Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to the Garden State Outdoors and Podcast presented by Boone Cutting you know and that's why you're your um your tagline, like JCL known, perfect.

Speaker 3: 0:07

You don't know what's up, man?

Speaker 2: 0:10

you don't know what's up man. You don't know what's up, man.

Speaker 1: 0:12

I accidentally drifted in my canoe between a sow and a cub and she like, charged and like hit like the back of the canoe.

Speaker 2: 0:22

His head hit the ground before his ass hit.

Speaker 3: 0:25

Begging, begging and crying. To go with my grandfather, go with my father on these deer drives.

Speaker 2: 0:31

You know, the last trip over I shot a great Cape Buffalo with my battle of charging bluegrass. And then the whooping. And then you hear Welcome to the Garden State Outdoors and Podcast. I'm your host, Frank Mastica.

Speaker 1: 0:43

I'm your co-host Mike Nitre.

Speaker 3: 0:46

The old Squ outdoors and podcasts. I'm your host, frank mastica.

Speaker 2: 0:48

I'm your co-host, mike nitre. The old squatch is hanging out and today we got a very special guest, mr travis henderson from trigger traditions outdoors. Travis, welcome to the show man thank you guys for having me.

Speaker 4: 0:58

Uh, it's gonna be a good talk no, I appreciate you coming on man.

Speaker 2: 1:02

So, travis, why don't you uh just give us a little background on uh? You know, like, who you are, what you do, where you live?

Speaker 4: 1:10

yeah, just give us a little background there yeah, so, um, I live in sussex county near you guys.

Speaker 4: 1:15

I'm in vernon, um, I'm predominantly a waterfowl hunter. Um, I find a lot more enjoyment in waterfowl upland working with dogs, especially because seeing like the whole dog work part of it, like that's just so much more fun to it. And it's relatively been new to me within like the past like five, six years or so, but especially like before COVID like kind of opened your eyes a little bit more to be outside, more um kind of stuff like that. And we started this Trigger Traditions page, me and a couple buddies, uh, years ago, and to us it was kind of just a way to document, like how you guys mentioned before we started recording. It's just like the memories. This was just gonna pretty much just be like a blog, like throw up this stuff that the trips we go on, like the memories that we have, and it kind of turned into like our own little community. Um, so we're just continuing to hunt as much as we can and beat new people and have fun yeah, man, definitely that.

Speaker 2: 2:11

That's what it's all about right there. So we, you know that's all of us and we all try to get out together as much as possible. Just create some cool content, take the families out, it's. It's all just about having fun and getting out there, man, honestly yeah, exactly so but uh, where? Where exactly do you hunt? Because you you're from, you live in Vernon. I live right in Wantage, right on the other side of you. So do you hunt? You hunt state land up there. You got private property.

Speaker 4: 2:40

So I have a couple friends in places around here with private property. I'm originally from Stockholm, so it's still Sussex County, but a lot of state land over there because my parents' house kind of backs up to the woods and everything over there. So a lot of public land primarily, but occasionally we'll do some private land stuff.

Speaker 2: 3:03

Wow, no, that's awesome. I mean I got one private piece by me. The rest is all federal land. I know squatch has got a bunch of you know um private land over by him. Mike's just state land over there running and gunning all the time. So I try to get over to holla him when I could. But no, that definitely awesome. And especially have you so close and I was like damn man, I like I was like I never. I can't believe we never ran into each other before.

Speaker 4: 3:33

We might have at one point.

Speaker 4: 3:34

Yeah, yeah, you never really know the amount of times, like when you do go public land hunting and it's the struggle with everybody is just trying to find somewhere that other people aren't willing to go to, because you have the people that'll park on the side of the road and kind of just walk maybe 100 yards in, but kind of making that difference to go up over that hill, go as far back as you can or you're willing to, to look for other kinds of sign to kind of set yourself away from the other hunting pressure.

Speaker 4: 4:04

But, um, we still run into people here and there like trying to roost birds. Last week I saw some guys right on the side of the road where I was going to pull off to do some striking and stuff like that, and I'm lucky to have, um, some friends that have some private land. Uh, we got like a couple places like two, three hundred acres, um, and it's like diversity, like you got fields, you got ponds, stuff like that, and you can't really ask for any more than that. But nothing really beats kind of head to head, I guess you want to say on public land, but it's kind of. However you take it yeah, no, absolutely not.

Speaker 2: 4:41

And you guys, do you? Do you stage just strictly in sussex county or do you branch out more?

Speaker 4: 4:47

I'll go pretty much just about anywhere. We go up to the Finger Lakes for snow goose hunting. We'll go farther south south Jersey for duck goose. We've gone to PA. We went to Montana this past year hunting season for a duck and upland hunt In the summertime because the seasons are flopped. I went to Argentina for a week for duck hunting, so that was pretty big. And this upcoming year we're going to go to Texas and Kansas. So I mean pretty much anywhere we can go. Vermont, turkey season I went there last year, it just started this month, so I'm going gonna probably go up there in two weeks. Nice, I'm gonna try my luck up there. But, um, yeah, it's pretty much wherever you're willing to go, you know, and you got to kind of branch out a little bit, have more fun, because when you go to new places with friends it's like you're all experiencing it for the first time together yeah, no, I'm absolute, and you know it's like you're all experiencing it for the first time together.

Speaker 2: 5:46

Yeah, no, absolutely, and you know it's just like you say. Like I keep I always keep saying that on the show too Like that's one thing I always wanted to get into was duck hunting, like I think of all of us, I think Mike's got the most experience duck hunting out of all of us. I mean, I'm just so intrigued by it. I just, you know, I just, I just I need to try at one point in my life.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Yeah, no, we should definitely get you guys out one day. You're also coming with us next year. No, yeah, that's true, but about it.

Speaker 2: 6:16

Yep, I'm looking forward to that. So, but I I know that you mentioned before too that, uh, you had. You had actually recently. I don't know if mike heard, but you recently just killed a nice bird today. Why don't you talk about that a little bit?

Speaker 4: 6:33

yeah, so I got a bird this morning actually it's first bird of the season um, it kind of was a pretty fast hunt because I was in that area the day before um, lots of tracks and everything I did a giant circle and probably about like 45 minutes an hour.

Speaker 4: 6:50

I get back to where the circle started.

Speaker 4: 6:52

There was fresh tracks because it was raining last night you gotta be kidding me.

Speaker 4: 6:56

So I went back, um, I didn't make it even to um sunrise because I was a little bit late this morning, had stuff going on but walked down the trail, started to get into the woods and maybe like 15 minutes in I'm starting to try to cross this little river bank and I hit a strike call and the bird's probably like 50 yards away from me and, like I mentioned before, like I use it as a reference, it's like that meme where shaquille o'neal's trying to hide behind like that little tree, something like the only thing next to me was either like little saplings and like ferns, so like I was just trying to just pretty much just sat my ass in the mud and eventually he came up over the corner um started to kind of walk down like a little bit of a cut and he probably about like seven, eight yards Cause there was like one tree up ahead that he kind of got stuck behind. But once he kind of made that little bit of mistake, it was game over.

Speaker 2: 7:52

It was game over Nice. Would you shoot him a 12 gauge?

Speaker 4: 7:56

Yeah, 12 gauge.

Speaker 2: 7:57

Yeah, what, what's your your setup? Like like, what do you shoot? Like, like, what do you shoot you shooting like?

Speaker 4: 8:03

the CSS is or yeah, I shoot three and a half inch, especially come like goose season I'll always shoot like three and a half inch BB. But as far as turkey hunting, like just your standard full choke. I have the Browning Maxis Wicked Wing, so it comes with. It came with four chokes. I just run the main full one on there. I've dabbled a little bit before with other chokes. My friends have some other ones like the Cremator and stuff like that, and it patterns well for me and every gun's different with every ammo, so you know just whatever works best for you, yep.

Speaker 3: 8:41

I know Squatch is excited about uh killer setup he's got this year yeah, my uh, I've been using an 835 utility mag for over 20 years and, uh, there you go, I've ran the extra full mossberg choke in it for years. But you know, we just bought frank and I just bought the cv life. Uh, holographic sight for that, for the top, you know reflex sight and put it on. I was sighting a gun in pattern and different stuff. And let me tell you something I'm no slouch, I'm 250. My shoulder was black and blue man from that freaking gun going seven times in my shoulder.

Speaker 3: 9:19

Oh, yeah after the third shot I was like I don't want to shoot this again. But I got him, you know. But, uh, really good setup. I. I had the gun pattern, good. But with that extra particular sight being so precise on there, I said you know my pattern's a little wide at like 40, 45 and I like to reach out and touch them. So I spent the money. I bought a carlson choke. I went to a 683 uh diameter choke. I was shooting like a 730 that was stock on the mossberg for the extra full. So uh found out that the three and a half winchester super mags that I was shooting are, uh, number fives man pattern in like a freaking pie plate at like 40 yards. So I was like, okay, it's good.

Speaker 3: 10:04

And you know, god willing and and I'm so thankful and grateful, not only you know with frank being with me and being there, that thing hammered that bird. I mean hammered. There was no shot in the breast like I usually get. Yeah, you know, because it's such a wide pattern. Everything was in the head. And when I, when I breast that bird out the other day after I got home, I was like look at this, there's no freaking shot in the breast. I was like that's so awesome. I'm like I was just so happy and I mean the bird never knew what hit him, he just was lights out man instantly. And you know, frank came so close. He had multiple birds coming in. We had him Sunday running in even between the pouring rain and Frank's got a cool gun too. But I got that extra range and I was like Frankie, they're out far. I'm like take my gun. He was like a millisecond away from squeezing the trigger but it's a good setup.

Speaker 3: 11:01

I'm glad I switched it at Carlson choke. It makes it makes a lot of difference and you know you don't have to spend money. Even I get it. It patterns tighter further out with the tungsten. But if you don't want to spend that money or you don't have the money to spend, just spend the money on a choke, because it'll still do the same procedure. You know what I mean. It gets it, gets the stuff out there. Yeah.

Speaker 4: 11:20

I mean the choke makes such a huge difference, like I mean, like you mentioned, like no, no shot in the breast and everybody knows it's a pain, especially birds. Luckily for me it was pretty much all head this morning because at that close if I was hitting it into the breast there's obviously something wrong with my eyes. But like, even in waterfowl hunting, like the choke makes a huge difference. Like, cause not everybody shoots the same. Everybody has a different mounting style. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get that gun up but depending on whether you're shooting, some people like to leave a full in. I personally don't for waterfowl, but like I'll run like a mod or something.

Speaker 2: 11:58

But everybody kind of has their own little taste to it yeah, I know, I think uh squatch, he was a little worried about me when, uh when, just when I was about to pull that trigger, he was like frankie, remember, I'm 250, hold on to that fucking gun. At that point I was so laser focused I wasn't even thinking about like the kick or nothing, obviously, but he was like remember the old squats got black and blue I was like, I was like dude, let me tell you just be ready, because that it's a whole nother animal holding on to that shotgun man.

Speaker 2: 12:35

That thing's a beast but yeah, so anyway, all right. So enough of that talk. So I want to talk to you actually about um. I know, I know like you're more of a duck hunter or whatever, but I did see on on your instagram that you had a whole bunch of like. You had like some deer in there and some other stuff. So, like are you a big deer hunter? Like? How does like deer hunting fall for for you as compared to like duck hunting?

Speaker 4: 13:05

So waterfowl kind of always takes a priority for me because to me it's more of like a social thing to be with friends, to be with run dogs, stuff like that Deer like. I've done some deer drives over the years with friends. We've had some success there and sat in a tree a couple times last season. But the main deer I shot last year I don't know if you saw my personal page, but he had that kind of like that weird drop on his one side. It's because he had that cross leg injury. But I wasn't really even out for a deer that week. I sat all week every day for a bear and not a single bear came in. And on the very last day that deer came in I was like I'm leaving with something. No, I've sat this long, I've sat here all week I'm, I'm coming home with something, uh. But aside from that, just some does for a freezer filler, stuff like that yeah, go figure.

Speaker 2: 14:01

Like you know, you're out there to kill a bear, you see them every other time. But when you go out there of kill a bear, you see them every other time, but when you go out there, of course they don't show up yeah, and we didn't.

Speaker 4: 14:09

We didn't have that deer on camera either. So and it's not like I've had anything crazy on my cameras over the years that we want to be like. I got to be in the woods every single day like for weeks at a time, checking cameras, doing more scouting, trying to figure out where he's bedding. Obviously, when that deer kind of comes into the area and you have it on camera, then totally different story. But from the places I've been, um, a lot of small deer aside from that one my buddy killed pretty much in the same area. He got a nice 11 um and that was like a week after probably I shot mine and we never saw that one on camera either.

Speaker 4: 14:50

Um, so like you really never know, unless you're gonna be in the tree, uh, but to me it comes down to I like to have a game plan ahead of time. I don't want to just go up and sit and kind of see what kind of happens and unfolds. I'd rather kind of have my eggs in order, know what's kind of in the area, have multiple cameras set up in different areas and kind of take my pickings that way.

Speaker 2: 15:15

Yeah, no, because I know like, especially where I hunt, it's like I'll get a whole bunch. I'll get like the same deer on camera constantly, constantly get a whole bunch. I'll get like the same deer on camera constantly, constantly. And then all of a sudden it's just like boom, like those deer that I was watching or you know scouting for, or now they're all gone. Now I got a whole bunch of new ones that I'm trying to figure out.

Speaker 4: 15:36

And here's season, and I'm sitting there trying to figure it all out and I'm like, oh, you know, like it happens to me every year, I'm like what a pain in the ass yeah, like my one buddy like kind of near me, he had a giant on camera and he kept sitting all year but we just kept having this, this same little four point, these little forks no brow tines just every day, like you could. You could literally just stand in the tree, look down and throw them like a little debbie cake if you wanted to. You needed somebody to kill a four point. Just bring them right there, like that deer was there every single day and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 16:14

Like when I see that, like on camera, like it won't get me as excited, uh, but so quick question, not not to cut off, so because obviously you're so you know diehard and invested into waterfowl. You're not, you're not one of those hunters that has a saddle full, everything like that. So you are you hunting out of hang ons and and ladder stands like that, just so you're not going to be nearly as mobile. So when you do have situations like that, like you, like you said, you kind of have to be more picky and you want to pick the exact right time to go in and everything like that, just because you don't have the advantage of being as mobile and being able to move around as as much yeah, I mean.

Speaker 4: 16:55

So I have a tethered saddle. Um haven't really used it. Um obviously put it on and played around with it.

Speaker 4: 17:02

Um I haven't had the opportunity to use it this past year, um I got that as like a christmas present, but I have a summit viper climber, um, and then we have by my one buddy's place we have a ladder stand, so it's it's kind of like pick your poison, like you said. Like if I'm willing to like go out, like even if it just does like earn your buck, you know, like I'll take the climber out or the saddle if you have to kind of just find where you want to be, if you want to pick in like a little little cut or something or a little Oxbow and just hope for the best there.

Speaker 2: 17:38

Right, yeah, now are you guys. Do you guys usually bait, or are you? You guys just just kind of like, got your spot and you'd rather just scout and set up on them that way?

Speaker 4: 17:49

We'll bait, like with in front of a camera, try not to obviously just set up right over it. Yeah, because it means a lot more when you're set up in the right spot at the right time and the deer comes in on the same path that you think he should be coming in on um, I feel like there's like a lot of reward in that um versus people like even like bear hunters or something like obviously you can't kill within x amount of feet of a bait pile, but I'm sure there's probably plenty of people out there that do do it. Yeah, but to me it's just like knowing that you can be in the right spot at the right time.

Speaker 1: 18:27

um is like one of the biggest things and that's what kind of most of us have gone to here, you know, at boondocks hunting like especially me, pete and um zach, like we, we hunt it kind of like deer, we hang and hunt and we're literally just looking for the, the freshest sign you know. So it's all active, like we're really active, just moving around looking for the freshest sign which is at that time of the year. It's always going to be a food source and it's going to either be corn acorns or these berries that I they look like little grapes um, I don't know if every you know if it's an invasive species or whatever the hell it is, but it looks like grapes um, and we found like they were. They were munching on that a lot last year. So it's kind of like in the same you'll, you'll bait them and everything like that.

Speaker 1: 19:15

Do the pre-season baited, but once, like I don't know especially bear hunting, like I used to be the huge believer of, just like going, it's fun, doing the donuts and everything, don't get me wrong the intel and you know, but it's also like turned into a whole different thing, like I will do the whole baiting when you go to maine, or like when you go to canada or something like that, just because it's so hard to get on bears. You know, versus here in new jersey. Listen, at the end of the day there's so many bears and it's oh yeah smaller space that you can do the like.

Speaker 1: 19:48

It's a lot easier to do the hang and hunt and kind of just go off of them on.

Speaker 4: 19:52

You know their trails, you know their food sources and everything like that yeah, and you can use like a synthetic lure to like signal 11 or something like they have that oreo cookie spray. But, like this morning, I had two bears knock over my recycling can. I was waiting for the the recycling guy to come, because I won't put anything out the night before and I brought it out at six o'clock and they were supposed to come at like 6 20. Go to the bathroom, look outside the window. It's already tipped over.

Speaker 2: 20:18

There's cans and stuff all over the world like it's not hard to find them, but no but especially up there, because you know, because actually that's what I grew up in, vernon and man, it was just like you said, no matter within, it's like, it's almost like they're sitting there watching you like put it out and be like okay, now we went inside, you know so I'm backed right up to like this side of the mountain like I'm in pbl.

Speaker 4: 20:44

So okay, yeah, I'm on like the back side of the lake. It's pretty much the woods up to the tower up there and they pretty much just hang out up there by the quarry pretty much like all day. Yeah, till they come down, they want to go to goodfellas eat all the pizza. Look at this buffet. We got over here.

Speaker 4: 21:05

There's always something around here you got those italian bears up there he looks, he's big, he looks italian so he must got all the good stuff in his garbage well, luckily, I mean, like I said, like I sat all week um for bear, um didn't really get the opportunity because to me, like I really want to get one with a bow, still haven't gotten a bear, but hopefully coming into the next season, fingers crossed. But we'll see good good eating they are so yummy no no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1: 21:46

I I I don't think you understand how. Yes, and everyone who's listening, who follows our show religiously, knows how much we love bear hunting and how much we love to eat bear. Oh snap, my thing came on the crap, um, but yes, I'll have to do that later. We love to eat there. It is one of the best meats I've ever had. Like I don't know, love it. Obviously trash bears we're not counting trash bears, but like, if you can get a good bear that's eating acorns, um, corn and more natural stuff and everything like that. Or if you want to give a bear donuts and feed them donuts. Listen, they taste really good. Like I don't know if you watch Meat Eater, but yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4: 22:39

Honestly, we'll eat just about anything. Yeah, same here.

Speaker 1: 22:44

Same here with all of us. So, um, you know, um I yeah, it's not an exaggeration I will say what Frank, we, this will 200, probably, by the time this comes out, 220 episodes. I'd say more than 75% of the guests that we've had have all agreed that they like eating bear and it's one of their favorite meats. We've only had one person say they don't like it, and then everybody else has yet to try bear.

Speaker 4: 23:14

But that's how popular bear is.

Speaker 4: 23:16

Yeah, I haven't gotten to try it yet. You make a good point on especially like the meat, like a bear that's eating actual acorns, actual stuff throughout the woods, versus a dumpster bear, because we have people that have like the same approach, like that like geese, like we kill probably around like 500 birds in like new jersey this year. There's a lot of birds, but if you have ones that are hanging out in Franklin Choprite parking lot eating sweet and sour sauce cups, ones that like when we, if you go up to like Pine Island or something in that area, it like up over the border of New York, birds that are eating actual food, combine cornfields, stuff, like that, like it's a totally different taste.

Speaker 2: 24:02

Yeah, a totally different taste. Yeah, I also heard I don't know how true it is because I've never had it, but I've heard like I guess like it's either duck or geese. Somebody told me was actually like the meat's greasy. I don't know how true that is. Is that true?

Speaker 4: 24:17

um, it is. I mean more so duck, because duck is, it's an actual red meat, it's like a steak. A lot of people think when you shoot a duck or something it's just like these little chicken breasts or something is what some people think, but it's really just like a fatty. If you get a good fatty mallard with the skin on and you have a cast iron pan, you get that nice and hot. You really can't beat mallard duck. Some of the ones, some of the ones we brought back from montana this year, um, size of cats, practically way bigger than jersey birds that we have here, um, and just the taste of them is unreal because we're out in the middle of nowhere. They're eating actual food. They're on the big rivers, there are plenty of farmland all around the place and you just can't beat a good mallard yeah, I, I think it's.

Speaker 2: 25:13

It goes like basically with every animal like that, like different places it tastes different. Because I know like when I go hunt upstate new york, the deer I kill up there tastes different than the deer I shoot down here. And I don't know if that's just because you know people bait a lot more down here or what it is, but it always tastes different. I like New York state deer, to be honest with you, 100% better. Yep.

Speaker 3: 25:39

I noticed that with mountain deer that I've shot because're mostly on an oak beech nut kind of regimen, those nuts are bitter, so it kind of It'll sour not sour, but I don't know Like I call it like a bitter. It's almost like a little bit bitter taste to the venison. And where I live is apple orchard country. So those deer by far they're a better eating deer here. I mean those orchards man, when they eat them apples and stuff, it just it's just a whole different, better deer to eat, a lot better.

Speaker 2: 26:16

Yeah, no, I, I agree, apples and stuff, it just it's just a whole different, better deer to eat a lot better. Yeah, no, I, I agree. So but um, I was also going to ask actually I was going to bring up a very good point that you know. I know we got off the turkey topic, but I wanted to bring it up again, especially with like um. So I know you were saying before like how, um, when you go into new areas, even it even could go for deer too as well. You know, you got to kind of learn, like, what those animals do, what they want, to be responsive. And I I learned that this year from squatch because I brought him up to our place in New York State to hunt turkey for the very first time he hasn't been up there hunting at all yeah and for him to figure out what these birds like he must have had.

Speaker 2: 27:04

Like what, like 20, calls on you Squatch yeah, I well, I'd say maybe 15, but between you and me. We probably had like 20.

Speaker 3: 27:13

I probably owned like 40 or 50 freaking different calls. But yeah, I carried like between 10 and 15 with me. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:20

Yeah, no, and it was. It's just. I guess it's so important because you know how I see it is a lot of people they're used to just, you know, doing what they're doing here or where they're hunting, doing what they're doing here or where they're hunting. And and actually I was telling Squatch I said that's why I think I wasn't as successful in New York state as I was in Jersey, because I kind of knew what the birds liked here and up there, even though we had the property.

Speaker 2: 27:49

It took me like a while and actually I didn't even really realize it until hunting, you know, with Squatch this year, that way. And he like started explaining it to me and I was like shit, man, like that really makes sense. Like because I would always wonder like why isn't this working? You know, like it works everywhere else, like you know where I hunt in jersey, but why isn't it working up here? Like I would get them to gobble or whatever. But that would be it, you know. So I was just like what the hell? And then when he explained to me I was like that makes a lot of sense yeah and it's like it's like trial by fire.

Speaker 4: 28:22

Um, yeah, you'll kind of want to look at it that way, but it's also like boots on the ground. Um, if you're hunting a different state like, I know people that take trips to like two states up over down south. Whichever direction you want to go, they're doing all sorts of like e-scouting, looking at on x, um, getting a hold of people via facebook, stuff like that to get access to certain areas. But until you actually get there and see it in person, you're really not going to know a whole lot. Like, if you're going to look at like topography maps and stuff like that, you can get a great idea of the landscape. But until you can see like the forest floor, like what kind of I don't know, like what kind of grass you guys got in the field, like is it a crop, is it stuff like that like you really won't know until you're actually there and like that's the same thing.

Speaker 4: 29:10

Like here you said, the birds in, uh, new York totally different than down here. Down here it's a lot harder for me, but like up in Vermont, when I was up there last season with my friends, it's just you could go freaking practically just about anywhere. You go like every 80 yards you do a strike, these things just fucking hammer back at you. Yeah, but it's all kind of just knowing your area, I guess. Yeah, but it's all. It's all kind of just knowing your area, I guess.

Speaker 3: 29:35

Well, the big thing too with learning. Like Frank said, I was the first time I was up to his property and walked it with him tracking a deer last year but actually hunting it. So you know he, he knows the setup, he knows like, okay, they roost over here, I've seen them over here this and that, but it's like I explained to people with turkey hunting Okay, if you can focus on a couple of things with turkey hunting, you will be successful. One is reading the temperature to birds. Okay If they're cutting you off. If they're talking fast, they're hot. Okay If they're just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, they're gobbling a little bit and they get back to you every once in a while. They got hens with them. They're not really like they could give two craps who you are. They're not leaving the real thing.

Speaker 3: 30:23

But another thing that plays a big, big role is the amount of hens to the, the jake and, and you know gobbler ratios, that the mature goblers and how much they have to, you know defend their territory and what they're doing and how many hens they actually land on the ground with and stay with for most of the morning. A lot of guys. And hey, you know what. Over the years I've killed more birds after 10 o'clock than I've ever killed, getting them off the roost, and the reason being they are done breeding that hen. She wants to wall her back over to her nest. She wants to be left alone. Now they're looking for a hot hen that hasn't been bred yet. So now they start firing back off again and your success will go up then.

Speaker 3: 31:02

The other biggest thing is I tell people that there's two more things. It's the frequency and the cadence. There's frequencies that they hear and respond back to and it could be just changing out a mouth mouth call to from a bat wing to like a regular, just regular cut, or you know something in that frequency of that call. And the other thing is your cadence how you repeat the call, how you mimic the live hen that's out there and where we were sitting it reverberated off the whole valley. Where we were in there. I didn't have to push it, I didn't have to. Really, you know, blow that call hard. We were lightly calling. I was just doing some real light purrs and clucks on the slate and they were responding almost a quarter mile away from us back and he's like what that bird? He says that bird's hot for you and I was like, yeah, he's gonna get a face full of shot as soon as he comes up to that field. You know, but uh, but it's, it's. You know, you get into a spot, you read it. And another thing like you know, frank is a very good hunter. He's very knowledgeable, he knows his land. But when I got into that place I said frank, they're down in that bottom and I know there's probably a couple on the top and the ones on the top are merry-go-round birds. They'll run that that ridge top looking for that hen. These guys down on the bottom they're gonna come up and he's like I believe you, man, and sure as all heck.

Speaker 3: 32:26

It was like nine o'clock we had two Toms come up and just stare out into the field. I'm like why aren't they coming in? And I'm not over calling to them or anything, and you know sometimes less is more, curiosity kills the cat. But they had the real deal in front of them. We just saw four hens, not three minutes before that, go to same path. And I told him.

Speaker 3: 32:45

I said you can have the best looking decoys. I could be the best caller in the world, which I'm far from being, but let me tell you something you, the real deal, they're not coming. And it's no different than when we were all younger. Especially like when I was younger I had to really work for girls and if I had a hot chick in a bar that I was after, I wasn't going to the bathroom because I know my best friend was going to sneak over and try to take her away from me. You know what I mean. So the toms and deer, they all do the same shit, so you know. That's why I said you're more productive. Sometimes after 9, 30, 10 o'clock sit still. Be patient. If they're in the area, you will find them.

Speaker 4: 33:25

Yeah, nope yeah being able to being able to read them, like you mentioned. Like that's huge, um, like you can have people just go out there and start hail mary, just start ripping calls, like it's not gonna do you a whole lot. No, um, because, like, if you go the night before, because like I'm big on roosting, like trying to roost a bird the night before, so you have a general area idea, um, but if you just show up and you just start trucking through the woods screaming on a pot call or mouth read diaphragm call, whatever it may be, yeah, they might just be like what the fuck is this?

Speaker 3: 34:02

you know, and it's like I was explaining to frankie too, because after I shot my bird we had it on top of this big round bale. And he goes oh hey, there's a couple more up near next field. I said come on, run to the, let's get back in there, maybe we'll get you one too. Well, this hen was bebopping around back and forth, back and forth through the field. We got footage of her on the video, but she would call she just beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

Speaker 3: 34:28

That's all she's doing. And I said you see, this is what people don't understand. You're not mimicking the tone, the frequency and the cadence of what those birds are doing. In that area, and it's key. You don't have to be that good, but if you can mimic what the step is that you're doing and the frequency that they do it, you will be productive and you will kill birds. There are exceptions where I've had birds that are totally just either deaf, dumb or where, like, a bird is literally close to you and will hang up and you've got to attack him hard and then he'll break the ice and finally come in.

Speaker 3: 35:06

You know, I've had that happen so many times. But and I'm sure you know you know guys that are seasoned like you guys. You know you have had it happen too. But every time we go out and learn something new. I like it up by Frankie. It's a freaking challenge and a half because these birds are smart. There's a lot of different birds, they don't have to work for their hens and to play them and get them in. But, like he said, he goes. I've been hunting here all these years and I have birds gobble and talk to me. You're up here, they all these years and I have birds gobble and talk to me. You're up here. They're coming from every freaking direction and you know what it's. I'm not bragging on myself, it's just a technique and being patient and reading the territory, reading the temperature to birds, when to call, when not to call, when to get loud and bring them all the way up from where they're hiding yeah, a lot of times less is more.

Speaker 4: 35:56

You know, yeah, um, and that that goes hand in hand with even waterfowl too. Um, if you have bird, if you're where a bird wants to be, or if you have a like a whole decoy spread set up, they're gonna come. You know there's no sense in if we have eight dudes all in layouts or raw in an a-frame. You know, like shoulder to shoulder, yeah, layering on their calls. You know it's, it's, it's not doing you any justice.

Speaker 2: 36:21

If you're on the x and it's where the birds want to be, they're gonna come yeah, and that's even what happened with scotch, when you shot his bird, me, and we're just sitting there, just you know, bullshitting about just life in general. He was teaching me a few things. It must have been like two hours went by, or an hour and a half at least, where we weren't even. We weren't even making a call. We were just sitting there and then all of a sudden I just get up to stretch, I turn around and there there's the bird, all fanned out, like like 40 yards away from the blind, coming in fast, you know, and I'm just like I'm like squats, grab the guns.

Speaker 2: 36:58

Actually a funny story. I grabbed squash and I was like squash, don't move. Because even though we were in the ground blind I don't know what I was thinking, but because we can, he's got the ground blind where you can see at like the whole thing, but they can't see in for some reason. I thought the bird can see us and I was like don't move, he's coming, grab the gun.

Speaker 3: 37:25

Well, the funny thing was he goes oh, he's here, I go, who's here? He goes, the Tom, the Tom's out in the field. I'm like you're shitting me. He goes. No, I said where and I looked through the blind and I'm like, oh, and he goes. Don't move, squatch, don't move. I'm like Frank, we can see them, they can't see us. We're OK, buddy. He's like, oh, all right, it's just so funny, man, you get wrapped up.

Speaker 2: 37:51

Yeah, we could laugh about it now, but we were serious when it was going on those ones are weird, though, like the ones that you can, you can't see, yeah 360 ones.

Speaker 4: 38:01

Like I've never heard you hunted from a blind or anything it's. It's pretty much kind of like a running gun and like this morning, like I got stuck sitting up against the fucking sapling, yeah, but you know, like a lot of it just, and I have such a hard time staying still. Like yeah, we have like permanent blinds that we've built, but like I'll just be, I could pace back and forth, like it, we might not even be hungry. I'm gonna turn the grill on, start making food or something.

Speaker 1: 38:30

Yeah, but that's the cool thing about waterfowl is like you can, you can get away with doing stuff like that, you know, as long as you don't have birds coming in. Like you get away with all that things. Like we do the same thing, but you know you can't with. With turkey hunting it is definitely a bit harder, um, you know, but that's also why, uh, same thing, that's why I love to, just, you know, run and gun. I'm on my year two of turkey hunting um, and I've only I've hunted in the ground blind, zero times. So for all my hunts have been just run and gun.

Speaker 1: 39:01

If it's not working, I've certainly go to a new spot, go and constantly trying to find birds. And I mean so far, the last two years, I think, almost every time where I've moved locations I've, I'd say, 50 percent rate of finding birds and everything like that. Um, so, which is for me pretty good um to to begin with and everything like that. But you know, waterfowl hunting, that's the um, the whole, like how much I love and why, after the grind of deer season, I'm not doing that um, you know, and just kind of saddle hunting, going crazy, jumping between trees, running 10, 15, 20 trail cameras from summer to for november, when you know when goose season comes and you know when, uh, you killed some more ducks and everything like that and that cold winter that you know I love, there ain't nothing like waterfowl hunting. And when you can get up, stretch your legs, stretch your arms, talk, smoke a cigar if you want to, you know, cook food like there ain't. There ain't nothing better than that at that time of year.

Speaker 4: 40:09

Yeah, or one blind we have. Uh, went to Walmart. We bought one of those like little miniature, like propane ones, that you can put in like a plastic case, and I'm 99% sure it's still sitting there, cause I doubt a bear is going to swim all the way out there and eat up all that Taylor ham and burger grease. But it just to me it's like a social thing. You know, like how you mentioned, you can get up, you can stretch, like we've hunted so many many different things, like we've just tucked ourselves into the back of tree lines. We've we've done a lot of layout hunting, um, some a-frames.

Speaker 4: 40:44

It just all depends on what kind of field you're hunting. If you're hunting water, if you're hunting a river, pretty much like in montana, like we just kind of tucked up in banks, you know it's different every time and you, when you have birds working a lot of times geese more than I don't know 80 of the time you're going to hear them. Whichever way you're going and having being in the flyway, like a little highway traffic area, you're bound to see birds. You know and you'll hear them. It's just a matter of when they're, they're circling and everything. It's like having a steady dog is huge because some dogs could like peep their head out, like looking around. Luckily, all the dogs we hunt with top tier, amazing. But then there's always that one person that has their face like this through, like a layout blind, or like peeking through the the grass on the a-frame to see where the birds are, you know, because they want to like maybe get first shot or something and you wind up getting seen, you know I think the the big appeal to why so?

Speaker 1: 41:47

and listen, I catch myself doing it too, but like I make oh yeah, yeah, I still make sure, because it's so memorable, mesmerizing, when the birds just get into that and they're just moving and when you have hundreds or even like a thousand birds just flying everywhere. I think it's one of the I don't know deer hunting, just yeah, it gets me going and like that, that to me is number one. But waterfowl hunting, I mean that right there is. Just you don't get to see it often. If you know you see deer all the time, you see the rut, you see Chasing you, you know you see Bears and everything like that, but it's usually one or two or you know you're never seeing a couple hundred.

Speaker 1: 42:29

And then when you hear the wings flying by and you know, or it literally, they're all just honking and going crazy. It is deafening. Like it literally is deafening where you now you start to shake and that's where you finally get like waterfowl doesn't get my blood pumping to 160, like you know a big buck coming in, but like you start to get that like, oh man, I can't wait, like you're everything's deaf. It's like you're in a, a war. You're like in a war scene and then when everyone starts shooting, it's like you don't hear nothing, but just like what is down here, you just see what is down here, you just see what's down your sights and everything like that. And then when they fall at the sky.

Speaker 4: 43:14

That's like it. That's another thing that's honestly so cool to me as well. Yeah, and like, like you said, like seeing and everything like that's a totally different thing. Like this past season we brought so many new people that either a haven't waterfowl hunted at all before or like have done it a little bit. But just the reaction to some people, because there's a difference between working like two wood ducks or like a couple mallards, like as the sun comes up and they're starting to move to water. But like if you're in the right spot and you have like two, three hundred cans flying above you, circling, coming into the spread, it's, it gets my heart going. So, like for him, with like a giant deer like I'll choose personally like a 160 plus inch deer versus a 10 man limit of canadas or mallards or something I'm taking the birds because, like for me, that just gets my heart absolutely through my chest now, what makes you like actually like, like, find like a good, like duck or geese spot?

Speaker 2: 44:10

because I always wondered that, like, how do you even go about like, like, finding like a good spot to go?

Speaker 4: 44:17

yeah. So I mean the way I put this is because a lot of people think like you go to water, there's going to be birds or something. Like you take waterfowl scouting as much as you should do, like if you were to be a serious waterfowl hunter, you need to do your scouting like you would your white tail and your turkey, trying to find them roosting. Like there's so many times where it's during the season but we won't even hunt.

Speaker 4: 44:42

That morning I'll wake up at 4 30, drive over to my friend ben's house, me and him will drive to a field and we'll just sit there like either in the edge or in the truck and just have the windows down and just listen, because as the sun starts to come up, that's when all the birds start to move. So like they roosted all night. Whether they're roosting in water or roosting in a field, they're gonna be bound to be hungry. So it's kind of just finding like those traffic areas, like if you go to like big rivers, kind of like the little fingers that kind of go off, or the water standing still, any kind of cornfields, stuff like that, like they had just hit it so hard no, that's very interesting because, again, because, like I've never hunted before, so like I don't have a clue, so like I was even wondering like how, um, like, how did you even come about like wanting to like duck hunt?

Speaker 2: 45:31

like did you like, are you self-taught, like on the calls, or like, did you watch youtube videos? Like, how did you even go about all that?

Speaker 4: 45:39

I mean, the very first ever time we went duck hunting was, uh, me and my friend tommy um, we were trying, we were filming. Just like I don't like messing around in a ladder stand it was like one of those dual ones and the whole time is like, as the sun's going down, all the birds near the swamp where we were hunting are coming back to roost for the night, like they'll roost there all night. And we're hearing mallards fly by and we have like cannons coming by and you just hear it all. We're like we should just go back there one day and check it out. And this was years ago and we should have looked at it on the map a little bit better. But as we started to walk through it, we're like it's pretty close.

Speaker 4: 46:20

We were walking through like 15 foot high phragmites that were like you couldn't even you couldn't even stick your finger through, and we're both we're both carrying a spackle bucket because we had no idea what we were doing. So we're just pushing a trail through these fragmites for like what felt like 200 something yards and we finally get to the water's edge and we didn't really know much at all. We just literally just sat the bucket on the edge there. We just wanted to kind of see what would happen. Granted, we kicked up birds that were already there. Of course I missed you know you're like you're just so excited it's your first time, uh, but that kind of just sparked the interest to kind of just look into it more, and then the more success you have with it, it just continues to kind of pile up all right, but like they're interesting yeah, it's like like trial by fire, like finding new spots.

Speaker 4: 47:13

Like you're, you're never gonna know how much you enjoy it until you just kind of go out there and wing it like the calling.

Speaker 4: 47:18

When we got our first calls, oh my god you, it sounded like I don't know if you guys have kids or something that would go to like you'd go to like their kindergarten music concert thing and they're playing the recorder like playing hot cross buns, like that's what we fucking sound like it was a thing from duck goose, everything, but it just leave it in your car and just like you're sitting in traffic, you're going like watch youtube videos like the midwest flyways, guys, some of the best, some of the best duck and goose callers, um, and you can learn a lot off youtube, um, but really it's just kind of tuning your call and playing around with it, because some people can blow their call really well and you go to play with it and their reed setup completely different. Yeah, and you you can't blow for shit, because you got like short barrel, long barrel. You got goose flutes, single read, double read, and they're all going to take pressure differently.

Speaker 4: 48:14

So huh yeah, because I again, I don't have a clue, but you know, one day I'll get there if I had my goose calls around here, I'd start doing a little bit. But it's just, it's fun, yeah it's fun yeah, I'll be sitting in traffic just playing it.

Speaker 1: 48:31

Family members will yell at me yeah yeah that's the one thing like it pisses everyone off. I'm around like once we like, and I leave mine in the truck too. I'm right now I'm not calling, really calling, or anything like that just because turkey season, so I just got the mouth calls in in the mouth and everything like that. But once we get closer I'll start all back up again. And you know it is. It is so much fun. It's like it's like turkey because yet again, like goose are gonna, they want to feel you know you're, you're calling, they're going to be calling, you're going to be calling turkeys, you're going to be calling, they're going to be calling elk. You're going to call, they're going to go. You don't get that with deer, you don't get that with bear, like you just don't get I.

Speaker 1: 49:19

I there still is that maybe not with, uh, with with waterfowl as a much of that interaction back and forth and everything like that. You know the spread, figuring out the spread, even changing up like something I found out this year and just cause yet again that's another thing. I've now been waterfowl hunting for three, maybe four years now is just how much in your hunt If something's not working, it could be just simply as just change your spread and just maybe even move it Like, oh, this hole's not working. This could be just simply as just change your spread and just maybe even move it like, oh, this hole's not working. This, let's do something else. You know what I mean. Or let's, the season goes by, let's, let's not call it all, let's just see how, how that's gonna go.

Speaker 1: 49:59

They're so used to being shot at right now, just like turkeys, right, you know it could work. Where you don't call it all, you're just scratching the ground. You know, mixing up with with waterfowl is just like mixing up with with turkeys and and everything like that. It kind of goes. They're both birds, obviously, it kind of goes hand in hand. But I mean frank and anyone out there like the one thing I always tell people I learned the hard way my first ever hunt is wasn't moving and all I did was reposition this arm right here and they flared. And your movement is such a key because they have the advantage of being up high.

Speaker 4: 50:39

They have that automatic advantage with what's sighting on any little movement that that you make and it's it's a lot of eyes in the sky, um, depending on how big the group is, and sometimes, like we, we run a lot of dive bomb decoys, um, whether and like we have shells, we have the big foot full bodies, um, but we could, sometimes you could get away with maybe only two dozen, or sometimes we'll have more than like 10 dozen out. You know, and that very first group of birds, whether it's a single group of 10, 20, that very first group that'll either come in or not. You're gonna know exactly right then, and there at that moment, you need to change something on the spread, whether they're landing way far over. You need to open up the gap in the middle. The wind might be blowing, silhouettes or something maybe falling over stuff like that, like there's constantly. Just like you get out, you run and you just start moving stuff well, I had no idea all that went into it.

Speaker 4: 51:35

But now that you guys say it like makes sense, you know like it's a lot of work in the morning because when you think about it, like you go, you go deer hunting in your head. You're like okay, I to wake up this early. I've got to be there at this point. I've got to get to the tree and get set up in it For us, like you've got to have the trailer hooked up in the morning, the night before You've got to get to the spot. You've got to carry all these decoys over to where you're being at. You've got to make sure you're brushed in, because every everywhere you hunt the ground's going to be a little different. It could be a grass field, it could be cornfield. You're constantly changing it, so it could take like an hour or more to get everything set up and it gets harder the colder it gets, man when you're trying to when you're no well, it's because it's not even.

Speaker 1: 52:25

It's when you're trying to get the decoys in the ground like the shells, they're easy, but when you're trying bring a little like a hammer or something like that, like it makes a huge difference because the ground is so like some of the hunts were single digital weather this year, so or had snow and everything. One of our buddies, what he brings to him, is obviously it's easy. He puts in the but, he brings a snowblower and he'll blow the snow. So it actually looks like they were, they're feeding and everything. It's a lot easier to. You know, frank, you know when you're going around you're kicking up snow or make it disturbing a little bit, cause it looks like they're feeding and everything like that. So instead of doing that little extra work that takes a little longer, he just real quick turns the blower on, blows it out and then, boom, we're good and going, but winter.

Speaker 1: 53:12

Winter isn't hiding, having your hide, because things are start not, as you know, built in and you don't have the grass, just like deer hunting. You know. Look at what we do when we're in the trees, for for winter, once you climb that tree, everything's bare same thing. You know that we're dealing with. So it's, there are similarities, but, like winter is a much more difficult thing and it takes even longer to get set up.

Speaker 4: 53:39

My opinion in the winter versus obviously early season yeah, the amount of decoy like silhouettes I've broken this past year. Um, it's just did you because you're trying to hammer them in. Eventually we got this like handlebar thing with like two nail spikes. You basically just stomp it into the ground, um, and at that point you can at least get the the little metal things in that way. But, like you mentioned, like it if the snow, like you could throw bed sheets over your layout line, like a lot of layout lines have companies. They have white snow covers for them, so you can blend in better. Like, if you got frozen up water. We got an ice eater, so hook that up to power or generator, like the night before, and start turning the water up. Make yourself a big hole. There's just a lot of different variables to go into it.

Speaker 2: 54:27

Wow, I actually had no idea. All that went into it.

Speaker 1: 54:31

Well you're don't worry, your first year you're, you know, coming with us. You're not gonna have to really worry about that, but after that you know, then you like I remember my I didn't, I just sat there and just you know it was, it was nice. Now it's like you're in a full-on sweat before you even get your.

Speaker 2: 54:47

Oh yeah, all right, Frank, you're. You're the newbie, let's get moving, yeah.

Speaker 3: 54:54

You just got to retrieve the ducks, Frank. That's the only thing.

Speaker 2: 54:57

All right, I guess you're going for a swim buddy.

Speaker 4: 55:01

That's where the dogs come in, before the dog. The amount of times I could tell you that I've fallen over in my waders in the water, oh boy. And like I have like my gun has gone through the absolute shit. Um, like I, I have to get it like sonic strip cleaned and everything, because, like it's just, sometimes I can't even get the spring out.

Speaker 4: 55:23

Um, because, it gets it gets so beat to shit. But it's like saved my life a couple times because you you fall over your waders filled with water. You, you need some kind of leverage to get yourself up. But having having dogs is such a huge thing and luckily, like I, help out a lot um with what I can. I'm not as knowledgeable by any means, cause I'm not personally a trainer, but my friend Ben um with rock and B gun dogs. I'm always hanging a trainer. But my friend Ben with Rockin' B-Gun Dogs I'm always hanging out with him because he's he's pretty local to me. But the dogs that he produces and he trains for not only himself for his own program but clients dogs, it's just having that confidence in a dog like that, knowing that you can send them on an 80-yard blind retrieve, lost like a bird goes down in the tree somewhere or like a fast water river. You're confident that dog can go out there and stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 56:18

No, that's amazing.

Speaker 3: 56:20

Dogs are incredible. I'm a proud owner of four beagles that I use for rabbits, used to. I don't run them anymore because they're getting up in age. But all-field bred champion beagles that I've used for rabbits, used to I don't, I don't run them anymore because getting up in age, but all field bread champion beagles, um, the way they work for you, the way that the un, you know, undevotional love, they just they'll do anything for you, man.

Speaker 3: 56:42

And I was lucky because it's just in bread and I'm so good that you know little things, like little things I would work on them with. But the light went on, man, when I started running them. They just, it was just in their blood and awesome, I mean just freaking awesome. You, you learn to appreciate, you know, and I never really waterfowled hunt or anything. But when I know, I know the companionship between dogs and and your owner and you know that's the other reason too I stopped running. They're getting older I get worried, man, I don't want to hurt my dogs, you know, and they're pets, they're inside, they're with us. But a hunting dog next to your best friend, that's a good hunting buddy man. They're the best you.

Speaker 4: 57:25

You can't beat a good dog, man, whether you're running rabbits, whether you're running freaking bear, you're waterfowl hunting, you can't beat a good dog yeah, especially like the relationship that like he has with his dogs and like, even just like from me being over there, like how I feel around some of them.

Speaker 4: 57:42

Like when we were in montana, uh, it was a big group of us, I think we had like I I think we had like seven or eight dogs with us. Obviously, you can't bring them all and we would do like upland in the afternoon, waterfowl in the morning, switch it up. But when we all meet up at like the one house or something, it's just like every dog looks at you because they know what they're about you guys are about to do, and they all give you the same exact excited look and they all give you the same exact excited look and they just look at you as, like today, my day, and you have to figure out, like, what dogs are you going to bring? You know, and it's kind of like that punch in the chest because you want to bring them all but at the same time one. It's a safety thing, because a dog's safety is always the most important, especially when they're out getting birds. Absolutely, but if I could, I'd bring all the dogs, but you know it's the end of the day, it's not realistic.

Speaker 3: 58:32

Yeah, it was funny because like I would wear the same clothes, insulated bibs or something, to go out ice fishing and I'd throw them on and come down the stairs and they're all like, oh, we're going hunting. And I'm like we're not going hunting and I left the house and my wife sends me a video of them going ape shit in the house because they're ready to go, they're all amped up, they're ready to run. They're thinking I'm coming around the other end of the house by the sliding glass door to load them up into the Wolverine and go up into the back and start running rabbits. She goes they won't stop, they're going freaking crazy. It's been a half an hour already. She goes they won't stop, they're going freaking crazy. It's been a half an hour already.

Speaker 3: 59:10

I'm like I know, I know, and still to this, still to this day, certain stuff. If I come down like my car heart bibs on or something like that, because the briars are thick, you know, I used to wear them up there they'll like. So she'll start whining like all right, I'm ready, dad. And I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that, you know and where and where.

Speaker 3: 59:29

if I say, if I say I can't even say it cause they're up here, but if I say you know, hunting rabbit, they're like they're ready, they're just, they just know that stuff man.

Speaker 4: 59:39

Yeah, it's like, even like training, like he does. We do weekly training nights. So like one night of the week, um on his property we do advanced gun dogs and then on the weekend one morning we do like puppy classes. But like, even with the advanced puppies, it's just they know when they're about to like they see the bumper, the launcher it takes up to 22 blanks they'll go ape shit. Like if you have dogs that have to like, stay back so you can focus on just a certain amount of dogs. Like they hear it, they want to be a part of it. Like they, they just want to be with you and like the amount of fun that they have and the amount of joy that just brings you and like everybody else, oh yeah, can't beat it yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 1:00:20

But all right, travis, I got a few rapid questions because I know, listen, you get squatch talking about his dogs. He'll be here all night. We'll definitely have to get you on for one of those episodes, though 100% but yeah, I just got a few rapid questions and then we'll wrap it up and then I'll definitely have you back on and you know, hopefully by then I'll be seasoned a little bit on ducks, you know. But we'll see what happens.

Speaker 4: 1:00:50

We can always bring you out, you know.

Speaker 2: 1:00:52

All right. No, I mean, I appreciate it. I might have to take you up on that one, All right. So the first question I got would you rather forget your ammo or your boots?

Speaker 4: 1:01:06

Probably, probably I'd rather forget my ammo. Ammo, because I have done that and I've done um. But like if you don't have a good pair of boots, or like, granted, you forget your boots, you're screwed.

Speaker 1: 1:01:18

I'm taking your ammo every day oh man, I turkey hunted this year without opening day without boots. I had to take them off because I there, I didn't bring my good boots, brought the ones I usually use for water waterfowl. And let me tell you the freaking what's this? On the back of my, my feet scabs and everything like that.

Speaker 4: 1:01:39

I said hell no, took them off and I walked them my what mile and a half, I think, without them yeah, I finally switched up boots, though to like a lace, like the crispy boots, um, because I've had like a lot of rubbers and just this past, like when there's like a deer season, and when I was out for that bear, my buddy left his rubber boots in the bed of my truck for like months and they're the same exact, uh, optifit, like elevated the sick of camo, but mine were 800 gram and his were like 800 and I was like four or five o'clock in the morning, I can't tell I put his on second, I got in the tree. I I knew I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't feel my tuck, because once your feet start to sweat and then you, yeah, yeah, you're in trouble that's why I finally switched to lace boots, because I can't do that feet sweat anymore.

Speaker 2: 1:02:28

No, no, I agree, all right. The next question I got for you is um who's your dream hunting?

Speaker 4: 1:02:48

or fishing partner. It could be my dad, my, my dad doesn't hunt um and he's always very curious and very supportive. So to me I think I would pick him to have him come out to have him experience like how I take it on, like my approach, just to kind of see his reaction, see his enjoyment, kind of stuff like that. Like I think, for me I'd probably pick my dad.

Speaker 2: 1:03:15

Yeah, no, no, absolutely All right Now. The next question I got is now is there ever been any gear that you brought, that you bought but regretted? Any deer? No, any gear. Any hunting or fishing gear Oof.

Speaker 4: 1:03:40

Did I regret buying? I mean, I've bought a lot of stupid guns.

Speaker 1: 1:03:47

I think we've all done that. I don't know if you regret that, though.

Speaker 4: 1:03:52

I have to shoot them. I swear like the barrels are like one of those bendy straws. I think like I've spent way too much time just trying to find like a pair of gloves and like, instead of doing the actual research. Like because if you're a waterfowl hunt and like your hands are getting wet like I would burn through different ones and either lose them or something.

Speaker 4: 1:04:15

But like I could, just I wouldn't. I wasn't smart enough about it I'd buy the worst pieces of junk and, like you, can't feel your fingers, no, oh yeah, forget it's over.

Speaker 2: 1:04:26

Yeah, uh, now do you have um, what's like your go-to snack to bring in the woods go-to snack.

Speaker 4: 1:04:39

Um, to be honest, if I'm waterfowl hunting, it's it's probably like burgers and taylor ham. There you go.

Speaker 1: 1:04:46

I'm being brutally honest, but yeah, yeah, frank, you got to remember it's different because we don't have to. We could cook a full meal yeah in a waterfowl, blind or whatever, versus deer hunting you know you can't do that but if I'm in the woods I'm going.

Speaker 2: 1:05:02

Standard little debbie cake or an uncrustable oh man, you can't go wrong with little w yep. No, all right, listen, I might come waterfowl hunting, just to come eat with you guys, all right. So for my last question, what do you think is scarier a charging bear or your wife calling you mid-hunt?

Speaker 4: 1:05:24

um, I'd probably say the charging bear, because I've had that yeah it was kind of like fake charge, but even like a year or two ago, I don't even necessarily think he knew I was there, but he came by and he I guess he got my scent from where I walked in and he freaked out and of course the closest tree for him to run up was the one I was standing in. I didn't know if it was some shit going down my leg, but it was something. I'm going with the bear on that one alright, fair enough, alright.

Speaker 2: 1:06:00

Well, yeah, they'll do it for my questions, but you guys got anything else before we wrap it up?

Speaker 3: 1:06:06

no, I think it was great.

Speaker 2: 1:06:07

Travis, we appreciate you coming on and you guys got anything else before we wrap it up. No, no, I think it was great. Hey Travis, we appreciate you coming on and we'd love to have you on again. Man, I'm going to take you up on that hunt, though.

Speaker 4: 1:06:18

Yeah, no, of course, once the season comes around I mean in the next probably two months or so we're going to start revamping some of our permanent blinds, just in case any wood started to rot. Stuff like that maybe move stuff around a little bit, but uh, definitely keep you in the loop.

Speaker 2: 1:06:34

No, absolutely man. But hey, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll keep in touch. I appreciate it again. You've been an awesome guest man and, uh, you know, we look forward to having you back on bro.

Speaker 4: 1:06:45

Yeah, no, thank you guys so much for inviting me to have me on here and kind of shoot the shit.

Speaker 2: 1:06:51

All right, we appreciate it Coming on Nice meeting you All right, thank you. All right, thank you guys. So, everybody, we hope you enjoyed this amazing episode and we'll see you guys next time.