ducks, or, if you want to do, the Texas coast, right. Every state has their own projects, but then there's like national projects too that benefit them as a whole, and two years ago I got to go up to Manitoba with Ducks, unlimited and actually go see some of the project Actually the very first project that they ever had done Duck Pond no 1, duck Factory no 1 up there and see what these biologists are doing like, how these dollars are actually impacting the wetlands restoration program. I actually got to sit and meet with some really really cool, really awesome people who actually advise congressmen and senators on how to vote right. A lot of the you know to vote right. A lot of the you know we're raising a lot of the money, but then a lot of that money is matched with naca grants, which are federal grants, and so they are pushing, you know, state congressmen, state senators to do that.

Speaker 2: 5:21

This year actually ducks unlimited. For the first time ever in history did one million acres in one year, which two years ago we thought we were about five, six years off of. But through generous donors and raising a lot of funds, we were able to do one million acres in one year, which is incredible. And after doing that, at national convention a month ago, a donor pledged a hundred million dollars, which is an absurd amount of money. Right, when I saw that I thought it was a typo. I was like, oh, they add an extra zero, like $10 million, like that's still a lot, um, but a hundred million dollars from an individual donor, uh, to go directly towards, uh, wetlands conservation and restoration. Um, and again, that's more than just ducks, right? So when you're talking about the Texas coast, you're talking about land aggregation, you're talking about habitat for plants, fish, like all aquatic life, amphibious. It's more than just ducks, which is why other organizations like CCA partner with DU, pheasants Forever partner with DU, the Crane Trust partners with DU. That was a huge project that I had worked on. Um, there was a piece of property in Nebraska that, uh, the landowner was looking to sell and it was a huge. I mean, it's right in the middle of the crane migration, right through the heart of it. Um, and we were able to secure close to half a million dollars to purchase that property and create a? Um, a wetlands habitat there for between us and the crane trust as a safe migrating route for them to move back and forth, um as a large habitat. So I mean, like I said, it was really cool.

Speaker 2: 7:22

Um, you learn a lot. You meet some really interesting folks and some really passionate folks. Um, you do also meet some people who, I will be honest, like hate DU and think that you know they're $35 a year, doesn't do anything, and it really does it. You know every dollar counts, right. That's why, if you look at DU, we put more money to the dollar back into conservation than anyone else. We're roughly around 90 to 89 to 93 cents on the dollar goes back into conservation. So every dollar we get, 90 cents roughly goes back to conservation, 10 cents goes to overhead. Right, that's pretty incredible, especially when you look at other programs, like you know. Take Red Cross, for example. I think they're at like 60-something percent, right or less, and they're a huge worldwide organization, right, so, and we're operating in Canadaada, us and mexico. So, um, you know, you definitely meet some detractors of du, but, uh, that's to come with anything.

Speaker 2: 8:35

Um, I even heard one person told me one time he said you know, you guys and your damn nets, it's a little caught off guard.

Speaker 2: 8:44

I was like, like what do you mean?

Speaker 2: 8:45

Our nets?

Speaker 2: 8:45

He goes those nets that you put up to stop the birds migrating down south.

Speaker 2: 8:51

I had to sit there for a second and you know me, mike. I was like all right, how do I want to play this? Do I want to, you know, be a wise ass or do I want to be professional? And I was like I'm going to go with the latter, I was like you can't be serious. You don't think that we put up nets? He goes yeah, you guys put up giant nets and stop birds from migrating so they stay up north. I was like, well, first of all, if we did that, I mean they have. I'm not privy to it and that's probably why I'm not shooting any ducks in texas. And two, if that's the case, have you ever run into one while on an airplane? I'm like I guess, I guess we have air traffic control, navigating planes around these giant nets, right, right. Like thinking to myself this cannot be a real statement right now. But here we are at a banquet, like someone's telling me this, and I'm completely blown away. It was just one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

Speaker 2: 9:56

There's there's there's no surprise of how stupid people can really be, I mean well, you know part of it too right, and and you know I'm a huge duck hunter, you know this right like I go everywhere, from canada to mexico. The only I'm I have my my sheet in here of every duck species right, and I'm missing like three duck species that I've never shot right um cinnamon, teal, black duck and king eider.

Speaker 1: 10:27

Wow, you've never shot a black duck.

Speaker 2: 10:30

I have not, michael, I'm not racist, I love you. You set me up for that. Um, no, yeah, we don't really get a whole lot of them down here. Um, we get model ducks, um, but, like I was saying, so you know, like I, I'm an avid duck hunter. I love that more than anything in the world. Um, part of the reason why I work for DU. Uh, I got my, my duck dog here too, and you know, everyone thinks that DU is part of the issue for ducks. It's really just if I'm calling a spade a spade here, everyone and their mother wants to be a duck hunter.

Speaker 2: 11:15

Now, right. So when you're talking about an increase in duck hunters to an excess, let's say there's a million duck hunters, right, and you increase that by 30%, you're talking about 1.3 million duck hunters. Now you're talking about six birds more per person on average, right, based on the flyway. So now you're talking six birds times 300,000, you're talking another 1.8 million birds that you're taking out on a daily basis. Another 1.8 million birds that you're taking out on a daily basis, jesus, right.

Speaker 2: 11:50

So as hunters increase, population is going to decrease and with weather and everything else, you know, everyone will say, oh well, you know people are, you know, feeding these ducks and keeping them up there? Well, sure, but if it's not cold enough to freeze, they're gonna stay like birds. Don't move because they're cold. Birds move because where they feed, where they roost, is frozen over. So they move to where it's open. And if that's not happening, it's not going to push them further down south. They just that's. That's not happening, it's not going to push them further down south. They just that's innate in their bodies that they know okay, this is where we eat, this is where we sleep. Okay, we can't sleep, we can't eat. All right, let's keep going which makes perfect sense.

Speaker 1: 12:37

I mean, you know we were talking about it.

Speaker 1: 12:39

Um, you know, the last two years it feels like the season has ended and then we've gotten a cold spell, like right after the season ended. So we're like damn, we know these birds are going to be, you know, coming down and it's going to get real active and this is I wish we can hunt these these days. I was like damn, like you know what. Of course, we're looking at the forecast and it's like you know what season ends. But, man, I think they need to extend the season because it's like you know what Season ends. But, man, I think they need to extend the season because it seems like it's getting colder later in the year. So you're getting that big push after the season, unlike you know before. You know you would get it right when you needed to get it, but because everything seems so damn warm now, it's like it's tough and I imagine it puts all you guys in a tough position and puts everyone who makes all the decisions or anything like that and a and a bind as well.

Speaker 2: 13:34

Well, yeah, I mean, you got to realize too, right, everything is there's a national committee, and then everything's broken out by flyway, right, so you have limits based on flyway, um, and it goes everything from top of the border to bottom of the border right, and it affects everyone a little bit different. I mean, hell, we're the same way here, right, like our cold spell. I mean, texas, we get cold, maybe, maybe if we're lucky, in january, and then since 2020, um, our cold spells have come in february. Right, it's, it's. We've had a freeze over or a frozen rain for the last four years, every single year in february. It's guaranteed, and I've. If I had a dollar for everyone down here who says, you know, we need to move hind season back one month, I'd be a very wealthy man.

Speaker 2: 14:36

Yeah, because, but unfortunately it just it doesn't owe it because it it's. It gets cold up north, right, and it stays cold. It stays cold but we're not getting that cold push down, which is, I mean, hell. Two years ago we were up in uh, I was up in oklahoma hunting in d in january it was right after new year's and I mean I was hunting in just a pair of pants and a hoodie. It was lights out hunting, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't cold. It pushed all the birds down from up north but it wasn't cold enough there for them to even make their way to South Texas.

Speaker 2: 15:21

We've always had my old property. We always had absolute lights out teal seasons. I mean, I sent you a few pictures. It's like three or four years ago I had a hunt where we took three shots each and we were done. It was me and a buddy. We shot three shots, they landed in a group and we killed all 12 birds that landed. And we had killed all 12 birds that landed. Uh, I mean, I don't think in the last eight years in teal season I've ever had a hunt go over it, go over one hour. It's like you're in, you shoot, you're out. Yeah, lights out teal.

Speaker 2: 15:55

But every year since harvey down here, especially in some areas along the coast, it is significantly decreased. And you know I look at some of it. Yes, weather, oh, you know harvey could have messed up some of the migration pattern that year. Um, bunch of different factors that you can speculate on, right, but unless you're a duck you don't really know. Right, biologists will say I'll, I'll guess, but it's just, there's a correlation to since harvey we've seen at least from where I hunt, right, let me. Let me clarify that. Um, where I was hunting, we saw significantly less birds and then the weather has seen a lot less population of birds, especially in south texas yeah.

Speaker 1: 16:49

Well, that that makes a, that makes a hundred percent sense. And I mean, you know there's, you're never going to be certain. I like how you said that you, you can never put like, oh yeah, this is the exact reason because, at the end of the day, we're never going to know, but you know there's these animals. Whether you're hunting you know waterfow, whether you're hunting deer to bear, to whatever it is, there are things that they're going to do that we're just never going to understand. I don't care how you look at it. No one's going to be 100% an expert on hunting these animals, because they are just unique, magnificent creatures.

Speaker 2: 17:28

Yeah, these animals, because they are just unique, magnificent creatures. Yeah, I mean they, every single one of them is so differently smart in their own way, right, I mean hell. Every year we go to arkansas to shoot snow geese and if you try and bring in some of those older birds, like it's never, it's's never going to work. Like you got to get the attention of the juveniles and you get one juvenile to commit, you're going to get about three or 4,000 of them to commit and then you're going to get the whole 20, 30, 40,000 to land on you. And that's where we got those two and 300 bird days, where you're just I mean you're, you don't want to shoot a shotgun ever again. All you hear when you go to sleep and close your eyes are the turtle boxes making freaking snow goose calls and you're like I can't sleep, like this is just burned into my brain. But you have more meat than you know what to do with. But you have more meat than you know what to do with.

Speaker 2: 18:24

And a lot of states now because you know that has also been mitigated in a sense a lot of states are going away with conservation snow goose season, which is, I mean, here in Texas, we did it right. I know someone who was on the board of making that decision and I spoke with him about it not to be like, hey, why did you do that? But you know, can you give me some rationale around it? And as he was explaining it to me, I was like you know what I you're right Like in the last seven years, I think I consciously went to hunt snow geese one time and in the last eight years I've only shot two snow geese one time and in the last eight years I've only shot two snow geese in texas yeah so to have this conservation order and have a month that we're not even really seeing them it almost is like wasteful yeah, and it must be a waste of money too.

Speaker 1: 19:26

To an extent, it definitely money resources, whatever. Whatever you want to, you know, say that you can use those whatever in a in a different avenue, I mean in texas, you can hunt basically about everything like what, what can you not really hunt in in texas? I mean, you guys got every everything, and if you don't, you can write in, you can export or import. You can import things yeah, I'll be honest.

Speaker 2: 19:51

There's uh, now there's talk about the next invasive species, because some of them got out from a big ranch here. Is that warthogs? That are native yep that are native to Africa. As you know, they are now running rampant in Texas. So first we had javelinas, then we had wild hogs right, and now warthogs, not to mention all the other multitude of creatures and animals that have been brought in, bred and then, for whatever reason, have left A lot of properties here have high fences.

Speaker 2: 20:40

I have personally seen. At a property that I was hunting, I watched one of the biggest deer I've ever seen in my entire life, a breeder buck. I watched him use a tree as a shot, put to shot, put himself off and over the fence. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. It was on one side of the road. This deer I mean mean it was something out of a Disney movie like he ran up that tree, hit it as hard as he could and then bounced over the fence. And I had to call the landowner and just told tell him that I watched a $30,000 deer hop over his oh, we lost him.

Speaker 1: 21:43

Yeah, jesus, a 30,000. I couldn't imagine, imagine I was like it was just getting good all right, I don't know what just happened.

Speaker 2: 21:52

I just saw my thing pause and then bounce me out. Um, yeah, no, so it just. I mean, we're driving up the road in the side by side and that thing hit like, took off, hit that tree and then jumped over the road, over the high fence, and had a call and tell that landowner I just watched his thirty thousand dollar breeder buck that was going to make him a ton more money on top of it. Just hop over the fence. And how you explain that to someone I'll tell you. Right now conversation does not go over well, nor is it believable when you're talking about that much money. That's like saying, oh, the lamborghini just drove off on its own yeah, oh that's insane no, like what you.

Speaker 1: 22:41

The fact that you saw it, first of all because I wonder how many, how, how many times this happens in, like, you know, when people aren't around you know, it was just that one time that you were able to see it and and that's what I'm saying, you know, like every property, or not every right, but a lot of properties have an eight to ten foot high fence to keep these animals in.

Speaker 2: 23:04

But it's not it. It's not foolproof, right, like animals can get over it, animals can get under it, because you've got animals like hogs that'll dig a hole big enough to get underneath it keeps kicking them out.

Speaker 1: 23:22

Yeah, I don't know why. I wonder if he needs to use his laptop. Oh, is he using his phone? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe, hmm.

Speaker 2: 25:07

Let me contact StreamYard and see the hell, I keep losing you. Yeah, I got off my old phone. I wonder if that's maybe the issue. That's what I was trying to get on my computer before. But uh, this will have to work all right?

Speaker 1: 25:13

no worries, let me just write that down so I know where to edit yeah, you gotta edit this big time with this, this thing dropping.

Speaker 1: 25:24

So I wish it was. It's an easy fix though, like this is, and I've had some pretty like we we just moved to stream yard and this is like we haven't had any issues with stream yard, you know. Um, but on the old software we used to use teams and, like the cool thing about this, it records wherever you are locally, um, you know, with the other thing that, yeah, the other thing that we had like.

Speaker 2: 25:48

So we're not live internet connect. No, no, we're not live no, we're not live nope so hey, uh, make a note to add this out, because I'm gonna ask can I smoke my jewel? Yeah, I don't care, all right, I just want to make sure I didn't know like we were live. I was like oh fuck no but we are, you know it's gonna.

Speaker 1: 26:08

You know we might put certain like we do post clips up. But like we drink, we you could smoke. I've had someone you know smoke weed you know on here and everything like that. So like I really don't give a fuck.

Speaker 2: 26:20

Well, it's my platform. That's a cool thing it's my platform.

Speaker 1: 26:23

That's the cool thing. It's my platform.

Speaker 2: 26:25

I, you know I don't do what you want, I do what I want, but no. So what I was getting at was, like, you know all these animals, right? I mean, dude, I can't even tell you how many every animal that you could find in africa, asia, europe, I mean every animal you can find at ranches down here. I mean I could rack off like three to you right now that you could name and you could make make up for you're like I want to shoot a zebra across with a giraffe. Ox Ranch will make that happen for you.

Speaker 1: 27:08

Now you're going to pay.

Speaker 2: 27:09

You're going to pay.

Speaker 1: 27:10

A lot yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:13

But I mean, dude, there are places. G2 is one of the. That's where I'm hoping to go shoot an axis this year Because, I'll be honest, shout out to Four Seasons Ranch for being the biggest scumbag place in the entire world. Kevin Kubicek, you are a scumbag, sir. Game wardens are still looking for you and if you are listening, I hope they find you.

Speaker 1: 27:41

What happened? So what happened? Yeah, now I got another story.

Speaker 2: 27:49

So my buddy booked a hunt. And so in texas right, if you have a property, let me let me prelude this. So in texas, if you have a property, you can get something called mld permits, right management land deer permits, which allows you to take extra deer off the property to control your population. Now, if I am the landowner and I invite you guys to do that you cannot tag that deer that you shoot there with your tag. You have to tag it with the MLD tag. That's part of the deal. That way you're not overshooting and landowners apply for it. Biologists come out and look from TPWD. They get approved. They say this how many deer you have this, how many deer you need to take off? You get the. You get the tax X amount for bucks, x amount for dose.

Speaker 2: 28:50

Well, my buddy booked this hunt and he was just like, hey, you know, this is a really cool place, I want to do this. I was like, hey, you know, I got a buddy who does this and there's also other ones, and he's like, no, no, he was hell bent on going to four seasons. Why, I don't know. Well, we go, and the guy just seemed really off to begin with. I mean, my two buddies were going to shoot big deer. They're coming down from Boston and I was going to go shoot an axe. That's something that I've guided people for, but I have never shot myself. Just because it's one of those animals, I want to shoot it, but I wasn't going to spend like four or five grand on it. And so he was like, yeah, I'll let you shoot a call, you know, half price. I was like perfect, sounds good. Well, there were no access on this property. First of all, let's just I'll lead up with that for me. Um, I hunted for five days, uh, two days. I sat the entire day, didn't even eat lunch, I sat in the blind from like five in the morning until dark and I didn't see a single thing. But two days or three days before we go down there, he goes hey, you know, does your buddy want to shoot anything else? And he's like I've got black buck, I've got all that, I got this. And I was like, no, I've shot all those, like the only thing that I'd want to shoot anything else. And he was like I've got black buck, I've got all that, I got this. And I was like, no, I've shot all those, like the only thing that I'd want to shoot would probably be a fallow deer. And he was like, okay, that sounds good. Like if you don't see an action, shoot a fallow. This is a few days before get there, do the hunt.

Speaker 2: 30:21

First day the guy he booked it with doesn't show up. What? Second day? No one shows up. My two buddies, mind you. One of them's paying about 10 grand for like a 200 score deer. The other one's gonna shoot like a 160, 170 and he's paying like 7500. Right, and this motherfucker doesn't show up.

Speaker 2: 30:47

And I'm a little irritated. They are very irritated and they're just putting us in blinds and saying you know you can shoot one hog. I was like, fuck that, like we're gonna shoot whatever the hell we want. Want. Well, thursday, friday goes, friday night or, sorry, saturday. The dude kevin shows up and he drives these two around. I go and sit in the blind. He drives these two around for dan to go shoot a deer and the way that he did it was he drove them from property to property there corn the road and then just sat in the car and I was just like that is so dumb. Meanwhile I'm pissed off because I'm texting this guy like hey, listen, I haven't seen a single axis in three days.

Speaker 2: 31:44

This fellow stepped out. You know, am I still good to shoot it? Probably my first mistake. But looking back on it I'm okay with it. And he's like no, it's going to be like an extra thousand dollars. I was like kick rocks man, like you said, you offer this ahead of time. You knew what we agreed upon Not paying you more. So he starts sending me price lists of other ranches around. I go that's great, you're not those other ranches, these aren't gold medal fallow. I start saying him pictures of gold medal fallow and how this one has it's broken off. And I was like I just finally, after going back and forth for a while, I go all right, sounds good, we'll have a talk when we get back to the lodge. You, I hope you have cash to pay my money back. I'm done. He said okay, I'll talk to you at the lodge. The dude drops them off.

Speaker 2: 32:40

I walk back and I am you know my temper when I get there, yeah, I made sure to unload my gun because one wrong thing I would have been just next level, would have just escalated.

Speaker 2: 32:57

Well, the dude fucking is hiding from me the whole time of course and, mind you, he missed four hunts at this point, four hunts that my buddies paid for, that he was supposed to be there to guide them on, to take them. It's his property. Well, that night he freaking, is, hiding out outside, then leaves, goes into town, gets drunk. John has one more morning to go kill a deer that he paid about 10 grand for. The dude doesn't show up. So we wake up dan had shot his. I hadn't seen a fucking access. I'm like whatever, fuck it, I'll just go hunt one more morning. Maybe I see something or whatever. I don't give a shit at this point. You know, I just I woke up and I was like I'm just going to go. Well, john, dan, I'm sitting there texting them like hey, you know, do you go out yet Dan? John's like no, like, kevin's not even here. We don't know where he's at. He's like staying on the back porch of the house though, and he goes. But there's a deer right here. He just fucking shot it. He's like fuck this dude, fuck this place and shot the deer right, kevin got.

Speaker 2: 34:17

Kevin shows up like two hours later still drunk from the night before, where he drove into town, got drunk and never came back to guide him and starts demanding money for everything and said he'll score the deer. I was like first of all, you're not scoring the deer without us seeing it, because you know they were paying for it based on size. And I was like and secondly, now that you're here, I hope you have cash and didn't spend at the bar because of my deposit. I want it all back and he goes. Well, you know you got to cover food and lodging. I was like all right here, how about this? Here's your two options. I was like I didn't eat lunch two days.

Speaker 2: 34:57

So the way that I see it is three breakfasts, three dinners, and either you can take $500 and guide you know, oh, he also didn't bring put a guy with me. He's like just go shoot. I was like all right, that's a trap. Um, I was like either the cook gets a tip and this other guy gets a tip, or you take $500 and everyone gets nothing and you just pay them for their time, or you can take what I think is fair $100 a night for lodging, you comp the food and then I'll just go tip them for their time for cooking instead and he agreed to it. He gave me all my money, or most of it, and I'm like packing up, I'm ready to throw something through his goddamn wall.

Speaker 2: 35:49

And we go up there and he starts demanding those to give them their tags to tag the deer. And I was like, go get your licenses, cause he needs your license number, but don't give him a tag. I go, I go, you'll lose those deer if you bring those deer in with the tag on them. And they were like what? I was like you cannot tag these deer with your tag. That's illegal. Like he's trying to get you in trouble. Well, fast forward to me telling him you know, go get the MLD tags, or we're getting the fuck out of here. Like, and he was like, oh, I don't have anymore. Well, now I'm sitting there like, okay, well, why did you advertise this? As that Day later I get a call from Game Warden.

Speaker 1: 36:44

Oh god.

Speaker 2: 36:46

I was aware that we were out there and that they knew that something was going on and blah, blah, and I explained to him the situation and told him you know, kevin wanted them to tag him with theirs. But he's like hold on, let me stop you right there. The funniest part too, actually. So he said I've been trying to catch this motherfucker for years and this just reignited my spark to go get him. But he, what was I saying? He, oh, he called the biologist to make sure that he did or didn't have MLD tags.

Speaker 2: 37:35

Turns out he got revoked of MLD tags two years earlier, which explains also why one of his guys there had told us that he no longer had a breeder buck and that game warden calls me asked me what other deer I saw. He called me back and was like what other deer did you see what's going? You know all this stuff? I was like, well, we've tagged it with their tags because he wouldn't give it to us and there there's no other way to legally transport the meat and the head. My buddies insist on taking those deer to the taxidermist themselves. Thank God they did. They probably never would have seen him again if he did it. And he was like I'm going to go raid that place and so he set up.

Speaker 1: 38:20

I gave him the gate code that Kevin gave us. They went there and raided it.

Speaker 2: 38:22

He said it was a ghost town. He said it looked like no one had been there for months. And I was just absolutely baffled by that and he's like between you and me, I'm going to catch this guy because he has a worn out in another county and he's got about 250 citations on his name.

Speaker 1: 38:44

Holy shit.

Speaker 2: 38:55

Yeah, that's insane. Yeah, so, uh, if I ever saw him again, I would put him in cuffs for that game warden and happily call him and be like hey, teamwork makes a dream work, just uh. I told him I was like hey, I'd happily book another hunt with him, but if it's anything like this last time, he probably wouldn't even show up.

Speaker 1: 39:10

Probably not. No, dude, that's insane. What the hell. Texas is different. It is different, you know. And one thing I definitely want to touch on, off of that topic too, is it kind of reminds. You said you had illegal immigrants on your property, correct, in Texas, and you have. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He sent me a picture of the what's his Jesus Christ, I'm drawing a blank. Border patrol cars.

Speaker 2: 39:43

Border patrol cars on your property and then I sent you the one with the illegal immigrant walking right by the camera. Yeah, you did. Yeah, so the property that I hunt on now is just south of Ensenal, texas, and the road that is the main road or the gate, the main gate is off of this road and that is from the border patrol. They said, quote unquote, this is the highway from Mexico to us, like they run that road, she's all dirt road. Um, and we have, I mean I've seen it. I mean I've been dove hunting in Bracketsville, which is West of Ensign all um few hours. Uh, been dove hunting and had an illegal immigrant walk up to us and ask us for water. His leg was broken as shit.

Speaker 2: 40:38

Um, and we're all staying there with shotguns, dove hunting, um, to you know, being on that property. I mean we had the neighbor call us back in February or March and like a car had driven through his part of the fence and all of his cattle were scattered on our property and had to help him get him back over and had to help them get them back over. I mean, every week we see Border Patrol cars on the game cams driving up and down the roads in the ranch they're always hauling ass outside of it. There's one Sundaro that we drive on to get back to this back pond or we drive up to it and then we walk it, and there's probably two or three thousand backpacks and some of them are probably 20 years old and, you know, 10, 15 years old. All the way up to every time we go down there there's a brand new one. There's food cans, water bottles, beer bought beer cans, tuna cans I mean everything you can imagine, and they just.

Speaker 2: 41:53

I mean that's probably the best part about this property being a low fence is that we don't have to go and repair a crap ton of high fence because they just climb under or over it like high fence. They will just, uh, they'll cut through it, although one side of the property does have a high fence on it and when we were there in march there was a ladder homemade, makeshift, like rope ladder that they threw up and over the fence to climb up and over, uh, that high fence. And the problem is is, uh, you know, we looked at, we were like, should we take it down? And you know they're gonna come anyways and you're better off just not taking it down because then they're just gonna cut the fence or something else, which is gonna cause a bigger issue. And I'm not border patrol by any means, so I mean that's not my job, trust me. I'm not border patrol by any means, so I mean that's not my job, trust me, I'm not happy.

Speaker 2: 42:48

I'm not like overly happy about it. I think that there's a right and wrong way to do everything, but it is what it is. I'm not going to try and make it more difficult for everyone in the process, because if you make it more difficult for them, then you just make it more difficult for border patrol and everyone else to do the job.

Speaker 1: 43:12

Jesus, that is so different. I mean just an, an absolute. Like you, you know, when you think of texas, you think of so many different things and everything that we've kind of already touched on. But then you know, if you're close to the border, like you, you got to deal with this, and then you have border patrol coming on and, like you, know you, you are hunting and you saw Neil, you know a legal immigrant with a broken leg. I mean, have you I wouldn't be surprised because it's you, you haven't found a dead body yet?

Speaker 2: 43:36

Have you, I have not yet found a dead body. Um, we did find some bones when, again, we were there in March and I started. My first thought when I saw him was oh christ, like this is it? This is the first one, thank god. Like 15 feet away we found like it was not a human body, it was definitely an animal. But it was one of those oh shit moments in that first 15 seconds where you're like, oh christ, like this is gonna be a disaster. But that's I mean when I'm duck hunting.

Speaker 2: 44:17

You know I'm worried about snakes and gators. I mean hell. This last fall I stepped on a gator which I basically almost crapped my pants. But like down there, there, I mean hell. We have a rule we were actually talking about it earlier today, me and my buddy, because we need to go down and fill feeders pretty soon and he just had a newborn two weeks ago yeah, two weeks ago today. And like, no one is allowed to go down there by themselves. It's not safe to be down there by yourself. Um, I mean hell.

Speaker 2: 44:50

Even when we're on the property in different blinds, we try and stay in constant communication because I mean, yes, there's snakes, right, but the bigger concern is who else are you out there with? Who doesn't care that you're there? No right, like I'm terrified I genuinely the first 30 seconds of walking up to those blinds at pitch dark. I'm terrified of who or what might be in there. Yeah, I mean, hell people, they'll sleep under them if we lock them. So you just don't know what you're gonna find down there and you know I feel terrible for them. But it's just. We both scare the shit out of each other. Yeah, the only difference is is I'm gonna be scared and carrying a gun, do they also have a gun?

Speaker 1: 45:47

yep, no, it's true, it seems like it. This puts you, you guys, in just a really on such an unpredictable situation that it's like. Also, you have to be safe for yourself and, yes, you're carrying a gun. You don't know what you're going to encounter and, honestly, I feel like you'd much rather encounter an animal than you know, not even an illegal immigrant, that has no care and respect for yourself. And we're not talking about the families we're not talking about, you know, the children and stuff like that. You know we are talking about 100, the criminals. At this point. You know, you've, you've been seeing it on the news. I mean what there was this 13 year old girl that was raped and killed.

Speaker 2: 46:37

Uh, I think, um 10 miles down the road, 10 miles down the road from me right.

Speaker 1: 46:43

So there do you see all these horrific things going on. It's like are you gonna come across one of these people? And now, yeah, and it puts you in a situation and they warned us.

Speaker 2: 46:54

I mean, they were like, if you see them on the trail camera, you know, blue, black, blue backpack means that they're carrying drugs. Black pack black pack means they're carrying money and I took that with a grain of salt, right, because I'm sitting there like all right did means that they're carrying drugs. Black pack black pack means they're carrying money and I took that with a grain of salt, right, because I'm sitting there like all right. Did you find one blue backpack, one black pack? And you're like this is what it means. Or do you actually have like a confidential informant that told you this? That you know for sure? You know, trust me, every black backpack I find when we're walking, I open it up just in case. You know, gotta pay for that gucci flage somehow.

Speaker 2: 47:32

So I'm kind of hoping to stumble kind of hoping to stumble on a backpack full of cash.

Speaker 2: 47:37

But definitely don't want to do it because, like you said, I rep I rather be walking and walk into a bear than walk into a human being and have to make that decision of is it you or is it me. Because in the back of my mind I can tell you right now, every time I'm going to choose me. But I don't want to be put in that situation. I don't think anyone wants to be put in that situation, but that's just the reality of you know, that's where we hunt, that's where they choose to come across. Maybe, maybe not necessarily by choice, but that's where they're coming across.

Speaker 1: 48:16

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 48:17

And there's again. It's like that thought that crossed my head. Every time when I'm I'm duck hunting, especially in the fall. You know that there's water moccasins, you know that there's gators. You do your best, you know that they're there. You do your best to not think about it and avoid it at all costs, and you just hope that you don't have a situation that turns into an issue. You rather just get in, get out. Hopefully you have a successful hunt and you don't. You're not put in a situation that could escalate or potentially be fatal texas is just.

Speaker 1: 49:01

You know, I'm excited to go to eventually hunt, but it's a whole different ballgame.

Speaker 2: 49:08

This is a different beast down there, texas is a little bit like the Wild West. Now, not everywhere, right, not everywhere, I would say. You know, southwest down, I mean pretty much like everywhere across the border south of San Antonio, just because that's where a majority of these large ranches are. Right, you do have a lot of very large ranches. I mean hell, for my buddy's bachelor party we went up to North Texas and we did helicopter hog hunting on a 36 000 acre ranch, which was insane. But you don't have I mean, you're talking from austin. That was an eight and a half hour drive, so that's another four and a half hours from the border at least, right, you're not worrying about.

Speaker 2: 50:03

I mean not yeah, you're not someone's not walking all the way up there. Yeah, so a majority of those large ranches. You know you don't have an austin or houston or san antonio on the border. The biggest city that you have there is laredo, and like nuevo laredo, which is on the mexican side, and outside that, it's just it's wide open land. There's nothing there. I mean you have every. You have ranches that are, you know, maybe maybe on the small end, 100 acres, up to 10, 20 000, 30, 000 acres. It's a lot of area to cover, yeah oh, yeah, that's.

Speaker 1: 50:47

That's a lot. Um, you know, and before we get you know, because I want to get back to to ducks eliminated at some point too, but you know, before we get there, your hog hunt. You know, you brought it up. I didn't know it was a bachelor party. What are they? What about? Hey, bianca, I think I know what I want to do for my bachelor party you know what you want to do.

Speaker 2: 51:10

I'll tell you. First of all, there's no better way to hunt an invasive species. Yeah, so let me. Let me clarify that right. You don't want to just like, go and kill everything, but when you're talking an animal that overruns land and is extremely destructive on property, there is no better or enjoyable way. Because you're sitting in a blind or you're on the ground, you shoot one. They take off.

Speaker 2: 51:41

When you're in a helicopter, there's for them to run, yeah, besides, into your bullets and you are just this last time we flew with a guy who flew blackhawk helicopters in afghanistan uh, shout out, garrett. Uh, this guy would stop a chopper on a dime. Yeah, I mean, I didn't even think they could move like that. You'd be like, oh look, there's hogs over there and he'd go and you would just draw. I mean there were a few times where I thought I mean if I was praying to God, I was like this seat belt better not come unbuckled, otherwise I'm getting a face full of freaking mesquite tree like because he would just turn that chopper. You'd be going straight, straight, straight. He'd pull up and then just you turn sideways and he would be flying five, ten feet over mesquite trees. So you were, you'd be like 200 feet in the air and then he would just drop you right down top of them to where you're shooting. I don't know, maybe 20, 30 yard shots if that that sounds so sick we would.

Speaker 2: 53:00

You'd go up for an hour. We'd shoot like 30 pigs in an hour. A couple of coyotes. Those coyotes, though, like pigs, just they're like a bull in a China shop. They just run right. Coyotes will dip, dodge, duck, fricking, hop high Like they do whatever to get out of the way of that chopper. So they were a lot harder. I think we only us as a group as a whole only shot I think like 20, 18 or 20, uh, uh, impressive yeah, it's still pretty impressive we shot like 200 hogs how many were there of you guys?

Speaker 2: 53:39

uh, two went, six group 12 of us. Well, that's pretty good. But you know what?

Speaker 1: 53:46

what? What is that? You know, I know everything helps, but people who don't know hunting or anything like that, it's like that 200 it. It puts a little dent into the, into the population, you know like two months earlier.

Speaker 2: 54:02

Three months earlier they went out and shot like 170 something and we shot 200 and there's still going to be another 200 to shoot. You know, probably triple that. Now, hogs, they breed worse than bunnies because they'll I mean they could go back to back to back litters. There's no waiting period, so she'll, you know, mama sow will have a litter of 8, 10, 12 hogs. Well, by the time she finishes feeding them, she could have another one. One of the other ones could have another 12 for every one sow. You know, if there's 10 of them, there's 120 of them. If there's a sow in each one of them, there's another right and just, I mean, it multiplies an exponential rate.

Speaker 1: 54:52

With just one boar that is getting a ton of, you know, action, yep yeah, yeah, a lot, a lot of action for, for, for that boar, yeah, have you have. You know, when you're, when you're down there and you know you're talking to, you know some of the fish. What, what's the plan? I mean, there isn't really much else that you can do. You hunt them in every single way. I mean with dogs, helicopters. I've seen you know, uh, dynamite or whatever being used Like you can night hunt them. You can drive like you can do everything. What. What else is next? Like, how do you even slow? How do they even? Is there anything else that they're trying trying to come up with?

Speaker 2: 55:38

No, I mean, and to be honest, if you're looking for like mass casualty on them, helicopter hunting is probably the best right, because if you're hunting again, like even at night ground, blind, whatever, you might shoot one or two and then they take off, you could try your damnedest, but I'll tell you right now you are not running through the thicket that they're running through. I mean, you could be you same bolt. You're not catching these hogs. It's just not happening. Not to mention, while you're doing that, if you're smart you would have snake boots on. You're not running in those and the last thing you want to do is be running around where you've got a lot of rattlesnakes, timber rattlers, copperheads, water moccasins, everything else in the world. You know it's. I prefer to be in the air because I don't have to be around snakes One, two.

Speaker 2: 56:36

You're doing a lot more on the population control for them. I mean, like I said, they destroy crops, they destroy land, they destroy fences. If I could think of if there was one good thing that hogs did, I'd be less inclined to want to put an absolute beating on their population. But there's not there, they don't. There's no benefit to having them running wild. Right, it's not like cattle, it's not like horses, it's not like farm-raised pigs. Right, there's no environmental benefit of having hogs. The only thing that they do is actually destroy land, destroy crops and everything else. The other thing that's sick about them is that they will eat their own.

Speaker 2: 57:38

They are cannibals to an extent.

Speaker 1: 57:43

If they need food, they'll eat. Yeah, that's what you hear about them. They're just a destroy everything millions and millions and millions of dollars and they eat everything. And yet again, like you said, they're eating. You know they'll eat their own. They are just you know. That's why some listen, I'm not a religious like that person, listen, I'm not a religious like that person. But that's why there's some religions that don't, that refuse to eat pig because of just how nasty and grimy, disgusting creatures they are. I mean, yeah, there isn't. There isn't one good thing. I can't even like. There isn't what. What do they contribute?

Speaker 2: 58:18

Nothing, nothing. I mean not the wild boars, at least not them. I mean not the wild boars, at least Not them. I mean hell. And it's not to say I don't think. You know. I think every creature God puts on this earth is there's some purpose, right, and you know they're all beautiful. I think if they were more like deer or other animals, where they weren't just having offspring like no tomorrow, and they weren't causing such devastation, I don't think that there'd be as much of a need to destroy them. Of course I mean hell. You look at javelinas. Javelinas are basically pigs. I mean, technically they are a rat, they are rodent, but they they don't cause the same devastation as wild hogs. Yeah, javelinas also stay in. You know more mountainous, rocky terrain there. You're not going to find javelinas in oklahoma. You're not going to find javelinas in arkansas.

Speaker 1: 59:28

I mean, pigs are just everywhere, though I mean yeah, yeah, I mean there isn't there. They taste good, you know, good eating. But besides that, I mean I, I don't know, I agree with you, if they didn't reproduce, it would be like an actually that I'd. I'd be like, hey, I wish new jersey had them, because it is something I want to hunt. You know, I, I do want to hunt them, but you don't want them, you don't want to get a population of them. So it's not like, oh, it's like god damn, you know, I wish, you know, new jersey we could really get them.

Speaker 2: 1:00:01

But if we did, I mean, and let's be honest, if, if New Jersey did like I hate to say it, but just like deer they'd be, it'd be such a problem and they wouldn't fix it. They, they, they would refuse to still let you hunt on Sundays. They would say it's not that big of an issue, you can't do this, you can't hunt them with a gun.

Speaker 1: 1:00:23

You know it'd be everything we, you wouldn't be able to hunt. I mean, we have a coyote problem right now and that they're not. They finally, just like I think it it passed or it's going to be an approval where we're going to be able to start to hunt them, I think august 1st up until. But like they should, it should be a, it should be all your thing, like I be a it should be all your thing, like I 100 believe it should be all your thing, because there's just so many coyotes now, yet again, you, you look at um hogs, we wouldn't be able to fly helicopters to to hunt them. You know you wouldn't be able to to hunt them at night and and with with rifles and everything like that, like you know I, because I know, because you can't hunt um coyotes in new jersey with with rifles, you have to use a shotgun.

Speaker 1: 1:01:10

You know we, we can hunt, I think, coyotes during the day, during special season, with a uh, up to two to three and that's really about it, but you can only have five shots, I think. I believe it's only five shots. Um might be even three. I can only have five shots, I think I believe it's only five shots Might be even three, I can't. I can't remember exactly which which one. It is Right, but if you get hogs like that, well, let's be honest, you, you definitely need way more in the mag than than that.

Speaker 2: 1:01:39

Oh my God, yeah, I mean hell. Like when we went up in that chopper I brought like 200 rounds with me. I mean I brought every 30 round clip that I could load with 300 blackout and I was just, I mean I was going to town, but it's just one of those things that, yeah, I get where people are saying you shouldn't need that many. But when you're talking about you want to get a pack of eight to 10 coyotes or 20 to 30 hogs and you want to do population control, like taking one shot and being done with one, that's not population control. That's just you're killing one animal. You're not really making an impact, like if you're talking about we need to get this under control somehow. I mean the only way to do it I hate to say it is like max exodus, like you just have to load up and go, yeah yeah, of course I.

Speaker 1: 1:02:42

I agree with you. I think, listen, that'd be pretty cool. I would be a hundred percent down to head to Texas and it is, it's on the, it is coming. I mean, I think we're going to Texas, I hopefully think next year, but I would get as many people as I could to be like, hey, you know what, let's let's all organize, let's get a day down or a weekend down there and let's just go kill as many hogs as we can Like. I would 100% be down for that. I mean, to get the extent that you need to really knock a population, yeah, you would need like almost every hunter going down to Texas all for like a week.

Speaker 2: 1:03:22

And you got to realize too, every piece of public and private.

Speaker 2: 1:03:25

You just gotta hunt the shit out of yeah, and they're smart, dude, like you know people, they're just like birds and everything else. You know you got young ones that are not that smart, but the hogs that have been around, the, the big ones, the big sons of guns, they're smart, they know where to eat, they know when to go out. They're avoiding stuff at all costs, like they're not dumb and they can be tricky to hunt, but when you fly over them they want to get the hell out of there of course I mean natural, definitely natural um, I would too if I were there, if I heard like a chocolate plate what the hell is that I?

Speaker 1: 1:04:12

gotta go that's usually, yeah, usually, if you hear a helicopter over you, it's not, it's not a good thing, it's, that is not a good sign, um, you know so. So, tim, we'll, we'll ask you, we, we definitely gonna. First of all, we're I know I'm getting your ass back on regardless. You know it, it's happening, you're gonna be our. You're a waterfowl expert from now on, like we had one. Um, now, now you're really our waterfowl guy. So it's something that I've dived into.

Speaker 1: 1:04:41

Uh, the last two years I've started to waterfowl hunt. I know Frank and some of the other guys on our team, they, they want to get into waterfowl hunting and everything like that. You know, but I've, I will tell you, I was like, oh, like I don't think I'm really get into it. Like, no, like you know, I love deer and don't get me wrong, I still love deer hunting, still my thing, right, but it's just different. It is so much fun. I mean, I now look forward to waterfowl season happening, especially after deer season. It's like you get that rut and then for me it's like all right, it's time to focus on shooting ducks and I shot my first geese this year. I I went after my first geese and, you know, did absolutely insane with like geese and I mean what a buzz, what a, what a, what a hunt and I'm, I'm excited to to continue.

Speaker 1: 1:05:35

But one thing I wanted to. You know, when you, when you had all those snow geese because you see how many there are right and you kind of said, when you like you can't really sleep at night and everything like, how loud really, is it like, what, like? What is it like being in um, like the playoffs and you just hear everyone's great, like you're in a stadium and it's just like loud as shit. Is it that loud?

Speaker 2: 1:06:01

it. No, it's louder than that because I'll give you the comparison or I'll explain it as best I can. But so like there's probably 60, 80, 100, 000 snow geese that are just doing a tornado down on you right, they are just in a spiral coming down to land and when that first group comes down, there's eight to ten guys with 14 rounds in their shotgun and they're all semi-auto and you're just sitting up. They yell, kill them. You can't hear them, yell, kill them. It's like if you're not near whoever's calling the shot, you're just going off of.

Speaker 2: 1:06:45

When you hear that first round go off and you know 10 guys, 14 shots each, you're talking 140 rounds of 12 gauge, just doosh, doosh, doosh, doosh, doosh, doosh. And as soon as you shoot, you'll see 50, 60 birds drop out of the sky and they'll say load up, because that next 10,000 that are we're above that first 10 are now landing on you. So it's so loud from all those birds they don't even they're not scared off because they don't even hear the shotguns going off. It is that freaking loud and it is it's deafening loud. I mean you're, you don't even hear the shotguns going off. You really don't. All you hear is that's it.

Speaker 2: 1:07:42

That's all you hear, and then you load up again you load up as fast as you freaking can and that by the time you've loaded up, half them have already landed. Also, the funniest part is or the thing you gotta remember you definitely want to wear. You definitely want to wear like sunglasses or eye protection, and never open your mouth when you're laying down, because when there are 60 to 80,000 snow geese above you, they are going to shit on you. It's bound to happen. So never don't end up like my buddy who goes oh my God, there's so.

Speaker 2: 1:08:30

No way, wow, no way, wow oh yeah, dude, there is poop everywhere, and so you load up as fast as you can. You shoot 14 shots again everyone, and then that next group of 10 000 still in. It's usually by the second or third reload that they take off and then you get the next wave. You'll see them it's probably about when they come off the roost. It's probably every 30 seconds that you'll see another wave of 20 to 30 000, and once they see that spread and they hear those e-callers going off, oh my god, lights out. I mean, it's like you just know it's, and I can send you some of those videos.

Speaker 2: 1:09:11

Um, yeah, definitely, definitely do that, because that's insane, holy hell I posted I I you know, during covid I picked up, uh, tiktok and I haven't been on there much, but I did post a video on there, uh, of one of the hunts. We went on one day where I mean that was the day, we shot 272 snow geese and we only stopped because we had each gone through not not a box, each had gone through a case of ammo and I mean I mean you'd think that that's enough to bring out for a day. That was not enough and you didn't really want to pick up your shotgun next morning.

Speaker 1: 1:10:01

Jesus man. So after that hunt, right, you must be breasting these birds out forever how long? Is that.

Speaker 2: 1:10:16

So that took longer than the hunt. We actually we finessed a assembly line similar to what you would find in a big factory. So we had four guys who were plucking the feathers and opening them up, two guys cutting the breasts, uh, two guys cleaning them and then two guys bringing in trays of them to put in the sink, to bring the tray, another tray back out to load them up. And then, once we got inside, we kind of continued the assembly line to where we had two guys in the sink recleaning and then two guys drying off, two guys bagging and then two guys working the vacuum sealer and we filled up four 65 Yeti coolers full of snow geese breast 65 full.

Speaker 1: 1:11:16

What do you even do with all that meat? Do you just eat game meat? You know, every single day.

Speaker 2: 1:11:24

Pretty much. I mean, I made some meatballs with some ground venison, uh, for dinner tonight. Um, I mean hell. Uh, mom and dad came down for the first time. I'd seen them in like four and a half years. They came down a month and a half ago and I made them some crane breast, um, which if you've never gone crane hunting or had that when you come to texas you should tag that on too. Uh, that's during bird I've heard great things crane is ribeye of the sky.

Speaker 2: 1:12:03

It really is. Uh, you can even ask my mom. She has been telling everyone she's like you wouldn't even know that it's a bird. She's like it tastes just like a filet. I'm like yeah, I know, I am aware, but she tells everyone that.

Speaker 2: 1:12:18

Um, so like, if I have a craving for steak, I'll make crane breast. Um, a lot of venison, a lot of duck, a lot of dove. Uh, have a lot of redfish. Um, let's see what else do I have in the freezer right now? I think that's kind of running low on something. No, I haven't. Um amazing I I was going to when I was in alaska and I didn't, I did.

Speaker 2: 1:12:55

I tried reindeer, which is caribou, obviously yeah yeah um, and that was one of the most delicious things I ever had. Actually, last weekend went out to dinner, um, and had buffalo and nail guy. Uh, which nail guy. I've had it ground and I really, really liked it, but this is the first time I had nail guy loin and it was unbelievable man, that is what.

Speaker 1: 1:13:27

What a freezer, what I? I want that freezer. How big is your freezer like? How many? Yeah, you would like it um. I have two um two like 32 cubic freezers jesus right, 32 cubic feet, or whatever, I don't know how they measure it.

Speaker 2: 1:13:50

I think it right, 32 cubic feet or whatever. I don't know how they measure it. I think it's 32 cubic feet. I try to keep my freezers about the same as my safes three safes, I'm about to get a third freezer.

Speaker 2: 1:14:11

I've made the comment to people, uh before is like the difference is is that I'm not spending an absurd amount of money on meat that I don't necessarily know where it came from. Yeah, um, you know, uh, my ex-girlfriend, her family, bought a cow, uh at auction, like farm raise whatever, and they didn't like the meat because they were like it tastes so gamey, tastes so gamey. I was like no, it's not gamey, it's just that you're used to eating the GMO and all the other bullshit they pump into meat at the store. Like that cow, how you bought it, is how it's supposed to taste. What you're used to tasting, that's not how it's supposed to taste. I was like that's how all deer are. Now, again, it depends on their diet. Right, like the deer that you have in new jersey, I can, can, absolutely guarantee you is going to taste different than the deer that I shoot here, right, because we're feeding them corn and protein. So it's going to taste a little different, but it's not going to taste like something you buy at a store yeah, it never will, of course, and I like it better that way.

Speaker 2: 1:15:31

I mean, it also allows you to be more creative when you're cooking, right? Oh yeah, like you can try new things to mask it, like you can fully experiment. You know, I mean, at Hale we're at the point where if you get a steak from the store, you just need salt and pepper. You're like this is delicious, right, you can. If you're like I didn't really love the taste of duck with this, you could try it different you. You could make it completely your own. I mean, I've done that with crane breast. You know it does taste a lot like, but I've created this spice rub that I use that is, salt or garlic salt, onion powder, red pepper, crushed red pepper and coarse salt or coarse pepper, right, and I use about a teaspoon of each and I use about a teaspoon of each and I lather that breast up with that sounded weird.

Speaker 2: 1:16:35

Make a mark, edit that out, so I'll you know coat it in a little olive oil and then I use that rub after I mix it all together, and I mean it for me, it for me, it works right for me, it works for someone else, though they might not like it. But like that's just you. You can put your own twists on this game meat, whereas I guarantee you anyone you put salt and pepper on a steak, they're gonna like it yeah, yeah, I would.

Speaker 1: 1:17:08

I pray. I pretty much agree with that. Um, you know, talking about the crane, you know what. How did, how does one so explain that whole process of, of hunting cranes and everything like that? What's that? Like none of us over here know what. How the hell, what the hell. That's like you know, I've only heard from our buddy justin everything it is the ribeye of of. You know the air, so, or whatever you want to call it. Well, so, first.

Speaker 2: 1:17:41

Oh, hold on, can you hear me?

Speaker 1: 1:17:45

yeah, I can hear you. Yeah, can you not hear us?

Speaker 2: 1:17:49

Okay. So going back to, no, I can't. There's like a second delay. I think I don't know what happened.

Speaker 2: 1:18:00

But going back to what you said about you, fall in love with duck hunting, right, and I'll get into, like, the whole crane thing. What I love about it, right, is like if you or I or anyone plans a deer hunt, right, you can do it by yourself or you can do with a group, but at the end of day, you're still by yourself, right, me and my buddy are we're going up to canada this december, right, and we're going with a bunch of people and by a bunch of people, I mean like four or five of us. But you're, you're planning this with everyone and you're in the blind. With everyone, you get to interact. Shoot the shit, have a good time, like it's not just sitting alone. You, you can interact, right, and that's it's kind of the same thing. Again, like with crane hunting, right, it's just like. Again, like with crane hunting, right, it's just like duck hunting or goose hunting, and so what I was saying before right, some states require permits. Some places that you have to apply for, some places you have to pay for it, like texas and oklahoma, are ones that it's a free add-on, right? So you just say I want a crane stamp, it's zero dollars, it gets added on and most of the time we hunt those up north, like Lubbock area, because that's a more prominent area for them, especially when they come down through Nebraska. Come down through nebraska and it's essentially the same concept as really goose hunting, like field goose hunting, more than anything, because I've rarely shot them in water. It's pretty much they're landing in like a peanut field or cotton field. Um, they're coming off their roost and they're coming to feed, yeah, um, actually there's.

Speaker 2: 1:19:54

There's kind of two kinds of crane calls. Uh, some people use a whistle, that's like for juvenile cranes. And then there's also a crane call where it's similar to a goose call. You just change out the reed and you're like rolling your tongue, so it's like a and you're making like a rolling sound. It gives like that. If you've ever heard a crane like, you would know what I mean it's. It's got a very prominent like rolling whistle sound. Um, for us in texas the limit is three a day and if you shoot big birds, one crane breast is like an 18 ounce ribeye. I mean it's huge. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's more than enough. And the only the. The thing that I like the most, I think personally, is that there's like no fat on it, right, you're, you're. It's like a pro and con. You know, in steak you want the marbling. You don't really need that with the crane breast.

Speaker 2: 1:21:11

It's just so tender yeah and I mean you cook it just like you cook a steak for me. I do five minutes on one side, two minutes on the other, done, let it rest and then you have the perfect medium rare crane breast, um. But I mean, yeah, hunting it's similar. It's the same process of doing a goose hunt, like you're putting out silhouettes. Some places will use full bodies.

Speaker 2: 1:21:43

They used to not make them, so there were guys who actually would kill cranes and then do a half-assed taxidermy job to use them as decoys, um, um, cause cranes are really smart, they have really good eyesight. Like when you're in that blind, if they're over top, like you, you don't pick your head up, you don't move, like you want to sit as still as possible, cause they're like, they're kind of like snow geese that they're looking for any anomaly and they're going to be gone. But once you get that one to commit, they'll call the whole group to come and then you'll be staring at the sunrise and you'll just hear that and then you just see freaking pterodactyls coming at you and just a line of these massive birds.

Speaker 2: 1:22:38

I mean just huge yeah, no, I've held them wingspan to wingspan, and they're twice the size of me. The one thing to one thing to note, though, is that some crazy sons of bitches will use their dogs, like if the bird is stoned, that's fine, but if it's up, I would never send drake on one, because they got these sharp ass claws and that beat, and they will absolutely. I mean, it's like a knife going into a dog. Like they use those claws, they'll get up and like claw at the dog's eyes and then, if that dog doesn't, grab it by the head like they have freaking super long necks.

Speaker 2: 1:23:21

It'll reach around and like try and poke at the dog with that beak. Wow, so I would I. I personally I don't send drake on them unless they're stone dead, like if I see any movement I'm like sorry buddy, you get the mini baseball bat, you walk up to that thing, knock it in the head and now I'll let him pick it up. Or you kick the crap out of it one or the other, because even if you try and grab it, it'll poke at you.

Speaker 2: 1:23:49

So you know, typically the ethical way for ducks and geese is you'd grab it, ring its neck or bite its head. Um geese or cranes. The best way to do it is really a bat or a real hard kick with a boot that'll.

Speaker 1: 1:24:04

yeah, of course, they're just so big and just yeah, yeah, you don't want to pick up that thing and wring the neck out.

Speaker 2: 1:24:12

No, and it's really hard too. I mean, if they even let you grab them. Yeah, you got claws coming at you and you got a beak and I'll be honest, I spent like $400 on my sick jacket. I'm not no, you're not ripping that. I don't blame you on that You're going to get a bat to the head before you rip that jacket.

Speaker 1: 1:24:38

Now, tim, before before we wrap up for for the evening, and we'll, like I said, we'll get you back on another time and definitely dive more on on everything. And you know we'd even everything and you know we'd even get you know more on. You know, du, and just also, you know your waterfall hunt in mexico, and listen, you're for everyone. Jaeger lived, you know, he grew up in my town, he went to school in vermont. So you know, I know you. You probably did some hunting up there and everything like that. Now you're you're in texas and everything like that. So you know you've, there's so many places that you've been and you're going to be going even to more places. So well, we definitely got to get you back on. But you know something I always ask everyone when they come on um, you know what's your dream hunt. If you could have, uh, if you can hunt anywhere for two weeks, uh, all paid for, where would it be? And one animal?

Speaker 2: 1:25:40

Man, that's. That's really, really tough Cause there's two dream hunts that I have Um, um, I mean so two years ago or two, about four years ago, I started applying for mule deer hunts uh, for my bow and I got it. I spent about two weeks out in new mexico. Now it's probably the hardest hunt of my life. Uh, you're not showering, you're not really eating besides freeze dried meals. You're sleeping on the ground with snakes and scorpions and tarantulas and everything else. Um, and I thought that was my dream hunt, or one of the two. Um, but really, after experiencing that and being completely miserable, I was like eh.

Speaker 2: 1:26:27

I really, really would like to do uh hunt, either in like Oregon or Montana, two really cool places to go. I'm sure you're aware One guy who I follow heavily, really a big fan of his mentality philosophy, cameron Haynes. Of course he hunts up there. And then I really want to do a caribou hunt in Alaska, because it's just, you know know, I spent some time up there nine years ago and it really is like the last frontier of this country and just so vast and wide and open and you realize that you're not the apex predator out there with everything there, and to be surrounded by absolutely nothing, uh, and be there and taking it in in that moment would be probably the most incredible experience for me.

Speaker 2: 1:27:48

I mean again, right, like you can shoot deer in all 50 states, you can, hell, you can shoot elk in west virginia, right, kentucky, tennessee, they're there. Yeah, yeah, like you, you can hunt elk. I mean, you can hunt elk in texas, uh, west texas, but West Texas. But to do something where you are completely surrounded by nothing besides God's creation and you're essentially alone, right? I mean, yeah, I'd want to go with like buddies, right, or people who?

Speaker 2: 1:28:22

I know you don't want to be completely alone. That would probably be the most rewarding hunt to know that you took on somewhere where there's nothing Right Like. I kind of got that sense when I was in New Mexico, like we drove out to the middle of nowhere. It was BLM land partially, and there is no cell service. There's nothing for miles. There is no cell service, there's nothing for miles. I mean we were hiking seven miles a day and seven miles out, um, but you could drive 30, 40 minutes to to a town where there's a gas station and, you know, a burger joint, whatever. But when you're there in Alaska, no, there's. Not only is there none of that, but you're probably like a two hour plane ride from a burger joint or a gas station. Your gas station is the sticks on the trees. That's how you're making fire.

Speaker 2: 1:29:26

Like yeah that's what you kill. So that would that would probably be. I think my number one dream hunt would be to go to alaska, absorb that in in all of its glory, and be able to take an animal, specifically a caribou, up there, um, and do that and that and again, I say caribou because for anyone who is uh against hunting in general, there are tons of caribou. They taste great, um, most would be cool, but uh, you know there's, there's not, thousands and thousands of those and I I frankly just don't have all the interest in shooting moose, like every year in Vermont. I could have applied for one, I could have done it Me. It's not something that I'm like. I have an itch to go do.

Speaker 1: 1:30:23

That's my itch. I know that's your itch, yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:30:27

But again, everyone has their own thing right. Yep Axis is on my list. I think everyone who hunts, regardless if you shoot a bow or a rifle, I think everyone wants to shoot health, but moose is just not something where I'm like I need to do this. A caribou is something that I'm like before I die. I need to go to Alaska and do that. Is something that I'm like before I die. I need to go to alaska and do that because that's one of the only places you can do it. I I actually don't. The only other place I could think of would be like greenland or russia. I don't know where else you can hunt caribou yeah, I would, that's, you're right.

Speaker 1: 1:31:05

There's not many places and I, I think if you look at, you know you look at elk, that's probably like when you're when you're talking about the big big game, that's probably the most achievable one, like out of out of them all, like that's probably like all right. If you're looking at dream hunter, like all right, elk is probably the most doable. That. Or mule deer, you know, because some people do, like you said, you had mule deer there and you've done it and everything like that. So some people will put those two as like the most achievable.

Speaker 1: 1:31:36

But then you start getting to. You know people that go with mountain lion, or you know grizzlies, or you know you know brown bear, kodiak, whatever, a certain subspecies, um, you know. Then you have the moose, then you have sheep, big horn sheep those are not easy to get either. You know dale doll sheep, hard to get, you know. Then you really caribou. It's like where the hell am I gonna hunt a caribou, you know, and that's kind of like one of those things. It's like you, you're right. You know alaska, yeah, I think greenland. I do think greenland would make sense and russia would make sense, because russia.

Speaker 2: 1:32:20

I mean, for four months out of the year russia and the us are connected. So I know, I know they move across that ice path and that's the only other place I think and tell you right now russia's probably the last place you'd ever catch me well yeah, I mean outside of like north korea, like yeah probably the last place you'd ever catch my ass. They I'd take one step off the plane. They'd be like, sir, you're under arrest. I'd be like what I just got here, come with us come with us.

Speaker 1: 1:32:51

Um, what one more quick, quick one for you, and and then we'll, then we'll get going. Um, if you could hunt with, with someone, dead or alive, doesn't matter when they're from, it could be from the past, you know the present. Who. Who would you, who would you like to hunt with?

Speaker 2: 1:33:10

oh man, teddy roosevelt teddy the good old good old teddy teddy roosevelt dude. That guy was the pioneer in conservation for the us, in leading the national parks program. Uh, the dude was a hunter himself, but he was I mean, he said it and I'm paraphrasing the quote but he's like yes, I'm a hunter, but I'm a conservationist.

Speaker 1: 1:33:38

First, you know, um, there's a.

Speaker 2: 1:33:43

I mean I'd like to go hunting with you, but when you're saying dead or alive, I would just like to pick. I mean, he, he was the first person that really recognized the importance of we can't just kill, the kill right, there's got to be a limit to everything, otherwise it's gonna. We're gonna lose that resource, just like we had with fish, just like we had with bison. Uh, you know, and again, like I said, don't get me wrong I love killing hogs. There's an abundance of them. Yeah, but I think every state is different, right, like new jersey, there's an abundance of it.

Speaker 2: 1:34:26

When you have more deer, getting hit by a car than being taken by legal hunting means you have a deer problem yep, yeah, yeah, we, we definitely got that, and and that's just then you got to sit there and think about okay, you know, there needs to be something implemented, because not only is this causing taxpayer monies and issues, this is caught because you're sending more police fire ems to these situations. Right, you can remedy this by making adjustments to say, hey, we're gonna up the limit. Well, hey, we're gonna allow you to hunt on sundays for eight weeks right, you got. Or four weeks, whatever it is all. Right, we're gonna allow you to hunt on sundays for eight weeks. Right, you got. Or four weeks, whatever, it is all. Right, we're gonna change the rifle season's gonna be longer. Right, like whatever they need to do, because there shouldn't be more deer or more animals taken by legal means than by accidents or anything else.

Speaker 2: 1:35:32

Yeah, I mean, that's just crazy to me. That's and that was something I had actually seen not too long ago that I was going to ask you about, because I saw somewhere. It was like New Jersey has more deer that are that are killed from being run over or hit by a car than by hunters taking them by legal means. I was like, what the heck like? That's unbelievable. Look it up. And I thought that was. I thought that was a crazy stat, yep, I mean.

Speaker 2: 1:36:08

And that's not to say like there's not a lot here, right, but again, a majority of deer are in high fence ranches here, yeah, especially in the last 10 years. You know a lot of people because, again, it's a in Texas. It is a source of income, right, it's a natural resource. But people can also charge a pretty penny for someone to come shoot a whitetail because they're breeding these things. Our property, all low fence, all native bucks. But to our left and to our right and every mile down the road there are big, big, big ranches that have breeder bucks.

Speaker 2: 1:36:53

I mean ox ranch, um, I think they have breeder bucks, the old place I used to duck hunt on. He brought in these insane breeder bucks, I mean so big that when they would grow their antlers they had to cut them because they scored like three, 20, three, 40. They were so heavy they couldn't pick their heads up. I mean those are just. I mean that's insane. If I ever shot one of those, I think I'd probably, I'd probably give up hunting. I'd be like, all right, I'm done, you're never going're never gonna beat it. So, and again, there's not much of accomplishment there, but still so real quick.

Speaker 1: 1:37:39

Um, before we jump off one, we can hunt on sundays now. I don't know, and last time you hunted new jersey tim, but we, we can definitely hunt in on, uh, on sundays. Now. That's the one thing that is actually good about our state we have a.

Speaker 1: 1:37:54

Yeah, we have a long, long season and we have most places are unlimited dose. Um, but for your answer of yes, more deer are typically hit by cars in new jersey than are taken by hunters. Now, in new jersey, the number of deer vehicle collisions each year is significant, with thousands occurring annually, especially during the fall mating season. Specific data on the number of collisions for 2023 is not readily available, but historically the numbers have been high. In terms of deer harvested by hunters, approximately 38,300 were taken during the 2022-2023 deer season. So, um, with harvest being as high as 55,000 in 2020 and in and over 60,000 in the early 2000s, you're looking at roughly 60 to 70 000 deer probably being hit or being involved in a car crash.

Speaker 1: 1:38:57

Probably, I would say, maybe, even, maybe, even a little less. It could be only a couple thousand more than what we're harvesting, but that's still to your point. You know that's crazy, that's. I would like them to release an actual number. I would really like to to know the actual number deer and obviously, how many are not reported, right? So how many deer you know where you you hit a deer and it you know, you don't report it, because you usually really report it when you really mess up your car.

Speaker 2: 1:39:27

I mean, there's some big ass trucks out there, probably aren't really boop, oh, I hit a deer or someone had, or someone had a couple of uh adult sodas and they were like you know, I don't need anyone showing up yeah, yeah, yeah they're like I'll say someone hit me in the the shop right parking lot, Like that's fine, Exactly exactly.

Speaker 1: 1:39:51

So, man, I mean it was an absolute pleasure to finally get you on. I mean, like I said in the beginning, I mean you're looking at a childhood friendship here.

Speaker 2: 1:40:11

You know, one last story I will tell, tell and I'll never forget this one. Hey, before you tell this story, I want to plug one other company, one other thing real quick. Uh, have you guys heard of montana knife company?

Speaker 2: 1:40:20

no all right no, don't think so I don't think I have so montana knife company is a knife company, obviously out of mont Montana, started founded by Josh Smith. He's the master bladesmith. He actually, he was a journeyman lineman for a long time and he was a master bladesmith at like the age of 11 and then became whatever the next step is at 19. And he's been making custom blades for years and he patented the name montana knife company years ago and his wife convinced him to like quit his job and and take this on and do this full time and he started doing that four or five years ago. Um, actually, cameron haynes has a collab knife with him, steve ranella just did. But I've been using his knives for the last couple years. Um, I actually got one of them right here and like a few more behind you. Um, but it's montana knife company. This is the blackfoot model. They make it in magna cut steel and 52100 ball bearing steel.

Speaker 2: 1:41:32

These things are absolutely a weapon to have in the field. Um, everything from field dressing, uh to skinning, uh to quartering. I mean these things they're sharp, they stay sharp. Um, they have a lifetime generation promise. You send that in, they'll sharpen it. Um, they'll replace something if they have to replace it, and they send it back out to you, always with a handwritten note. Every part of this is made in the usa too, which is awesome. So every knife that's bought is bringing back uS, manufacturing one knife at a time. I mean, the shop is on his property in Montana.

Speaker 2: 1:42:17

I really can't say enough good things about them. They also you can look at it in two ways, right, like some people are like oh you know, you got to spend all this money for them to put you in the VIP program. But I've spent a lot of money with a lot of different companies over the years for hunting. Montana Knife Company does a VIP program where I think everyone kind of guesses on exactly how they do it. But you get these different levels of VIP. I forget which one I'm at now. Like, at first they sent me a lighter. Right, then the next one. They sent me a knife, then the next one, they sent me another knife. Then in that package they also sent me a pair of uh, leopold binos the 10 by 42s with a custom marsupial gear harness that said mkc on it, a bottle of whiskey and an MKC flask.

Speaker 2: 1:43:20

And so they just and again, you know people are like, oh well, you had to spend all that money to get that Like.

Speaker 2: 1:43:28

I was like, no, I was just supporting a company that I believe in, that I like, and I mean I've done that with Sitka, I've done that with Benelli, I've done that with Higdon, I've done it with tons of companies. Never has a company gone out of their way to be like, hey, you have supported us, we're going to give you something in return, and I just think that's really cool. So, for anyone who's listening, I just wanted to say, if you get a chance again, they're not the cheapest things, cheapest things. Right, they're like any good hunting knife, but they're meant to be used and abused and passed down from generation to generation and they are well worth the investment. These things are incredible and you're standing by an incredible company, incredible people, um and I mean josh is just salt of the earth guy, greatest guy, um, and I would definitely say, at least check them out, give them a look, check out the different knives and, uh, you know, support them if, if you can and if you like to. It's definitely worth it.

Speaker 1: 1:44:37

Yeah, I'm taking a look right now. They do have some nice knives they've.

Speaker 2: 1:44:42

They have every single model that you can imagine for you know, if you're backpacking, uh, all the way up to you know, a kitchen set, right, and I, I have the kitchen set. I love the kitchen set. Um, I use the stone goat is my favorite for backcountry, um, all around. I really like the, the blackfoot that I just showed you, but then they have a white tail knife I mean there's dozens of different ones, but phenomenal company, phenomenal people, um, and phenomenal product and I, I personally love that. The steel, the g10, uh, handles, the sheath, everything usa made. You know, it doesn't. To me, it doesn't get much better than that when choosing to support a company.

Speaker 1: 1:45:31

Yeah I 100 agree with you that, yeah, make sure you guys go check them out. I mean, I'm looking at them right now. So obviously you know, I'll probably be buying a new knife anyway. I'm looking for a new fixed blade. I'm looking for a new fixed blade knife anyway. Is that part of your EDC?

Speaker 2: 1:45:48

That is, I carry either the Blackfoot or I carry the Mini Goat, the MagnaCut Mini Goat. I love that one just because it's super lightweight, so I carry that with my uh. I actually just switched uh edc guns. I'm carrying the sig p365 legion um thing is an absolute beast. It's probably the nicest carry gun I've ever had and most accurate with that built-in comp uh, and it's just, it feels great in the hand. But yeah, I mean these two together have been the daily gotta love texas, that's it no doubt about that.

Speaker 2: 1:46:33

All right, so sorry, I didn't mean to take your thunder, but tell me no, no, no worries what I just? I had to plug them because I I'm also staring at one, two, three, four, five of their knives right behind me. Um, one that I need to. You got one coming your way as a a little wedding present, so you'll have to send me your address oh shit, all right, all right but uh, yeah, what, what's this story? Am I gonna be embarrassed, is it?

Speaker 1: 1:47:04

like no, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna save the embarrassing ones for for next time. So the gun safe I have is is jaeger's right because this guy, this guy got a brand, brand new one. So we went to go pick it up from Dick's Sporting Goods. It was me.

Speaker 2: 1:47:20

This guy Right.

Speaker 1: 1:47:21

And, and yeah, that one. Right there, it was us two and one of our buddies, riley. Right, riley played. Yeah, it was Flynn.

Speaker 2: 1:47:30

He was a freshman on the hockey team. Yeah, it was a free user.

Speaker 1: 1:47:33

Yeah, and this where he lived first of all. He lived, like on the other side of town. He lived in Chatham, right, yeah, he lived on Chatham, but the border of Summit and New Providence. And to get up into this condo, first of all the, the driveway was like this so he had to back up first, all what?

Speaker 1: 1:47:58

no, with no backup cam.

Speaker 1: 1:48:00

The freaking thing is hanging out the the back of the tailgate because we couldn't close it all the way, so he's able to maneuver all the way back. And then not only did you have to go back, but then it does like a turnaround, like it, like it was a big curve into the driveway too. So, whatever we, we, we get up there and we're just like how the hell are we going to get this thing in a condo, right where we had to go upstairs too? So, whatever we, we take the door off, we're, we, slowly but surely, are making our way.

Speaker 1: 1:48:41

Now we're getting up these narrow stairs, right, and we are struggling, we are struggling. So I finally go, ok, I'm going to go up top and I'm going to pull back while you two push up. Right, I don't know what happened, happened, but I think I slipped or something, and I just remember riley saying oh my god oh my god, I'm holding it with, like my head, he was holding like the, the gun safe, with just like his neck and his head, just trying to keep this thing from absolutely top.

Speaker 1: 1:49:17

If we would have let go, if we would have fully let go, this thing would have killed him, like, because I think we were already like halfway, halfway up, already up. So if we would have let go this, how much, how much did that thing? How much does that?

Speaker 1: 1:49:30

safe way again so the door was heavier than the actual safe but it it's like an 850 pound safe and it's a 64 gun safe and of course he had to get it and you know, because I think it was on sale and he got a pretty good deal on it. It was on sale and everything like that. I just remember poor riley, who's a freshman like he was, went, however old like we were, we were young, we were kids, he was 15, you know, and it was. There was almost a a a death because we were trying to get a, a gun safe, up into a condo I, I completely forgot about that.

Speaker 2: 1:50:16

That was and and and it was, yes, it was a good deal on that safe, but also I was. I had so many at that point that I just had them sitting out. And yes, you did. Yeah, I realized that that was a huge problem, especially because, uh, half the guns that I had were because, uh, half the guns that I had were I don't even want to say this they were not new jersey compliant, like I had a scar. I had, you know, 30 round magazines. I had 17 round magazines like and, yes, they were all purchased prior to New Jersey but still not compliant with the state regulations at the time. And so just having those sitting out was probably not the best thing in the world, and so I got I had to get that bigger one to put in there. Also, jessica hated that I just left guns, say now that I was just like it's fine, I'm in the police academy, we're good, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1: 1:51:25

I know what I'm doing.

Speaker 2: 1:51:26

I was like. I was like I'm good, I know what I'm doing, it's fine don't worry, I'm a professional. Yeah, don't worry, I am. Yeah, it didn't go over too well.

Speaker 1: 1:51:41

But, brother, thank you so much for coming on. I mean, this was a hell of a time. Yeah, you might have to come join our roundtable segment where everyone's on. We got a whole bunch of people on that would be awesome. Bsing and talking about bullshit.

Speaker 2: 1:51:57

I thought there was going to be a lot more people here too.

Speaker 1: 1:51:59

I saw you sent like it to six people, but uh, so the the whole, the whole team gets a, gets an invite, um, and if they can make it, they can make it, if they can't, they can't. And then I send one to to bianca, just so she knows the schedule, so she won't plan anything or ask me of anything, so just go right on her schedule and she won't be like hey, you know we're going to, you know we're going dinner. No, we're not, do you?

Speaker 2: 1:52:23

see the schedule right here. See that podcast. Well, no, uh, thank you for having me. Uh, I'd definitely uh be more than happy to come back. Uh, if you want to invite me back, I'd be more than happy to come back. If you want to invite me back, I'd be more than happy to. I love talking about Ducks Unlimited. I love talking hunting, you know. I think I think the more you can educate people on hunting and the more people who are willing to listen, the better. Um, because it's not. It's not just about killing, you know, I know you eat everything you kill. It's it's a lot about feeding yourself. It's about conservation because, to an extent right, if, if there's an overpopulation of animals, there's not enough food, they die a much worse death yep, 100, oh yeah, uh, can't disagree with you more than that.

Speaker 1: 1:53:25

That's my biggest, like my biggest say I always tell people that, but you know what. People are going to believe it. People are not screw them. Hey, you know what exactly, I mean that's why I eat what.

Speaker 2: 1:53:37

That's why I eat twice as much meat, to negate any impact that a vegan thinks that they're having on this world listen.

Speaker 1: 1:53:44

I I can't remember if I said it on the podcast, but I was talking about it with I think I did. I can whatever, but it was me, bianca, and one of our friends and I think brian hellis was with us, and I straight up said it. I go, I think at this point where I'm in life, I would much rather my kid be gay than be a vegan like I deal with with vegans on a basis at work and it's probably the most frustrating thing I've ever had to deal with in my life.

Speaker 2: 1:54:20

Well, I think it's just when you're not willing to compromise, right? Like one of my good buddies here, super liberal, right? But him and I don't fight or argue. We have educational conversations, conversations on not who's right and wrong or who's better and who's worse, it's on the logical facts and what makes sense, right? Yeah, like, like I said to him, I was like, yeah, trump may not be the best president in the world, but guess what? Never happened when he was in president.

Speaker 2: 1:54:53

When he was holding presidency, russia never thought to invade ukraine. You know how many missiles north korea tested when trump was in office 17. You know how many times they've tested missiles since biden took office 112, yeah, I mean. And not even, not even six weeks after biden took office. What did? I think people don't realize, like, how long the invasion of ukraine's been going on, but six weeks after actually I think it was like five weeks after, uh, biden took office putin invaded russia or ukraine. It's like he may not be the best, but the fact is is that no one pulled any shit when he was there, because, yeah, they might be crazy, but they were like this mother, I don't know about him, he's on another level, yeah, meanwhile, you know, you got biden, who I don't even actually think he knows what's going on at the border.

Speaker 2: 1:55:53

I think that his aides only tell him what he wants to hear. Because I mean, he, he was fully, he was in disbelief hearing what he heard in the first debate about how bad the border is.

Speaker 2: 1:56:07

He even said border patrol supports him, in which immediately after he made that statement yeah, the union said we don't, and I think he was actually genuinely shocked about that, because I don't think that they, if they tell him stuff that will upset him, he, he can't handle being upset and so he doesn't actually know this. And when you have someone who's leading the world like that, that's not the right choice. To which someone made the comment like hey, trump, if by you're only running because biden's running, if he drops out, will you drop out? I think that's best case scenario. Then we start fresh with two new candidates, like I don't care who it is, but let's get back to debates where Well, let's make sure it's not Hillary Clinton.

Speaker 2: 1:56:52

Well, yeah, but you look back to Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. They shook hands, they had pleasantries, they had actual a debate on topics, right? Yeah, yeah, the last 15 minutes of this debate was like I mean hell. It would be like you and me arguing over who scored like a cooler goal in high school hockey.

Speaker 2: 1:57:14

They were arguing over their golf handicap yeah and and having a driving contest and I'll play you in golf, but you have to carry your own bag. It's like dude, those are. Those are like drunk conversations that you have with your buddy at a bar, and this was a past president, a current president in a presidential debate for who's going to be the next president of the us. It's like I mean, obviously I'm way more conservative than democratic, but it is it. It's embarrassing on both sides and these are options. So I would love it if they both just said hey, we're, you know, we're out, and they're like all right, let's pull in two new potential candidates. I think this would be so much freaking better for the country as a whole. I, just I, I you know the old uh, I mean south park. Did it what four or five years ago, or sorry, like eight years ago, when they said a shit sandwich and a douche?

Speaker 1: 1:58:18

like those are two options yet again yeah, no, I I I definitely agree with you on that. So, um you know, listen we'll, we'll save the I I agree I think mostly every I think mostly everyone else here agrees too. But we'll, we'll, but we'll save that for another time. But, brother, thank you so much for coming on.

Speaker 2: 1:58:43

Hey, thank you guys for having me. Like I said, it was a pleasure. I enjoyed it. Next time, if you invite me again, we'll figure out how to get the computer working ahead of time so I don't have the phone issues. But no, thank you very much for having me. It was a pleasure. I'm glad I got to do this and, uh, definitely look forward to being able to hop on with y'all again yeah, no, definitely, man, and um, oh, frank, you got any last words?

Speaker 1: 1:59:12

no, just nice meeting you, man, and I can't wait to do it again. Man, this is definitely going to be better.

Speaker 2: 1:59:21

Yeah, and, and we need to get you guys to Texas, cause you need to get out of. Uh, we got to get you guys down here and do something Western. You know that's what we do down here, is we get Western.

Speaker 1: 1:59:32

Yeah, no, we're, we're definitely down in Tim. We you gotta come back. Um, we're going to do, we do a game dinner now Next year. I'll the minute I find out the date and everything like that, I'll let you know.

Speaker 2: 1:59:44

Alright, I'm just gonna have to change my name on my license, because I don't know If I'm allowed back in New Jersey.

Speaker 1: 1:59:49

Oh god, this kid was a wild animal Back in the day, I think.

Speaker 2: 1:59:54

I think I might be banned, dude, I think they got my name at EWR. I might not be allowed in.

Speaker 1: 2:00:02

Well, on that note, everyone, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and we'll see you guys next time.