Poetic Cold Open

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The honor has a moment when the woods go fly, the earth shows, and time slows down. And in that stillness, you realize you're not chasing anyone. You're chasing something. Welcome to the chase the unknown ideas, where we go beyond the sound, as the children, and deeper into the stories that fuel the fires. The show is for the ones who sleep over the rust, who hike miles into the public land for just the chance. And who live for that science before the show? From the back country to the back roads. We sit down with the hunters and travelers with relentless stories. We live for the thrill, embrace the unknown, and return for the stories we're telling. This is more than a podcast. This is the start of something real. Let's chase it. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Chase the Unknown. I'm your host, Mike Nitra, and tonight we're diving into the hunt behind the camera lens and with a guest who's been quietly telling some of the loudest stories in the outdoor space. AJ, I want you to welcome you to the show, the man behind Knights of the Apex. Conversation about faith, fatherhood, and photography and what it means to truly connect with the wild.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

How the thing is going on, Mike.

From Long Island To Florida

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Good, man. Good. That intro fires me up, man. I I appreciate it, appreciate it. I that one took me a little bit to to work on. Like I I had all different ones, and like so we have um this is our second show, and everything like that. And you know, we have the garden state, which is our our established show, but we're we want to focus right back on New Jersey, right? So I I cut I created a that one took years, like five years, and every year I just slowly was able to make that one better and better with the intro. And I'm sitting there one day, and I'm just like, all right, like we can't just have some like plain rinky dink like intro. Like, I'm like, let's let's do this correct. And you know, I just sat there and I was like, you know, we got this footage, like, and then I came up with this again. Of course, shout out to Chat GPT, helped me uh write some of this stuff and everything like that, but um definitely appreciate it. Why don't AJ, why don't you give us a quick uh backstory for all those out there who you know who don't know who you are?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, name's uh AJ Aya Quinta. Uh I'm originally from Long Island, New York. Uh grew up hunting the catskills of New York and then was living down in Florida for the better part of the last decade. Went to school down there, got married, and moved down there right after graduation. Well, I was back up here for about two years and then moved back down there. And uh just recently, uh a couple months ago, moved back up to the northeast and uh and living in Connecticut with uh my two boys and my wife, and uh just absolutely loving it. It's it's great being back in the northeast, loved Florida, lived in Tampa, grinding my teeth in the swamps for a decade. Uh, but uh being back in the mountains is definitely more my style, feels like a homecoming, and uh was fortunate enough to already punch a couple tags this spring and uh felt felt good, felt good to be back on home turf.

Heat Humidity And Culture Shock

SPEAKER_00 3:20

I love it, you know. But and before we really get into you know, dive into everything, I got a huge question for you, you know, about Florida. So today we're at the beach and I was I was dying. The humidity was horrible. I I like I'm not a summer person, you're you're northeast and everything like that. How was that going to Florida? Just not even like through a hunting standpoint, like you know, with the transition from being in the northeast, you know, you got winter, you have snow, you have all these different, you know, different uh seasons going there, like what was that like in your initial like when you moved down there and everything, like you know, with the heat, humidity? I heard it rains for like 10 minutes, and then it will the sun will pop out, like all these crazy things. So, what was that like?

Why Florida Public Land Breaks You

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Yeah, I mean, you you just kind of get used to it. I think too, when I went down, I was down there for college, went to the University of Central Florida, and then was living over in Tampa, and it's one of those things where uh you know, when you're younger and you're single and you're you're going out and you don't have kids, like it's just different, right? So, like you don't kind of mind the heat, it's just like it's just different, right? And then as soon as we my wife and I had kids and we're like want to be out with them all the time, and like look, you know, it's like you're over hanging out by the pool, and uh that that kind of got old uh really quick. And it's like our especially our boys, they just wanted to be in the woods and getting dirty and jumping into stuff, and it was uh we missed being by family, and it was it was a good excuse for us to cash in some of that equity we had built down uh down down in Florida the last couple of years and get back up here. But yeah, the heat that you know I I tell people like the the West is uh you know has the reputation for being like the sexy place to go hunt and and chase elks and like the mountains are really majestic. There isn't a harder place to hunt in North America than Florida. Like the guys that grind it out on public land in Florida, like never mind the hunt, like you may see a deer, right, when you're when you're hunting public land down there to begin with, but you're walking through stuff that is anywhere from like ankle to hip height water where there's gators, water moccasins, stuff's trying to kill you, just Florida man that you might run into in the dark, right? Like it is just mentally such a grind, and most of the season it's not getting below 90 degrees for the better half of the state, right? So it's uh full humidity, you know. You might scout a spot, find good sign, and then you show up the next day and it's completely flooded, and you're like, what are they doing, right? Like it's just such a uh a mind game, and then you're you're sitting there and you're getting eaten alive by mosquitoes the whole time, and uh yeah, it it's there there are guys that get it done year in and year out, but very few. Um, you know, no one's rushing to make TV shows about hunting in Florida. It's it really is like just uh there's no no glory. Um, there's some really impressive deer and some really cool critters down there. I mean, it's the only place you can hunt the Osceolas. Um but it was such a unique experience. It gave me a really it like coming back here, like it feels like you know, striking gold coming back. Like it made me such a better hunter, um, having lived down there and grinded it out for for the time that I did. But it was like it takes a special mentality to to really like just soak that in. I think a lot of people m that move down there end up giving up on it. Um, because depending on where you live, like some places there's a lot of uh public, but it's uh there's a lot of places like Tampa, for example, you're going at least an hour to get towards to get to any public. Uh, and most of it's gonna be limited entry quota. You know, if if you're lucky, maybe you can get permission or or or a lease or something, but there's not a whole ton of that. So yeah, it's um I I stand by, you know, it's it's some of the hardest hunting in the country, if not the hardest, maybe with the exception of Alaska. I haven't been to Alaska. Um, but uh, but it's rough, it's just an absolute grind. But there's a lot of opportunity. You could hunt the rut almost the entire year, depending on where you could chase the rut from literally July to February uh throughout the state, which is wild. Um, the rut map, if you ever want to check it out, Onyx has a layer, and uh yeah, there's little pockets that go all the way to February, and you know, I I know enough guys that uh that holds true, and there's literally deer chasing in that state everywhere from July to February.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, and that was one of the craziest things. I mean, and Florida has it's like it's like kind of being in like Australia where you hear like everything can kill you in Australia, you know. So so Florida has that also reputation, but I was on a I was on a podcast um I think a couple weeks ago. Um, you know, what it what's I think what's the off season or what is the off-season uh podcast. Don't don't quote me, guys, if I if I got that wrong right now, um my mind's everywhere. But um, and he was like, Yeah, like he's down in Florida and he's telling me all about it. And when he told me there's like a rut in July, I'm like, like, what? I was like, how how does that make sense? And he goes, Yeah, and he goes, if you drive 40 minutes like you know away, he goes, Yeah, you you have more like you know, that February rut or something like that. And he goes, It's crazy how different locations have like a have a completely different rut schedule and rut timing, or you know, whatever you want to call it. And it's like to me, it's like living up in the northeast, you kind of you know when that when that rut's kicking in, you know, it's usually gonna be you know that end of October, you know, that first couple of weeks of of November, and then you'll get a second rut, you know, in the back half of November, and then maybe you know, one more in in December, you know, it just depends on when the fawns were, you know, when the fawns were born and and everything like that. But and then I've heard of you know, when you go to like Alabama or something like that, you usually get later, um, you know, the January, February ruts, and which which is normal. It's like, okay, cool, that that's completely normal. But then to hear of a July and it's like what what world is Florida in? And and that's so crazy about Florida because I feel like everything you hear about Florida is just so unique in the the people and the stories and the crazy, it's like so having a July rut in in Florida, that's like a it's such a typical like Florida thing to be, is so just so unique.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Yeah, if when you drive around, you see hard horned gear in March, you're like, what is where did I what warp, what time portal did I just go through? Like, what is going on here? It's uh yeah, it's definitely crazy, crazy place. I have so much respect for the guys that get it done down there, especially the guys that that consistently do it on public land, like they're just I mean, they're truly pirates, those guys. Like it, they're just super tough. Um, and uh yeah, it was really like it it really just made me, I think, a much better hunter. Um, but the opportunities, it's it's definitely tough. Uh definitely a tough hunt.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Now, when you when you decided to move down there and everything like that, what was kind of like your your first step? Was it you know, whether it was the first scouting mission or an actual first hunt? Like, what was like your first moment when you're like, wow, this is a completely different ball game, and I'm not I'm not where I'm from.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

I mean, I so like some of it was like I I had the I I took like a lazy approach because uh like when I first moved down, well, I was in college and I was just focused on that, and like there's just a lot of stuff going on with family and things like that, and so I never took advantage of like any of the hunting opportunities, like I didn't really explore it because I was like, all right, I'm gonna go home and I'm just gonna hunt my family's place with my family when I go back. Like I wasn't I wasn't nearly as obsessed with hunting like I am now, where it's like it's just a part of like what I'm doing throughout the year. Um, I was definitely more of just a seasonal hunter. I knew my stand was gonna be there when I got back, kind of deal, and I didn't really stress about hunting. And then when my wife and I moved down there, it honestly was like a year or two before. Like I had a buddy that invited me to come out hunting with them. Um he had a his family had a cattle ranch, and so they had, like everybody does, a hog problem. So we'd go hunt hogs down there, uh, and then you know, occasionally we'd we'd hunt turkeys in the spring down there. And after doing that for like two, three seasons, I kind of, you know, I kind of just thought about it. I'm like, look, I live here, excuse me, this is my home. It just felt wrong to not be investing time and trying to like grind my teeth and punch tags on public land. And so I really just went about like exploring what are the what what's the whole WMA process look like down there? How do you get access? How do you apply for quotas? You know, start poking around like friends and and people that I knew had properties, even smaller properties, just asking for permission to hunt, uh, where I knew there was deer. I wasn't necessarily like chasing big deer. I ended up only finding one like trophy class deer, which is still like one of the nicest deer I found. I chased him for three seasons with no success. Although uh that was that was my own, you know. I probably should, it was a lesson in like I probably shouldn't have invested so much time in one deer given the low percentage odds that I had, because I had permission on literally four acres in like suburban areas that backed up to a preserve. And I was hunting him. He was really only coming out of his core area in the rut. And it was three days every year that this buck would be daylight. It'd be October 31st to November 2nd. This buck would be day-lit for three years in a row. And last year was the the closest I got to him, but he he never came within 60. He was chasing the dough and just did not care about you know, grunting or anything. But uh, but yeah, it was just just really just throwing everything against the wall, just trying to figure out like just trying to create as much opportunity as I could. And then through that, you start just learning more and more. Um, you know, you run into different people, everybody's got a different lesson that you can just like a little gold nuggets you can pick up here and there. Uh, and then also like getting invested in some of the local nonprofits. Like we didn't have an NWTF chapter at the time in Tampa, but we had a really successful DU chapter. So just offering, like, hey, how can I help? Um, and like legitimately, like not expecting to get anything out of it, but just like, hey, how can I help? At the time, the chapter down there was just transitioning. A bunch of old guys had retired, and so they handed the reins down to a couple of guys in their 30s, and like we were just trying to get the chapter like back up and running and like get some more younger families in there. And and so when when I moved now up here to Connecticut, just I applied the same lessons, but I was just able to do it a lot quicker because I already I already paid the hard dues, right? So it's like immediately like I moved up here, reached out to my local NWTF chapters, DU chapters, like, hey, what do you guys need? How can I help? Right, just scour on X and like just reach out to the um I I attended a whole bunch of like local uh courses that like the the DEP uh up here hosted just to learn like hey, like I can read the regulations, but let me talk to the biologists, let me hear like what are they seeing, let me like talk to other hunters, um and then just start like scouring the map, put points of interest just from e-scouting. What do I think? Like, and starting my own backyard, right? Like I I found that it's a lot easier to scout places that you can hit on your way to and from work or or you know, dropping kids off at school. Like you you just pick up so many little things through osmosis, like okay, deer are crossing roads this time of day, right? They're on their feet here, like I'm hearing turkeys gobble here, like they're probably roosted there, just little intangibles that you kind of pick up just in your day-to-day. Um, start there and then work that circle outwards. Um so far, so good. Had really successful, you know, opening day and second day of turkey season. And um, you know, hopefully, hopefully it carries some of that into deer season. Um but yeah, I think really just get plugged in with the community and like if you're gonna call a place your home, like I'm a big believer in like investing in it, um, without any sort of expectations, like really just give it your all, whether it's like I just taking out the trash at a local event or um or you know, taking photos, helping with social media, like putting flyers in local gun shops or bars or whatever it is, like what whatever you can do to invest in the place that you're gonna call home and give back to the the resources given given back to you. Um that'd be my biggest uh recommendation to anybody that's either looking again at the hunting or moving to a new area or or any any of the above.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

No, I I mean, and and that's great, and it's it's especially because you know a lot of the people even listening here, you you never know kind of where you're gonna go in in life, and you never know when you may have to move, you may want, or you may want to start a new chapter or whatever, and it's like, all right, how how do I kind of start over? Because it's a lot easier when you're you know when you're hunting, you know, land that you grew up on or state that that you grew up on. Or we're getting a flood warning right now. Um so you know that that's such great advice that you know people can pick up of like, yeah, go and do do these things. And like you said, especially in Florida, like you know, everyone knows Florida as I consider it as the fishing mecca of you know, like America. Like everyone, you know, loves to go down there, whether it's saltwater, freshwater, you giant bass, but it's like, all right, you know, I'm coming down here hunting. How how do I really get involved with the community? You know, how do I start, you know, learning, you know, more about you know the public lands and like you said, the WMAs and stuff like that. You know, the best way to do it is you know, get involved with communities, get involved with other hunters and whatever uh organizations that are that are in your area, and and that's like a that's a phenomenal way to do it. Um you know, and so now you're you're you're in Connecticut, you know, you're it's a completely different world from from being down in Florida, and not only just as a as you're back in the Northeast, but you know, it's kind of like Jersey. People don't look at like Jersey as like a oh my god, like hunting state, you know, um Long Island, like a oh my god, it's a it's a it's a hunting, you know, that's a hunting state or New York, you know, obviously uh a hunting state and everything like that, but there's all these little places and pockets in our small small states that have great quality hunting. So, you know, like you said, you you've gotten on some turkeys and everything like that. What else is kind of you've seen already, or it's like, oh my god, like this is this is phenomenal. Like I'm I'm really excited to just be back in the Northeast one, but you know, having Connecticut here to to call home is a is another.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yeah, I mean, I the outdoor community, um, you know, in in general and how like supportive each other are, like it's everything's very tight. I mean, it's a small state, right? And uh, you know, the the WMAs are are smaller, right? The public tracks are smaller, the private tracks are smaller. Um, so it kind of I could see how like guys, especially from out west or or the Midwest, where like you have bigger tracts of property, like it feels kind of claustrophobic and like they look at a map and they probably just think like there's no opportunities there, or the opportunities are trash. But I I really felt the opposite. Like for me, I was really encouraged, like just driving around and like I'd see guys fly fishing and just like chat with them. And I got a bunch of waypoints from guys uh just willing to share, you know, maybe guys are are fly fishermen and duck hunters, but they don't care about turkeys or deer or anything like that, or vice versa. Um and just just like just rubbing elbows and just she, you know, exchanging numbers and just like, hey, like if you ever if you ever see my truck, you need anything, like feel free to holler, you know, you need a hand dragging anything out of here, whatever. Like little stuff like that. For me, that was really encouraging, just the fact that like there's a uh a present um outdoor community, you know. Like I hit the trailheads and like I always run into to somebody, um, not always hunting, but they're they're doing something else. But that was kind of cool because even where I grew up hunting in New York, like there was so much the so many little tracks of public, like you usually wouldn't run into anybody. Um maybe that's changed now. I don't, you know, I've I've heard different things, but uh you know, you could definitely hit spots like that where especially like in the cat skills and stuff where there's like a lot of like tiny little pockets uh and not run into anybody. So it's kind of cool to like just just have that community up here, and there's not a lot. It reminds me of like like everywhere else in the northeast, right? Like there's not a ton of hunters, but it's a very hardcore dedicated subculture. And I miss that. Like I miss the you know, it's not as uh it's not as outspoken as some areas, you know, it doesn't get the attention. Um, I mean that's kind of the that's kind of like the the Northeast in general, right? Like uh you know, we're we're we're not the subject of all the movies and things like that, but uh we're still out here working, right? So and that's just kind of how it's always been. Um so yeah, it's it's just been nice. Uh I I think the culture up here, it's just been, I don't know. I grew up here, so I'm gonna be partial, right? Um, but it is it is very I mean, where where I where I grew up on Long Island, unless like we got lucky and got permission on a suburban spot, for the most part, like we were going up to my family's place in the Catskills, and that was a two and a half three-hour drive. So now, you know, living where I live and like I can go 20 minutes in any direction and you know, hit a pizza public. Um, that's just really cool. Like that that's so exciting to me. Um, I get to drop my niece off at school and then go scout, right? Like before and I can get a a good amount of work done before I have to start my nine to five, right? So um that to me, like I I like I'm in heaven. Um, you know, I think everybody would love to have like a 10,000 acre ranch one day, right? But like for me, right you know, having the the the access to the public is just something that I've never had before. Like I wish like Florida, like I said, I had to drive 40 minutes, at least 40 minutes to get to the nearest public. And that was a limited entry quota, and it was at least an hour, hour and a half to the next piece. Um, and everybody was going to that one, right? So it it was uh it was it was a lot, it was a lot more demanding, and uh especially when you got little kids, right? Like dads know, like their parents know, like that's that's a big investment, especially if you know yeah, you come. Up totally dry. Um, and you just feel like you're wasting time some days. Uh, and you're like, all right, I'm missing time with the kids for like what now? You know, like I got I got rained out or or flooded out or almost, you know, died um doing something stupid, staying out too long. And uh yeah, so so you know, being able to like balance um the family time and the outdoor time and like that recharge time a little better. Um I think just in general, I'm I I I feel like I'm just an all-around better individual. Hopefully, hopefully my my wife and kids agree. But uh, but yeah, hunting was starting to become a little stressed out, stressing, um, because it kind of feels like if you if you're not punching a tag, it's like I I think that's something that just kind of comes with like having maybe a social media presence or something too. Like, even if you say it's not a thing, like you start like if you go like a couple of months or like a season where like you just had no success, you're like, man, like what what what am I doing here?

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Yeah. Um which is so true. That that is like I don't I don't care who who anyone is out there, I feel like if you eventually I think get to a certain point on on social media, um you know, and you build up those followers, and and the people do expect for for you to kill deer or bears or turkey or or waterfowl, you know. That's why they follow. That's a big reason why people follow you. They want to see what you're doing, they want to see, you know, you post your content. And yes, I I I'm somebody who I love all the other content out there that we have in the outdoor world, but some of the people I'm like, I can't wait to see it's like following the hunting public, you know, and yeah, I'm not killing anything, and it's like, well, what the hell, you know what I mean? And where they're they're gonna feel some pressure. Anyone is going to feel pressure from you to to me to to anybody out there probably listening, even if you're you're not on social media, it sucks going a little bit without without killing something, and you're like, all right, you look at the freezer and it's starting to get a little empty and everything like that. And that's when things get hunting, is such a mental, especially, especially bow hunting is such a mental warfare on on yourself that like confidence is is everything, and the minute like something starts going, it's like you have to keep pushing through because if you start getting into that negative headspace and everything like that, like then you just really get down into a rabbit hole in my belief. And you know, that's when you know you have bad shots or or you know you make these mistakes that you normally wouldn't, and it causes you, yeah, not to you know, not to get that buck, not to get that bear or the turkey or uh or whatever game you're you're going after.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Yep. Nope, you're you hit the nail on the head. I think um, yeah, it you just and I think too, you it's just being realistic, right? Like I think um you can't compare yourself to anybody else, and I think that's the dangerous part about like when you start building up a following or like signing contracts and working with companies, but like you're somebody that doesn't have the same opportunity as guys that are hunting every day for like their their main um you know their their main source of income. It's just it's just different, right? Like you can't you can't equate the guy that's got the blue-collar job that gets the hunt only on the weekends, right? And and is managing a family, so he may only get out for a morning or an evening hunt, right? Like the the chances that guy's gonna have as much success as like the seek one guys or you know any of the top guys in the the industry, like it's just it's could it happen? Sure, it's not gonna happen consistently, and it that's okay. Like, and I think that's the thing is just to remember like what are the percentages, right? Like, even even the top predators out in the wild, right? They're 90% unsuccessful, right? So and those they're surviving on that. So um, you know, I think just just keeping a uh a rational perspective. I think too, just being a uh a guy dad, I feel some pressure. Like, I gotta I gotta learn some lessons so I can pass down to my sons, um and uh you know get some success. Um and they probably won't care about any of that, but uh you still I think every every dad wants to be that that legend for uh for their kids uh oh yeah and and their wife. But uh but yeah, so yeah, but it's uh it's just it's been really good. And also like, you know, being moving up here, part of the move was being closer to family. We didn't move just to for hunting. Um the the reason was was uh was to be closer to family. So that you know that alone is just just been great. And it's just been nice, like the it's a different culture up here, you know. The the the northeast, like we we get the rep for um being rude, but like I think people just misunderstand that. It's like uh you know, guy guys from New York, New Jersey, you know, the the Northeast, Boston, like they'll help you like with your your shopping cart, right? But then like curse the heavy stuff that you put in it while they're helping you, right? Like that's whereas like but like I I've lived a bunch of places around this country, and like there are most of them like just no one will help you. So um even the the places where they're quote unquote nice, so um, you know, it's just it's just a different vibe up here, and I I love that transparency and like that outspokenness. Um, it's refreshing, probably because I grew up around it, but uh, but yeah, I'll I'll take I'll take it. It's it's good to be back.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Yeah, no, I'll I'll yeah, our our tri-state area is not I always tell it's not for the weak, it it's really not because yeah, you do have a lot of nice people, and I think everybody's nice, but yeah, everyone also has an attitude. Um, everyone is and we live in an area where everyone is in a rush, and that's something that I've definitely noticed. Like, you're just on go, go, go, go, go, go mode where when you travel to other places or go live in other places, it's it's not the same. Like, I like so we've been hunting Delaware. I love telling this story because it's it's just so different. So I popped up the tire and I bent my rim. Had to leave the truck down there. And this is no, the the pricing was great down there. I had no issue with the pricing, but they're like, Yeah, we we can't get to this car maybe until like next week. Like, we gotta order a part, and it's gonna take at least a week. And it's like I can go to my Ford store right up there, and if they don't have a part, they're like, Yeah, we'll get it, we'll get it tomorrow. Like, it's such a like, hey, when you need something, you want somewhere, like, or I'm going to, they're like, All right, yeah, no problem, we're gonna get it right there, versus in a different state that you know they're not used to moving as fast, and they don't they also don't have to move as fast. I think everyone here in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, especially if you work in New York City, you just have to go go. There is no time to sit and you know take it slow and everything like that. Like, time is money in the in this area, and that's kind of how everything else it trickles down to everything else. And I like I loved, I'm like, like, man, I was like, I love that it like it was definitely cheaper, but I don't like how it took a week to get apart. Like, I had to be without my truck, like I didn't get to hunt for a week, I had to leave my truck down there, drive all the way back home, drive all the way back, and I was like, I was hoping it was gonna be a one-day thing or maybe max two days. I could I could have toughed it out and stayed like you know the extra day at a hotel and everything like that, but it's it's just a different, it's a different pace. And you know, once you once you leave and then you come back, it's like wow, yeah, this is I kind of I kind of miss this. And then you know, you get into the hunting aspect, especially you know, when you go down south or you know, I I would even say even north, like even if you go more north, like you know, because we you know I love Maine, and you know, I'm so used to being up there and everything like that, but I couldn't imagine living there and and hunting because you want to talk about another place that's like those big woods, like you may never I know hunters that never see a deer and everything like that, and versus you know, you come to to where we are in Connecticut, Jersey, and you know these these areas, and it's like man, I can go to to woods and I could probably see 30, 40 deer in a in a sit, or and not even if I don't like Jersey, I don't I don't know what it is in Connecticut, but Jersey, we have we're a seven buck state and a unlimited dose state, which is a whole other conversation, just blows my mind. But like, you know, the the quantity of deer that you know you usually can harvest in our area compared to a lot of other places is not even it's it's a night and day difference.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

For sure. Yeah, the the Target rich environment is definitely uh definitely a change. I think we're I got checked, but I think it's two bucks, two does um where I'm at. So, and uh yeah, for for me, like I'm just looking to get into deer this year. Of course, like I'm hunting bucks, but I'm just excited to get into deer again this year and uh you know be able to to confidently put uh a couple doughs in the freezer, if uh nothing else. Because yeah, it was you had to kind of pick down in Florida at how you burned a tag. Um and the dough in a lot of the areas, like the doe, there was like a dough season, and it was pretty sh it was it was like very close to or around the rut, at least in the area I was hunting. So it's like, all right, do I want to kill like one of the three doughs I've been seeing, right? And maybe like burn one of the bucks that's around while I'm skinning this thing out. Like, how do you want to play this game, right? So um, yeah, for me, I've actually been looking for like areas where it's like, okay, high probability I can go smoke a dough there. Um, and also just have those areas in my pocket for when people visit and you know I can host and like be able to take people out and like make sure that they see deer and and uh so yeah, I'm I'm I'm excited for all that. But yeah, the uh the hustle culture applies to to all things for sure. Where I'm at, it's a little bit more rural, so it's a little more slowed down. Um okay, that that's nice, yeah. The population's also older up here, so uh there's there's not a whole lot of rushing going on. I like that.

Outdoor Photography As Creative Outlet

SPEAKER_00 32:26

I I do like that. Like being in constantly a rush, like I I am looking forward to to moving somewhere where I'm a little out the way. I don't I can't see my neighbors or anything like that, you know. That that's the dream, but um, you know, one thing, uh a big part of what I think really has has set you know your your page aside, and you know, for the years now that that I've been following you is is the photography aspect of it, you know, and and the shots that you're able to get create and and edit. Where where did the whole has that something that you did when you were younger? Was that something you're into photography? Or once you you know started hunting and everything like that, it's like all right, like this is kind of something that I want to start trying to do. And it was a learn as you go type of thing.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Yeah, it was definitely a learn as you go. And like I have, you know, there's there's other things I'm working on right now where like I'd love I'm I'm gonna apply some of those lessons and hopefully you know shrink that that success curve for for some things in the future, but it was definitely a learn as you go. And honestly, like it's just the Instagram page, like it was just a it was really just a creative ally. Like I I work in in finance, uh, I do data analytics now, but I was doing something else in in risk before. And it was very, you know, it was very corporate. Um, you know, and I honestly like I hit a point in my career where I was like sitting behind a desk and I'm like, I cannot have kids one day, and like this is the only thing like I need some I need some sort of creative outlet or I'm gonna go insane. Like I almost had like a little panic attack one day, and uh so I really just was searching for some sort of creative outlet, and like photography had always interested me at the time. I was getting very frustrated because uh I didn't know anything about setting up my bow and I was relying on bow shops and things that just kept letting me down um and having issues, and so this was right around 20 like 17. Um, so like Dudley was social media was just hunting social media was just trying starting to catch on. Like Dudley was he, I'm sure he had videos, but I didn't really know about him. So I was really just taking pictures on my phone and just sharing like different tweaks and like just trying to learn as I go. Um and like that was when like building your own arrows was starting to become like really, really hot. Um, and so I think a lot of people just kind of connected with the fact that like I I was just being very transparent about like, hey, like I'm a dude that like I don't have a lot of time to get out and hunt, like I'm I'm working a lot. Um, so I'm obsessing about my gear that way I know that I'm as squared away as I can be when I do get out into the woods. Uh and so the the the whole like you know gear page centric page just kind of grew out of that. I just found that I love the photography aspect of it. Um, and you know, companies kept sharing my photos and things, and and most of it was just on my phone. So I was like, all right, cool, let me invest in some some photography gear and just going to different events. I linked up with different companies, um, and uh everything just kind of spiraled. And before I knew it, I was working with a with a handful of companies, and you know, I had a bunch of bunch of camera gear and and stuff, and I was going to events and things like that. Um, and so like I had uh, you know, Nicey Apex was like a personal brand, but uh you know it was really always just me. And so I actually I dropped that name recently, and so it's just it's just AJ Quint on on Instagram now. But uh, but yeah, it really all just spiraled out of just like genuine interest and passion for things. And you know, I I didn't really have any I got to do some cool stuff and some cool collaborations with like unique products and things like that. Um but uh but really just just looking at have fun and and add something to you know this this lifestyle that I love so much. It's that's really just where it all kind of came from.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

And I think you know, when when you're when you're an outdoorsman too, and yeah, and you know, we're there's so many things that we do as hunters, but you know, we love nature. And I think also, yeah, I I love hunting, and you know, for anyone listening like this, is it I think you kind of for for people who don't do the photography side and the in the filming side of it and and you know their own editings, you don't see it, but you know, hunting is one thing, and then also capturing it on you know, you know, photos and and and all these different it captures kind of what we do in a whole different light and it has a whole different meaning, you know, to ourselves and also you know, eventually to to your kids and you know to your family or and and everything like that. Like that's kind of how I look at it. Like I love filming my hunts. I love creating these different shots of whether it's a video or a picture or or trying to, you know, create this this moment and it really you get to go back and you get to sit at sit down and like look at it, and it's like oh my god, like this is just it's just beautiful. Like I just I just completely like you fall in love with with it all over again, and it draws out a whole different aspect of us being outdoorsmen and and hunting and conservation and and everything like that is because you get to you get to you're we're finding a whole different side of of kind of what we do.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

Yeah, and it makes you appreciate it makes you like stop and appreciate the little things like just like the the do on a spider web as like the legal shooting lights just starting to come up, right? Like just the and and I agree, like I have a folder in uh you know on my phone that's that's quote unquote gripping grins, and it's mostly like not gripping grins, but it's just photos that it just takes me right back to that place, and it's just a memory, and that's part of the reason I got into the photography side of it was you know, I just I I looked back and like I didn't have a ton of photos of like me and my dad hunting or me and my grandpa hunting, and and like that kind of hurt me. It was like it felt like memories that I had lost. Not I I always had them, but like I couldn't pass them on in the same way, and so that's been a really cool, unexpected thing is like I get to use a skill set that I developed to to gift other people. Like if I go on on an event or I go on a hunt with somebody, it's really cool to be able to like send them a photo from that later on, right? Um, you know, and uh and that's something like I try to be like as incognito and like not in your face, like annoying paparazzi style, right? Like it's cool, like when somebody doesn't know that I'm like taking photos and then like they get a cool shot of themselves later. Like it's cool for them to be able to have that memory and show their family, like you know, we were doing this, and like here's who I was with. And um, so that's been really, really rewarding. Uh and then also now, like, you know, getting back to what how we kind of started this conversation, like, you know, social media marketing, like love it or hate it, it's a part of a lot of what we do. So like being able to help local organizations that do it for church, like it, it's um, you know, that's just something that I enjoy doing it, and it's a great way to to be able to to give back and and volunteer my time with a lot of these organizations. So um, yeah, it's it that's been really cool.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Yeah, I I think there there's there's also you like you said, there's there's a lot of good things that have come through through social media. I've met now some of my best friends, you know, through through social media, through hunting and everything like that. You know, I get to sit down with at this point probably close to almost 300 different people that I would never have met without, you know, doing this podcast with podcasts, you know, the both of them without having you know the Instagram and everything like that to create that. And you know, same thing for you, you know, you for me looking at it like you, you know, it's you get to expire, inspire people of like, you know, the photography aspect, the film aspect, you know, doing what you got, especially balancing it, you know, with the family and everything like that. Because I imagine a lot of people even listening to this, like they can relate because you know what, they have kids, they have, you know, they have a a nine to five job, whatever, whatever the case is, but you know, you you still get to that get out there and get it done and you know, get to capture all the beauty and and aspects of it. Where it's like, I think a lot of people now have started to get more and more into filming, into into photography and and everything like that. And it's yeah, some of it is like, hey, you know what, you know, I would like to be the next, you know, Lee Ellis or you know, hunting public, but a lot of people I've also turned, they they just love to do it just to have something they can show their kids, you know, or you know, have have that memory. Yeah, I wish, I I mean, I really wish, especially now how phones are today. Like, I haven't I don't really have anything either of you know of my grandpa or anything like that. And there's so many moments that you know we've all had growing up, and you just you don't have it like you like you would now. So it's like another thing, like you know, when you're older and stuff like that, you get to look back, or you know, when you when you have grandchildren and everything like that, and they get to see everything that that you created and and these times or if you're taking them out, you'll have pictures and everything like that with them, and it's a great um reconnection for for the family for sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Yeah, big, big fan. I think uh too a lot of people, you know, the the the the part that gets the bad rap, right, are are like you said, like the people trying like and some of them, you know, they they have a uh a a calling and they are the next, you know, like you said, hunting public and things like that, right? But but I I think it's important too, like unless you that is your calling, you know, don't put that pressure on yourself because it's uh just just look at it as something fun because uh even when you get to that point, it's usually not what you think it is. Um, and uh it it it might be cool or it might not be as cool as you thought it was going to be. So it's uh you know, everything's got its pluses and minuses, and uh, you know, you can you can easily turn your passion into a full-time job that you resent if you're not careful. Um, so you know, make sure to keep the main thing the main thing, and uh just just keep that perspective and and good people around you. Um but uh it it is it is awesome when uh you know when you when you get it right.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

Now, I I have to ask ask you because I'm I'm looking at the picture right now, and I've bear hunting is one of my favorite things. It's something that we put off, and everybody who listens to our shows knows that like we talk about bear hunting constantly, and there's a big reason for it. You know, kind of go through you know your experience with you know, was this your first bear that that you're that you harvested?

SPEAKER_01 43:06

Uh no, I've only I've only killed two. Um so both in New York on on my family's property up there. Um and uh yeah, I got one last season. She was a she was a big sow. Um and uh yeah, just she's just she read the script. Uh and uh we've you know, as far as like our approach, like we're just location's everything with hunting, right? Um, our property, we're just really blessed when it comes to to bears, not so much in on the deer front. We've got a pretty weak deer game on our property. We're working on that with some some habitat improvement uh over the last two years. But um, when it comes to bears, like we we've got public on a couple of spots. The rumor mill is that they release a lot of nuisance bears there. We've shot bears with tags on the ears before, so yeah, there's there's probably some credibility to that, and just the volume of bears that we see, we got uh the property it's it's an awkward layout but it kind of like V's up the mountain and the the ridgeline that's that's on our property the ridgeline has uh a a logging road um that you know and it it connects a couple of other uh ridgelines around there and so like the winter time it's like you know people are snowmobiling connecting the towns right but in the the the summer uh spring summer fall right bears are just walking those logging roads yeah gobbling on cake horns turning over logs um and so you know it it's it's it's pretty common that between you know my cousins myself my dad one of us will get a bear every season if you know if we're in the woods enough it's just a matter of time before one's gonna come by your stand. Um so usually like we'll set up our our you know typically the bears will walk that logging road right on the the ridge and then your deer trails your buck trails will be off of there just below the tops of the ridge right so our stand locations we'll try and split that um and then play the wind so you know you've got roughly a 30 yard shot in either direction and you're either hunting deer or you're hunting bear um and that's typically like what the the playbook is um for that so yeah we've uh last year was was my second second bear it was pretty cool because I was when I went to go go into my stand um I had I had set up uh a saddle actually in a new tree just to get kind of we had had a loger uh a uh lager come in in the spring so it changed a couple of things and so I wanted to set up in a new location where we didn't have a stand so the day before I hung uh a saddle set up and the the the low rum on my aiders had uh was rubber and my my stick was kicked out to the side and there were teeth marks in the rubber aider um and I was like all right well they're either passed by and I'm not gonna see them again or uh it's gonna be a a a really good sit um and yeah ended up being good got a got a nice sow um was hoping for a really big boar that was in the area but it had been a little while since I had punched a tag and I was I was just super stoked.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

She literally went 10 yards and piled up um and uh yeah can't can't ask for anything more than that and and correct me if I'm I'm wrong but in New York when you get your deer tag that comes with a a bear tag correct I I believe so yeah I you know I usually when I buy my New York tags I usually just get them I don't remember how you select it because I usually just end up getting like all of them um so I I don't I don't remember how that works.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

I know Vermont when you get like it seems like any tag you get like a deer and a because I've just bought turkey tags there and I also got uh fall deer and and bear tags. I think you're right I think New York you do get a bear tag and they're they're usually pretty um the there there's definitely like a bear like the population there's exploded I know my dad uh punched a tag one year on a on a bear that had tags on his ears and uh they the biologist let him know like hey that bear had been tranquilized if you don't feel comfortable we'll just issue you another tag if you don't feel comfortable eating that bear so they're they're you know that there's a very healthy population um I mean you guys know you're right over the border and you guys have a crazy population. I know where we're at in Connecticut it's the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

I see bears it feels like every time I'm out in the woods but uh but yeah so it's it's um pretty common but you guys are gonna have one a season open again this year right fingers crossed finger I mean yeah we're we're planning for it like we're we're full blown we'll we'll probably start scouting um probably like mid-August just because then we're gonna be getting ready for deer season so I don't we don't want to be doing too much in um but probably like right around mid-August like the the cool thing of how we hunt bears here at least like our crew um we and and a W a few WMAs if they plant corn the bears are usually going to be all in those cornfields um yeah and then what we do is the day before we'll just we'll go out and scout and we're really just looking for you know for their poop and from the minute once we find it we know exactly what they're eating so there's there's usually three things obviously corn then it's acorns and then we have this at this WMA it's like this little purple bluish berry it's not blueberries everybody but it kind of is like a grape I don't know I can't remember the exact plant um what it is but last year we found like in a different a bunch of different spots that's what they were eating so if we could we were trying very hard and the last day we found where those berries were and one of our team guys he put spot and stock on on it and yeah he shot over it I think uh that was that was his first year bear hunting and I think his his nerves just got the best of him and you know he got that that bear fever and everything like that and and shot right over it. But you know we've we've tagged we've killed three bears in in the last three years uh you know someone at least in our team Peyton is has killed two the last two years and we're hoping for at least a I think we're gunning for at least two probably like three bears to hopefully be killed this year. That that's our goal uh between all the guys going out is we can get three that'd be a pretty good uh mission uh complete and everything like that but we we just there's just so many bears and the more west you go in New Jersey you could throw a rock and you're you're gonna hit a bear like you know you get it it's to the point where if you're deer hunting in in West Jersey like everyone who's from Jersey who's listening it's like the West Milford area Blairstown area you know that that area of the state like your odds of seeing a bear during your deer hunt is probably like in 90% and it could be even higher than that.

SPEAKER_01 50:08

I'm pretty sure West Milford it's like you usually see more bears than you see deer yeah I I do wish and you know I know it's it's a more populated area so like there's so many so many issues that you could run into but I do wish they'd allow you to to bait specifically for bear I get the CWD issue but like if you're baiting with meat then deer aren't coming to that anyway because I especially with black bear I think it just makes it that much more ethical I mean you guys know like it it's it's hard to judge a black bear and also put a good arrow on one when they're cruising the woods like they're not like you know they're they're not Winnie the Pooh with their hand in a honey jar right like they're they're they're moving they're cruising um you know and it's there's they're shockingly hard to to tell like where to put that pin when you got a big black fluff ball um you know and yeah I had my the first bear I thought I put a perfect shot it was not I I the angle I actually spined it um and the thing yes last year I thought I had a worse shot and it was a perfect shot. It's just you know it's just a tr it's a surprisingly tricky critter to to to shoot in the moment when when the nerves are on and uh yeah for that reason I do wish they'd they'd let it be especially because of the population issues that were that you know we just talked about too like they're you know that they exist they're out there already in people's garbage cans um you know it's not like we're introducing some sort of habitual thing that they they aren't already accustomed to um yeah I've got the the messed up trash cans to prove it so and I and I think on that point like also like for at least for us for here in New Jersey it for me what blows my mind and makes it so difficult for me and I is you already allow baiting for deer and yes technically we can bait for bear but we have to be a hundred a hundred yards away from the bait for bear but not for deer you can hunt right over bait for deer I didn't know that yes and it it is a mind blowing situation and it's that frustrates me the most um that's why we don't bait anymore because it's like I the last time I baited I think it was pretty uh like probably like two or three years ago for for bear um and I played it was a not even I can't even say it was a cat and mouse game because like I had to sit so far away from the bait and this 500 pound bear would just he would either wait till nighttime or he would just take the complete opposite trail of what and it what makes it harder is here we're right on the border of private and public.

SPEAKER_00 53:02

So like there was only so much I could do to set up on the bait and he would mostly be coming off of private and I know people like oh well you could just it was because yet again I'm not trying to get busted and lose my license and lose the meat and lose the bear because I sat you know and I never know what what they're going to do out there and you know it's it's just not worth it. So it's better to be safe than than than sorry.

SPEAKER_01 53:31

So I know yeah you gotta obey the regs and uh but it is especially in this area where like the states the borders are all on top of each other like I I do wish that there'd be a little bit more cohesion between the different environmental agencies. Most of them I think they're they're trying to do a good job and they do a pretty good job but there are some stuff especially in like my home state in New York where it's like Jersey's allowing bait New York doesn't allow bait but if you go into any tractor supply they run out of deer corn the same day that it comes in right so isn't that crazy that it's it's wild how it just disappears. But the biologists always tout the fact that they don't allow baiting which is why the state's CWD free apparently and it's like guys like like connect the dots here you know um it's uh yeah I I I don't understand that um I do wish there was a little bit more it does you know at least it does seem like they're taking some I I can say like here in Connecticut like it seems like they are taking the biologist recommendations and they are taking public like the they're lower I heard they're lowering the the turkey quota for next year which you know hunters were actually asking for I think it sounds like we may get a bear season.

SPEAKER_00 54:50

I think Florida allowing theirs is is gonna help ours so we'll see and I and I heard Connecticut's bear population has definitely boomed I think we're we were talking about it the other day like um yeah Connecticut's bear population is definitely starting to to get and these are things that you have to get you know especially like a a state like like Connecticut you already see what happened in New Jersey when you guys banned when our governor banned the hunt like let's get ahead of this before it's too late. And it's not and yet yeah it's when I when I talk about if there's anybody listen who's not a a hunter or anything we're not talking about just completely wiping out and killing all the bears no but there everything has to have a healthy has to have a healthy population and a healthy number um you know because yet again anything like what it got really bad here where you're seeing bears being hit by cars and and things like that. And it was just like and then we're getting we were getting a lot of yet again thank god we've stolen had one person fatally um killed by a bear um and all the other bear attacks have mostly been like on and on dogs and stuff like that. I think the one year when they really decided to bring it back I think a bunch of dogs got attacked and I think like a woman was um grazed I don't even think she was mauled or or whatever. I think you know the bear was trying to get the dog the woman you know tried protecting the dog and I think she may have just gotten you know slapped or something like that. And those claw marks at the end of the day could could kill you kill you easily but um you know we we've gotten like and I always told us told people like our governor is very lucky like something didn't bad did not happen. Yeah because the the population I think they said grew by like 200 or 400% you know some crazy number and it was true like you were you're seeing just so many bears and so many big bears Jersey is the one state where you can see a mother with cubs of three or four and all those cubs have like a 95% chance of surviving and that's not natural.

Arrow Builds Broadheads And Confidence

SPEAKER_01 57:07

I just saw a a mother the other day crossing the road with three cubs and yeah I can say you know I haven't been here that long but I can say that the bears I have encountered are way too habitualized to to people like I I opening day at Turkey I thought you know I thought there was a fan over a ridge it was just a a young boar coming over and I mean my wind was from my neck to his nose and he just came right towards me stopped at 30 didn't care and I stood up because he was just making a beeline right for me and I stood up and he still didn't care and I had to like step at him and he didn't move I stepped on him again he bounced around and then tried coming behind me and he was kind of skinny and I was like ah he could be I was like I don't know what uh TSS is going to do to a bear but I might have to find out here in uh in a second but thankfully he uh you know he took off but uh yeah just just way too and I think that's what people don't understand. It's like like you said like we're not trying to go out and kill like all the bears or anything but you know they they have to be skeptical because at the end of the day like listen a hungry bear is not going to hesitate to to swipe an infant if if not at all you know the opportunity presents itself. So it's uh yeah it's just you know there's gotta be uh they they are predators at the end of the day they're really good ones you know I my family we can tell you like we've seen them chase down deer um and so they they can they can move when they want to um and uh yeah it's just just one of those one of those things but yeah it's cool I love that you guys enjoy bear hunting they're they're a special critter for sure and I think too like people I'm I'm really happy like guys like Clay Newcombe and and things have like made it more normalized like the meat is really good. There's some cool things that you can do with like the resource that that bear gives you um I'm still trying to figure out more like more stuff to do with the hides other than just like having a cool you know throw um but uh but yeah just just just a really really cool animal uh I'm I'm definitely glad they exist that's for sure and uh I'm young enough to remember like not when they didn't really exist in uh in the populations they they do now so I you know I'd rather have it this way but there just needs to be a season.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

Yeah no I I agree with you every everything you said there um you know and we're uh I want to get a few more quick questions and we're we're almost we're at that hour AJ I mean it's it's been an absolute pleasure have having you on too um definitely gotta gotta get you back and everything like that and get you there's so much more that we still need to cover and that's the that's the toughest thing about doing podcasts is like you the time that you have is never just enough because when it comes to talking about hunting and everything like that we could go for hours and hours and hours um you know but for for me like with your now like kind of what's your bow build or not even what's your arrow build kind of now like what are you kind of looking for are you a mechanical guy I know you're shooting mechanicals for a while are you a fixed guy do you do both are you heavy light arrow what what's kind of like your mindset of on your on your arrow build right now honestly my mindset is just confidence right like for me the the most important thing is the arrow is going to hit behind the pin and that it's going to put get into the vitals right is number two.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:41

And then number three is I want a trajectory that is going to give me the most leeway because the animal's gonna move especially when we're talking about gear right like I think where a lot where I know where I messed up and where you know having having guided new hunters where most new bow hunters mess up is is they didn't actually mess up. It's that they just took a shot not anticipating because they've never seen it before what the animal is going to do in reaction to that arrow. And I've been in that situation where I made if you asked me to make that shot 99 more times I wouldn't change anything but the way that the the deer moved in that one instance made it a less than optimal shot so it was you know it's what my buddies in the military would say like good shot bad result and you know I I just hit a weird bone or deflected off a rib or something like that. So for me for my my arrow build like I'm trying to I'm a numbers guy like I data analytics is my nine to five job so I'm trying to I'm trying to give the the most leeway that I can so for me part of that comes down to like what's easy to source and build. So you know for me like I want consistent components that like are easy to put together and are going to shoot consistently out of my my bow and my setup which typically um is going to be around like a 450 to 500 grain arrow uh I like uh I like fixed blades if they fly well and I like mechanicals if they open and leave a good blood trail right so like I'm not an absolutist I I've shot uh Montex Ozcuts Severs uh dead meats mega meats like just I I I've shot a number of different things like one of the the advantages like when you get to do suburban hunting is you get to you know you get to to to send a couple more arrows right especially down south when we were hog hunting a lot too same thing um so you get to see those results so for me like right now I'm running uh Montex and T2s and I'm gonna just see what flies the best what I have the most confidence in. I love the Montex you know I the the only criticism I have of them is they're a little loud but you know for most of the spots that I'm hunting I'm 40 yards and in I'm not as worried about that. So I'm running 100 grain heads I like uh about 50 grains up front so um right now I'm I'm still not sure what arrow I'm gonna run but uh I like about 50 grains up front uh and then yeah you know your your nine to 10 10 and a half grain arrow GPI arrow shaft I'm a 28 and a half inch straw so that usually gets me to about 450. And then veins uh I'm running either a three fletch super saber um if you know I can get the time to build a proper set of arrows I'll I'll always run that Kyle from DCA is he's a good friend of mine um and I've loved those veins since since he came out with them um and then uh Nox I'm a big uh uh I'm a real knock snob uh like I'm very particular I I want a short stiff knock um that to me is uh maybe the most underrated component uh or undervalued component that I've seen with with people's arrow builds over the years um and uh yeah I don't I don't know if like you're you're partial a particular arrow company but I you know there's a lot of good ones out there now I'll say you know the the company that's been the most consistent for literally the last hundred years is Easton's um you know you can take you can take a set of axis arrows from 20 years ago which is what I killed my first buck with and take a package from yesterday and throw them together and it's not going to make a difference right um but um but yeah for for me that's kind of that's my setup is short stiff knock you know medium weight shaft three flesh uh if I can't for some reason uh get the super sabers on uh a a four fletch blazer uh and like a two and a half degree helical um that'll steer any any decent broadhead um from what I found uh out of a properly tuned bow um but uh but yeah that's that's the setup that I've been running um I I think I tinkered around with a lot of stuff that's you know the arrow builds is kind of what my page like you know at the time like it kind of it kind of blew up um I was working with Easton early on in Sever uh they're they're they're uh you know under the same umbrella um and um and yeah that I you know but I had a lot of companies that would would send me arrows and so I'd get to see a lot of stuff and uh but that setup has just been the most consistent with me you know regardless of of brand yep that's pretty cool I and I like the knock thing I never really you know thought about thought about that at all and I imagine like you said most people have not at all they just think it's oh like you can get any old knock in it and it really doesn't matter but um that little plastic part you you have to think you have to remember like that little component is what is making all of the contact with your bow it's the last thing to touch your bow and it's absorbing all of the energy from your bow right so if that's not consistent Consistent, it doesn't matter how great the rest of your arrow build is if you have a trash knock. And I've had to tell companies that you know, I've had companies send me dozens of arrows, and I'm like, hey guys, everything's great, but the knock you guys are using is just trash. Like I had you have I can't shoot these, I can't hunt with these. Like I I'm gonna swap them out. Um, you know, but you guys should know like this this is just a weak link, and this is a stupid wink, weak link to have, right? It's the cheapest component on the the whole arrow. Um the good news is it's it's easy to swap out. Easton makes a great knock, AAE makes a great knock. Um, but you know, I know lighted knocks are are a popular thing, I think with for good reason, but definitely you gotta play with, you know, especially if you're shooting a higher poundage bow. I found like those 80-pound bows, even if you're 28, 28 and a half inch draw, you know, make sure your your knocks are set up the same way, um, because otherwise it's just like having an inconsistent spine, and you're gonna have a flyer here or there if you're not uh checking the that knock tune.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:05

Wow, yeah. I mean it's but it but it's true, like it's and that makes the most sense, and it's for me, it's consistent, and that's what archery is. Archery is all about consistency, it's all about knowing your your from your bow to your arrow to your release to every single thing, and it's that one thing where if a little like that, you could be that much off, and that makes a huge difference in in archery. And if you don't trust your equipment, that's why it's always been hard for me. I so I was using Eastons for a while. Um, and last year I switched to at the time they're called Momba. Now they're they're they just rebranded they're called Cooley Cool Cooley, and they're out of Texas, brand, brand new. And I and I I love them. I I uh I had a buddy that's what he shoots. He was swearing by them. We went and we shot at the iron bear of or one of the events that we had, and they were the only arrow that that didn't break on on the iron bear. Um, you know, and it was like, all right, you know what? Let me let me try these. And I just I was super impressed with them, but for the longest, like I've never wanted to switch people, like, oh, go use this, go use this, and I'm like, no, like I I trust what I had, and I knew with Easton, I was like, I used Easton and like I I trust them so much, and I still do, don't get me wrong. Like, I the reason why switch had nothing to do with with Easton and everything like that, like they're still in my I still have them and I still will shoot them. Like, don't don't get me wrong, but you know, it's it's still hard for me to to branch out. Same with Sever, like you know, I've been shooting Sever now for I think seven seven years. Um and every time I say I'm gonna switch to something else, I'm like, ah, do I really like that's what I'm comfortable with, and that's what what I trust right now. You know, it it goes with anything. Uh with bow hunting, I'm just super particular with what I use, and that's why like I really can't wait till I finally get into the where I you know we have our own place where I can buy all my stuff and learn exactly how to uh build my arrows and then eventually to work on my own bows and everything like that because I want to be able to tinker but trust myself that I'm doing it, and like you said in the beginning, not have somebody else doing it, you know. And it's when somebody else is doing it, it's you're not really getting it how you really want it, unless like you gotta really know that person or trust that person and really like sit there, like, no, this is what I mean, you know, this is what I'm talking about because most boat shops are gonna do it and pass it on, and and and there you go.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:49

Yeah, and and I I think to to to that point, like it's yeah, with with the with the bows and the arrows, it's I I find I'm a lot like if it's all on me, I I don't know. I just feel I I would rather take responsibility for that. Um and yeah, what's what's funny is when you start tinkering with your own stuff. I I was talking to somebody about this recently, is it's like especially like if you work, you you work with different companies and things like that, you you you tinker with everything and you kind of you usually end up right back to where you started, right? Um, to that stuff that gave you confidence. And I think there's you know, like for guys that like they've got limited budgets, they've got limited time. If you've got something that you're consistent with, it's better to have a good product that you know inside and out than the latest and greatest that like you're just learning, especially this time of the year, right? Like stick with what you know, stick with what's working. Um, you know, because the the animal's not gonna care what brand is on that that product at the end of the day, as long as as long as it goes where you need it to go.

Dream Two Weeks Of Turkey Hunting

SPEAKER_00 1:10:49

A hundred percent. Um, la last one for you for for this evening. You know, you have two weeks. Money is not an option. Two weeks. What is your dream animal and where would it be?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:09

Dream animal, and where would it be? Honestly, two weeks. I'm probably I I think I'm sticking right where I'm at, and uh, I'm just hunting New England for turkey for for two weeks. Um, you know, I gotta be honest, like turkey turkey hunt has become my favorite thing. I think it's great because you can do it as a group, and like, you know, you can have guys that are callers, guys that are chasing. There's it's a little bit more social. Um, you know, I I love the solitude of deer hunting and things like that, but but turkey has definitely like the the older I get and the more I do it, the more obsessed I've been. I got a wing bone here that I can um I got you know I got tube calls I've been messing with um that I've made out of some bamboo. Like I uh that's my favorite thing. And yeah, I mean honestly where I live now, like it's uh it's great because I can hop a couple of different um borders, right? And and hunt a few different states. Um but I've also I've never hunted uh I've never hunted uh you know I haven't gone west of the Mississippi too too often. So I think uh you know it'd be cool to if I got two weeks I could catch a flight.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:15

Uh and there's I I think with with Turkey too, there's like without deer or or bear or moose or elk or anything like that. Like, like you said, you can two weeks, you can get in a lot of states. I mean, hey, you tag you tag one down, you get to, especially being one in New Eng in the New England area, look at the whole east coast. Like you could travel literally, so you know, you're in Connecticut, say boom, you kill yours on the on the first day. You can go either north or south, right? Whichever way, and you can hit multiple states, or you can be like, Oh, like I'm starting all the way in Maine and I'm gonna work my way down, or you know, like I said, or maybe you go out out to you know, more to the the west and everything, like you know, whatever you want to do, but being kind of where you are, like we've talked about so many times in the this episode of why we love being where we are, is look at all the states that we really can hit versus like the Midwest, like those are it's far to dry it, you know, in the in the Midwest and everything like that, where the East Coast has that advantage of like, yeah, yeah, I get to hit all this, you know, all these different states, and it's really not you're not breaking the bank with gas like you would be going to the Midwest or or time and everything like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:37

Well, and I think too, it's still even though like geographically it's all close, it still feels very different, right? Like every state has its own vibe, geography is slightly different, you know, even it's only slightly some of it's more drastic than others, but like you know, I I went up to to Vermont, I did a little hunting before Total Archery Challenges last May, and it's like you know, it's it's hard to beat that. So I it you know, maybe I'm I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but uh, but yeah, I I really wouldn't trade uh I really wouldn't trade those two weeks in May for anything right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:07

Yeah. My um on on the last like my buddy went to um Maine to hunt um birds and he killed two and he said it blew him away. It was like one of his favorite places to and he's a huge, huge, huge, huge turkey hunter, and he was like, Yeah, he was like Maine was absolutely incredible to hunt birds.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:29

Yeah, I uh I I've I've really fallen in love. I love the people, I think um turkey hunting specifically. I think there because there isn't like a score aspect or really an age class, like it's just it's it's in a lot of ways the purest form of like sustenance hunting left. Um, and you know, there's a lot of old pioneers and legends that are you know starting to retire. And I'm talking about guys that like they don't have a website, they don't have any social media presence, and they're like a lot of them are like the only reason that we have wild turkeys to to hunt today. Um, and you know, some of our generation isn't really, you know, too up on that. So you know, for me, like I love learning more about that as well. Um, you know, and some of the the investments and and the things that people have made over the years to like make that that population comeback possible. Um so yeah, I just just through and through. I I um I'm definitely above all, I've but I think I've become a turkey addict um before anything else.

Closing And Where To Follow

SPEAKER_00 1:15:32

Yeah, no, I I've I've heard that from from plenty of people. Um, you know, but AJ, I I want to appreciate you coming on and everything like that. Oh, wait, what uh anytime, Mike. Um, you know, I I it was a great, great conversation. Everyone, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. We'll definitely have to get him back on uh in the future and everything like that. Um make sure you guys go give him a if you're not already following, make sure you guys go give him a follow. The link will be down in the description below. Go check him out. And everyone, we hope you guys enjoy this episode, and we'll see you guys next time.