Jersey Outdoors And The Guest

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This is the Garden State Outdoors and Podcast. Built on early alarms, muddy boots, and stories that only the woods can write. New Jersey is one of the most underappreciated states in the outdoors. And little do they know what it really holds. From hard-earned public land deer to waterfowl, predators, and everything in between. This state produces more than people give it credit for. Now let's dial in with the men and women around the state of New Jersey who live this life every day. In New Jersey, excuses don't survive. Only the grinders do. All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Garden State Outdoors Podcast. And today we are have the pleasure, pleasure of having on the show Zachary Bolkar from Wood Shark Outdoors. Welcome to the welcome to the show. Glad to be here, guys. Good to meet you. So for those of you who are who are not listening or who don't know you, can you give uh everyone a quick rundown of of who you are and you know some some background about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yeah. Uh started hunting when I was a kid, hunting and fishing with my, you know, got into it with my family, uh, uncle, dad, brother, cousins. That's the one thing we do together. So I was kind of raised with that lifestyle. Um started out with uh started out with small game and uh deer hunting came around a little bit later on, like big game and stuff like that. And then uh as uh as I've gotten older, I started to branch out and do kind of like my own thing and explore, you know, other types of uh hunting and fishing and stuff like that. But uh the main stuff was uh yeah, like my uncle and my dad, they were mostly uh bird hunters, they owned uh upland and waterfowl mostly. And then they started deer hunting like back in the 60s and 70s, and uh so but they were like, you know, they were learning, they didn't really know what to do at that point in time. So, you know, we kind of they taught us what you know what they knew, and we kind of took it from there and branched off and started, you know, doing our own thing. Me, my cousin, my brother, all of us. And now we kind of do it all together, and then we met friends along the way.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

So of course, you know, and that and that's the great thing about the outdoors is is bringing everyone together, kind of like once you start one, like it doesn't like it doesn't end there, and you just you know, you you keep picking up you know new things and everything like that. But you know, for you and in early childhood and everything like that, so you know, it started out with with bird hunting and everything like that. Oh, you've always lived in New Jersey, correct?

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Always, always born and raised New Jersey, Morris County. That's mostly where we do, like where I do most of my hunting, right here in Morris County. Uh like we do branch out to you know uh like uh Essex County and uh but a little bit, but uh where we have friends that have uh that have property that we can go to. But uh for the most part, we're just public state land hunters, uh yeah, out of Morris County mostly.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Yeah, well we'll we'll definitely have to after after we're not recording. We'll we've probably hunt somewhere near each other because one of my sp one of uh you know our spots and everything like that's in that Morris County area area and everything like that. But we're not gonna you know burn some spots here. But you know, okay, so back then you're growing up burn hunting. What did the what did it look like hunting early in in back in the day in in the state of New Jersey? Yet again, Jersey is never known for being you know big outdoor state, big hunting state, even though it's a it's a hidden gem and everything like that. So kind of what what was it like back then?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, uh, I mean, uh, even like we've we've lost a lot of our spots because of development and you know, property getting, you know, getting too close to where we were, you know, hunting and whatnot.

Growing Up On Public Land

SPEAKER_01 3:58

But uh I I mean we were kind of like we were always in like you know, state land. We never really had private spots. So uh it was mostly uh of I don't know, there was it was a lot. There was there was a lot of land that is now so built up upon that you can't even, you know, cops, cops are definitely getting called, you go there. So uh I guess it was bigger back then, but uh I mean I'm talking like when I started hunting, it was 2002. Uh I'm 35, so I, you know, uh 11 years old when I you know legally aged to get my license of you know, 2002 compared to today, it's a lot different than what it was. But uh and then to hear your and then to hear my parents talk or hear my uh hear my uncle talk, it's like they're like, see this guy's living room, I shot uh grouse right in this guy's living room. You know, see this guy, you know, see this guy's backyard with the swing set, I shot rabbits back there. And you're like, oh wow. You're like, you know, they had it, you know, they they uh they're like disgusted when you talk to the old timers. But uh I mean I I still I still find I still hunt decently big woods, uh, you know, WMA's State LAN. Um, so I I don't really have a problem with uh I mean I don't I don't want I don't want it to get any smaller, but there's a there's a lot of state land out there, and you just have to like look around. Private spots, on the other hand, that's usually where you know you're getting in close by the houses and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

So so I I definitely say we recorded last night, uh, and for those you guys listening to uh last night's episode that we recorded probably has already dropped and everything like that. We we were sitting down talking to Brian from Timberlife Outdoors, and that's exactly what we were talking about. Like, yes, Jersey is a small state. Yes, we're losing a lot of of woods to to development and everything like that. But the great thing about New Jersey is still those WMAs and stuff like that hold a lot of land, and you don't realize how much you know land that you we actually have to hunt in New Jersey, and it takes that effort of you know putting the extra miles in or doing the extra research and stuff like that to find you know still some good good hunting land here in Jersey.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Especially if you're an archery person. If you're an archery person, you can definitely get in close and get you know and really access these small lots of land that are you know around the state. But uh, you know, gun makes it, you know, when you're if you're if you're a gun hunter, it's makes it a little bit more difficult, you know, especially, you know, guns loud, people, you know, people in the neighborhood don't like that stuff, you know, they don't want to hear gunshots in their backyard when they got, you know, especially if they have kids. But uh if you're an archery guy, you can really make it happen. I mean, it's not very difficult.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Like uh I hunt the state the state definitely caters to to archery a hundred percent more than it does you know, gun hunting and and everything like that. Um but it it's that's why a big part of what I like New Jersey so much is it the dedication. I don't even maybe not dedication is the the right word, but the access and how much time you get to have to hunt in New Jersey with the bow.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah, yeah. So you you can, you know, second Saturday in September right on through to the end of January, and in some in some zones, uh February. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

So it's uh I I uh where I one of the zones I'm in, or two of the zones I'm I'm actually in, um, is definitely not February, so it's a very, very long season.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Yeah. I uh I mean I am I do go out with firearm, but for the most part, um I'm an archery guy. I uh and you know, and that's something fairly new. Like, you know, growing up, uh uh growing up, I was, you know, we I didn't even we didn't even we bypassed archery, we just hunted with gun. And then, you know, I don't know, my my me and my brother were talking, we're like, archery season's so long, we should really start, you know, actually utilizing that that extra time and you know, start hunting more with the bow. And we did, and then we started we started getting a lot more deer, and we're like, oh, we're like, all right, maybe we're on to something. And now I I mean I hunt archery sometimes even when I have when I'm allowed to use the firearm, but uh it all depends on where the spot that I'm going to. Because there's there are some spots where it's you know I am kind of close to houses, so I'm like, okay, well, I don't want to I don't I don't want to fuck out. So I'll just go in there with the bow, be quiet about it, and you know, no harm, no foul. Out of sight, out of buff.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Definitely, definitely. Now, you know, you like you said, you you started with you know small, uh, small game and everything like that, upland birds, you know, probably rabbits and squirrels and stuff like that as as younger, you know. And as your your father moves to you know, you start picking up the big game and deer hunting and everything like that, that means eventually, you know, you two as well are gonna you know pick that up and and you did. So what was that like, you know, uh at your your younger age, transitioning to to you know that small game to now finally chasing chasing whitetails? It was boring. It was it was so boring.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Uh, you know, well, like squirrels, and you know, we my first hunting was duck hunting. And yeah, so very boring. One duck definitely gave a bunch of them PTSD, but didn't hit one duck. I mean, I was I was a little kid, 11 years old. I was using a double barrel 20 gauge. Uh, and you know, but I you know, every every three seconds you were, you know, yeah, you couldn't get the shells in the in the gun fast enough, and ducks were flying by and you were just shooting and shooting and shooting, and it was a blast. And then you start, then you start, you know, deer hunting, you're like, you know, looking at the clock, you're like, all right, where are they? Where are they? Like, come on. And then, you know,

Development Pressures And Finding WMAs

SPEAKER_01 10:10

you're a kid, you're like, oh, this this sucks. Then you sit there for three hours and then you go home and you're like, man, when you're a little kid, it's harder to sit still. But I, you know, as you get older, it helps. I guess it helps you build character, you know, develop patience, something like that. I guess that's what we'll you know, chalk it up to. But uh yeah, it was uh at first it was boring. Uh but then but you know, then you know, you get an opportunity at a deer and you're like, oh and then like, oh my god. And then you know then you get that, you know, that adrenaline and all that. Oh, this is a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

You know, bigger animal for some reason gives you when you started deer hunting, were you was it gun or were you starting out with shotgun? No, shotgun.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Uh yeah, my my my dad and my uncle weren't really bow hunters, so you know I was going with them. It was most likely I was using uh shotgun or muzzle loader or yeah, along those lines. But uh yeah, shotgun was the uh was the first deer hunting I did, buck week, you know, in uh December.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Oh, oh yeah, some the why the wild time, the wild, the wild blessed in New Jersey.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

It was uh what uh you your your first hunt, what what was like, you know, take us if you remember, you know, what you remember. I meant uh most people remember their first one, but yet again, that was 2002. So kind of like take us through your first hunt and the first experience up, and those for you don't who don't aren't from Jersey, kind of like what Buck Creek was.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

I don't necessarily remember my first hunt, but I I remember my first deer quite well. Uh and uh it wasn't actually that exciting. We were uh we were taking we were going to take a break, uh, and we got in the truck and we started pulling out, and my dad hits the brakes and was like, Zach, get out of the car. There's a deer standing there. Get out of the car and shoot it. And I did just that. And uh, you know, deer ran off, and uh, I mean, I didn't see it fall, but apparently my dad did. And you know, he got on and we gutted it, threw it in the back of the truck, and we went home. We were home by lunch. But uh, and I was 12. It was uh two days after my 11th, it was two days after my 12th birthday.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

I I think real quick, that is the most classic one gun hunting story I I've heard, but also the time of back in the day of like you're about to leave, you're you're in the truck, and like, oh wait, wait, wait, there's a deer right there. Like, I think that's one of the most classic like hunting stories you can you can ever have, and that's deer number one for you. My dad's like, get out of the car, shoot it.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

I was like, okay. A little box, small small little, uh, yeah, small little like three-pointer or something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

I love it. I love it. What um what the adrenaline rush do you do you remember? Like, man, it had to be. I I don't know. Well, real quick before you answer that, and and people listening, like I I say adrenaline rush, but it's not your typical type of hunt where you see the deer off and he's coming into the stand. So like I imagine you're just completely caught off guard. So you might not even been able to get that like adrenaline rush.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

There was there was no rush. I was like, oh, oh, you know, it happened so fast, I was like, Whoa, like maybe after like after I saw the deer laying there, then I was then I got excited. But I was like, Oh wow, like that's what it's like. Okay, I was like, I I can get used to this.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Did uh did did you were you taught uh to gut right there, or were you thrown to the wolves and you had to do it yourself? Like, kind of how did that work out?

SPEAKER_01 13:43

No, uh my my dad, my dad showed me my first my first two deer, my dad pretty much did for me and kind of just showed me how to do it. And then uh once I was old enough to sit by myself, like hunt without dad next to me, that's when I started to do it on my own. If I yeah, yeah, if I got something.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Makes sense. Um, how how'd the rest of the uh the deer hunting season go for from there? I mean, six days only six days, but I don't know if you're hunting muzzle loader yet or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

So like it was like each year, like so. My you know, when I was 11, I took the shotgun test. Then the next summer I took the muzzle loader rifle test, then the next summer after that I took archery. That's how my that's how my dad did it for me. So like the first year I hunted, it was just six days, you know, or do and then doe days, you know, extended doe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But um the but yeah, and then the next year after that, it was you know, six days and then muscle loader season. And then after that, I could and then after that it was archery, it was all of it, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

So on and so on. I I I love that. What um did you take to to bow hunting or like you know before you took you know your your archery test where you how'd you feel about moving to the bow and and learning the bow and everything like that at that time?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

It was it was it was hard. I remember being frustrated, but my my brother showed me how to do it, and I was using uh I was using his his old bow. Um what the hell was that called? I I uh Silverhawk, Silverhawk, Silver Eagle, I want to say it was one of those two names. It was like a yeah, something or other silver hawk and 35 pound draw. And uh yeah, yeah, and that's what I took my that's that's what I hunted. I I hunted like I hunted archery the first year

Why New Jersey Rewards Bowhunters

SPEAKER_01 15:40

I got my license, and and then I I kind of didn't hunt archery again for a little while till I was till I was older, till I was like, yeah, you know, till I was actually uh I started hunting archery again 2010.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Okay. So was was it was it because I mean obviously you're going to school, you're you're living life as a kid and everything like that. Um, but also was it because you know takes more patience, wasn't as fun gun hunting. Listen, being more active and doing some more stuff is is a little more fun than archery, as especially as a kid like me, I love it. But I what what was it that made you kind of push away from from archery for a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Uh I think it's just that my uh none of my family members really did it. They were all gun hunters. We all had our art, we all took, you know, in case we ever wanted to, we all took our archery test, but for the most part, we were all gun hunters. So like archery was just like, eh, at the time, you know, like me on my dad archery, so I was like, oh, okay. Uh now they do. And when they legalized crossbow, uh everybody, oh my uncle, my dad, everybody jumped back on uh jumped on that, jumped on that bandwagon.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Was the was early early on were the seasons as long as they are now? Like I don't I wasn't hunting around that that time or anything like that. Um, I was playing hockey full time and and and stuff like that. So what what were the season dates like at at that time in in the early 2000s? Yeah, I really don't know.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

I I just went whenever my head took me or broader like really. Okay, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. You know, I I wasn't I wasn't really doing I really I got I started really hunting on my own, doing my own thing, uh probably like not that long ago, you know, 2013 is when I started to really get into it on my own, not like, you know, not using my dad's spots or my uncle's spots or my cousin's spots. Like I went and started doing my own scouting and my own, you know, setting up my own stands and doing it, you know. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Okay. So you were probably early because I started 2013 bow hunting. I was 18. So yeah, you're early 20s then, I imagine. 22. I was 22. 22, gotcha, gotcha. Okay, really do it on my own.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Yeah. What what did that look like? Oh that oh, I well, my first year doing it on my own, I was like, I I was I was driven. I was like, oh, I gotta, I haven't, you know, I hadn't I hadn't killed a deer in quite quite some time. I I hadn't, you know, because I was busy doing other things. I was you know, so like my two my seasons before that weren't very I I wasn't in the woods a lot, you know. I was like, I gotta, I was, yeah, this this season I was you know the 2013 season, I was like, no, I gotta I gotta focus here. I gotta I gotta get some I gotta get some stuff on the ground here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh it was exciting. I was having a lot of fun. And uh I'm not gonna lie, I started out with the uh I uh I was cross uh crossbow. I uh I got the crossbow out and uh and I hung with the crossbow for quite some time, but uh and I was uh yeah, I killed I killed a couple deer and I was like, this is cool. And I was like, okay, I and uh I was hunting it. That was my first time really hunting extended bow season during the rut. So yeah, and all sorts of all sorts of action. I might not have got a shot at it, but I was seeing a lot more than I was used to in terms of like deer, and I was like, oh my god, like you got it was fun, yeah, it's fun doing that rut, man. I was like, I've been missing, we've been missing out. Yeah, I was like, oh man, and then after that, it was yeah, every year after that.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Was it was it so for for for me at least, like I I gun season is okay, like six day, like yeah, like I do it just to do it because I bow hunt so damn much at this point. Like before six day, I'll probably be on like sit number 40 or 50 for at this point now in my career. Like I'm a diehard bow hunter, that's mostly what I do. But like for you, you know, you're you're a gun hunting family, but then you start seeing the action and everything that you've missed during the bow season. Did that affect like gun season, you know, yeah, at all? Or it did okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

We complete we we completely all just started hunting, you know. But by gun season, we're like burnt down. We're like too, we're like we're we're not gonna go tomorrow. We're we're we're exhausted. Like and pretty much all of us. Okay, yeah, yeah. Friends, my family, you know, uh all of us. We're all like we're mostly bow hunters now, and it seems like the beginning of the season, we're really trying to, you know, get it. By by gun season, we're like we're we're you know, we might go a couple days in one or two days during the gun season, but like, yeah, no, we're we're tired.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah, I I think like I I love how it works out in in Jersey. I mean, yeah, like you said, you're starting from second week of September here for us. We're starting September 1st down in Delaware and stuff like that. So by the time we get to that six day, like it is a nice change of pace because I don't like for me, I don't take it seriously. Like, I I don't like if I get a deer, I get a deer, uh, and maybe chasing a bear if I if you know, depending on the situation. Um, but you're tired and you like the change of pace because it's like it's not as stressful as as bow hunting. Like you you get to go out and you if you see a deer like a hundred yards away, hey, you may you may take a shot at it, you know what I mean? Like it's it's just a completely different game.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yeah, yeah. I I yeah, I'll I'm like I when I'm sitting there with a gun, I'm like, I'm moving around a lot more. Um I'm on my phone. I'm like, oh man. I'm like, but I'm like, well, if he's all the way out there, I'm like, oh, I you know, I can lob more. He's in range if he's all the way out there.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Yeah. You know, it's it's the minute you get the gun in your hands, it's like you you're right. Like you're doing stuff you you wouldn't do bow hunting. Like you move, I swear I move a hundred per times so much more because it's I don't know, it's it's not confidence, but you know, all she has to do is just pull the, you know, move it from your Pull the trigger and you're good out to like you said, a hundred hundred yards and and stuff like that. So the confidence, you know, of not getting your hunt blown because you moved or something like that wrong with a deer within 20 yards. It's just it's incredible. It's like vacation. That's what I think of it. Like I'm on vacation mode at this point.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

That's how I feel. That's exactly how I feel. I'm like, ah, I'm like, this is yeah. Not that not that I ever like, I haven't actually got something during six days in quite some time. But uh when I do, when I do go out, I'm like, oh, this is this is awesome. I'm like, I that's nice, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

I I love it, I love it. Um, what was um what was your first year with the bow? And what what was that that same year? Did you get your first year that first year, or did it take a little bit of time? No, oh it took uh it took quite some time.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

2010 was my first uh archery kill with a uh and and back then crossbow was illegal still, so it was compound and uh my arrow still had feathers. Oh, yeah. The feathers did you have the aluminum arrows too at that time? No, no, no. I was I was uh what were they called? Um Beaman ICS hunters. They were they were carbon, they were carbon. Okay, you okay buggy fixed blades, three blade burn, you know, hundred grain broadheads, and that and three fletch uh feathers. Uh yeah, that was my that was single single uh single cambow. What was it? It was uh it was actually they're not it's not made anymore. Uh Browning. Uh firearm, yeah. That one time they had an uh PSE was actually contracted by Browning to make bows for them. So uh and that's that's what I was shooting at the time. I was shooting uh

First Deer Story And Early Lessons

SPEAKER_01 23:50

PSE Browning type of thing, and uh yeah, we I still have it. Yeah, you can't I love it, you cannot shoot it anymore, but you still have it.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

That's so cool. That I I love that. Um it it's it it's crazy to see, you know, and hear and how technology has grown so much. And I imagine for you, even like when you look at your old browning, first of all, that uh send me a picture of that later. I would love to see what that looks like and everything like that. But now, like you you look at that, and then you look at you know the stuff that you're using, and even the crossbows that that they have out there nowadays, too, that are just so incredible. And do you sit back and be like, wow, like oh we've come so far?

SPEAKER_01 24:36

It's wild. I like you know, I look at that thing and I'm like, wow, this thing was like you know, a good bow back then. And it was like a small bow, and it's uh it was uh 33 ATA. Uh and uh and that was like you know, that that was like a short bow, 33 inches, you know. Now that's like a long bow for you know a compound. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Growing up there too, um, you know, hunting in in the Morris County area and um Sussex and everything like that, and something that we talk about is you know, even from from back then, like what were the bear numbers like? Was it has it like I I because I I generally like obviously we have rare, I say the bear hunting state um you know, capital. That that's that's my belief.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

I mean I don't know exactly when the population boomed, but it did. I didn't when I when I first you know was hunting as a kid, I bear that was like unheard of, like yeah, you know, and then all of a sudden it was like, oh like when I started in 2000, uh when I started to get serious on you know on my own, uh 2013, like there was a time when I had like four or five around me, and I was like, oh my god, I was like, I'm a little uh I'm a little shook here. All I have is uh all I have is this crossbow with one arrow. I'm like, oh man. I've never been in a situation like that before, but uh yeah, and then all of a sudden it was just a lot of bears. Yeah. I I I I when it happened, but it it it boomed out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

I can't, yeah, I can't remember when it happened. I think they I think they had a hunt, then they got rid of the hunt again. And I would probably say like yeah, around that 2013, 1415 era probably is where like you started to notice the bear number just go up and up and up, and then it just got absolutely out of control. I would say around like that COVID time, because then we had the bear season and then they shut down the bear, they halted it where it was only private land, and then it became nothing, and and now we've just grown into this huge, huge bear state of it, it's just absolutely unreal.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

I I I mean, during the early bow season, I always see bears. There's at some point in time I'm I know I'm gonna see a bear.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Yeah, and you you guys have uh, you know, looking at your your page and everything like that, you guys, I think it was this year, um, you guys shot a couple nice uh bears. I think uh your dad got one. Um and then you guys, I think what got two this year, and then in the past, or three this year, maybe looking at a bunch of pictures here. Um and then I believe there's a if I scroll even further down, uh you shot a bear too, correct?

SPEAKER_01 27:30

The very first uh the very first year they allowed it, they allowed you to shoot a bear with uh the they did a bow season. The first year they did a season. So what was that? 2016, I think. Somewhere around there, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that was my first bear.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Man, let me see if I can find that picture, Mike. Um, so go go go through that and everything like that. So was it that was your first year going? Have have you previously gone after them during the gun season or anything like that? Or is that your that was just your first year doing it?

SPEAKER_01 28:01

We we went, I mean every every year that was uh we had I had to take a special uh like class. I had to go up to uh like the Peak West uh Hackett's uh the Peak West hatchery in Hackettstown with my dad when I was a kid to get like a bear, to take like a bear class so you could get your bear permit. That's how it like wow, really. That was I want to say 2005. Wow, I had no idea you had to do that. That was the first year they ever had a bear hunt in Jersey, I believe. And me and my dad went and took the class, and then we could shoot bears and bucks during the sixth day. And yeah, yeah. I never we never saw one, never never got one up until they allowed it with uh archery, and by then the population, you know, you were seeing bears walking down the street.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Man, I'm looking. Um I'm at a video, I'm at one of your videos right now. It's from 266 weeks ago. Uh there's like three or four bears all around all around you. Those ones actually look pretty familiar. I'm pretty sure I might know where that is. Um but I mean, yeah, what a what a bear state. So go go through then your your first your first ever bear, what that was like. It's the first year that that we had archery season from which exploded the bear hunt. Like that was the most fun. I remember I was out that year and everything. Like, that was such a fun time, such a great idea for the state to to open it up. Thank God they did. Um go go through that with um what that was like for you guys.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

It it was uh I mean it was exciting, but I I I uh I don't know. I I felt I I was very, very confident that we were all gonna get bears because there was just so many. And we almost all did the very first year. But uh I don't know. I uh it was fun. It was fun, but it it wasn't I didn't get that same rush that I got with deer, you know, that I get with deer. Like I was like, oh, a bear. And I was like, okay. And he, you know, I they they saw us, but they didn't care. They just kept on coming in. And I was like, and I was like, oh, this is now I feel like now I feel a little cheap. I was like, man, I feel like I'm I'm cheap, like, like, no, you're supposed to like want to run away or something. Like, you know, it it they just they just didn't care. They looked right at you and then just kept coming right in. And I was like, okay, well, now I now shoot you.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

So and I there's no fear to Jersey bear. Jersey bears do not fear anything.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

I was like, you know, like the bear knew I like, you know, I I it it it snuck up on me. So like I moved and it just looked at me. And I was like, well, and I froze, and then it just kept coming right in, didn't even care. It went, you know, I could see it sniffing, you know, winding me. And well, whatever, one of those guys, and then just kept coming in. And I was like, oh, I was like, that's uh it's not supposed to go like that. I was like, now I feel like I'm you know, like not I was like, now I feel like like I'm shooting like something that's somewhat tame, like I went to a preserve or something, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The population just so booming. I still try, you know, I get a bear tag every year, and if I get an opportunity to fill it, I I will. But I I'm more I I do hunt bear every year, but I am more of a deer person.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Just more of a deer person, gotcha, gotcha. I I think I finally found your your picture back uh black bear from 2016 early bow, 371 weeks ago. You looking mighty young there in the in the in the picture, but that's a I still have hair. It's a good good looking, good looking bear right there. Yeah, I will say it's a rug. Now it's a rug. I've I listen, my bear height, I have one behind me right now, one of my favorite. I sit there and usually most shows like I'm I have my other screen right here, so right now I'm turned, but usually I'm turned this way and I'll start petting, I'll just start petting it and everything like that during I love I love bear fur, but um I love everything about bear hunting for for us. I I don't, yeah, I wouldn't quite put it up to to deer hunting as well. Um but there's something about it that I was even talking um with Brian, it's like what makes it so special is here in Jersey for bow hunting, you only get one week, six days. Yeah, and I think that's the what drives me so much and so hard, and why I scout and and do all this for and go really don't care about much once the the bear season starts. I mean, don't get me wrong, if I haven't killed my a big buck, like I will definitely kill a kill one if it steps out in front of me. But the bear at the for those six days takes priority over everything else.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

We do the same. We we we try for bear during bear week as opposed to deer, but when it can, you know, and we we just want to do our part, and that's usually because we've had so many blown hunts because of bears. By the time we reach that, we're like, oh, we gotta get these bears out of here.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The frustrating part of being in Jersey, North Jersey, um, stuff like that is your hunts are going to get blown. I like, I don't you can, and if anyone's listening to this who's a new hunter or looking to become a hunter in New Jersey and stuff like that, and it's if you're hunting West Jersey, North Jersey, whatever you want to call it, I don't don't think of it as something to be scared of. Like I'll tell you, like, it's so common seeing bear that I I don't even care. I don't even

Getting Serious With Archery

SPEAKER_02 33:40

freak out or anything like that. It's like, oh cool, all right. I like it. It's it's just one of those normal, natural things. But I think you are going to get your your hunt blown 100%.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Like you're at some point. I was like you were up until 2022. 2022, uh, I got bluff charged. Oh yeah, I uh I was like, oh shit. I was like uh I was like, okay, the the the the uh you know the fear of bears is now back. Uh like careful around, you know, I want to keep my eyes on them when they're around me now. You know, I'm pretty laxadaisical up until that point. Was it uh how how big was the bear? He was uh uh big enough. Uh he he was bigger, he was bigger than cub size. Uh I don't know. I would say he was probably he was approaching 200 pounds, you know, if right around there, 180, 185, 200. So it wasn't huge.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

So what what I tell people, and this could, and you you'll be able to correct me over here, where you know, is a bear that size, and you know, usually they're the ones you got to worry about. Those juvenile, more teenage bear, and yes, 180, 200-pound bear is still a big bear, but being in the Jersey Woods, he's not the biggest bear around, you know. Well, it's we're getting those threes, those fours, those fives, those 600-pound bears, um, where they're gonna be pushing around bears in that 180, 200 pound range. And I I think you you you just get more of that um bluff charges, and I'm more worried with teenager bears for that big reason.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Yeah, is uh because when he first came in, I was like, uh, uh you know, I didn't care. I was like, I I was calm, you know, I would watch, you know, I let it was before I I was sitting on the ground and it was before I you know before the bear season. So it was the early uh was the early bow season, and uh, you know, so I I let him know I was there, like you know, I I I stood up and he looked at me and he just kept coming in and I didn't care. I sat back down and just let him come in, and then he started like woofing at me and stomping his foot. And I was like, I was like, what the hell? I was like, what the hell is he doing? And then he ran right at me, and I was like, Oh shit, you know, and uh my natural reaction was I I just I held my bow out in front of me, and then my other hand went to my knife. I was like, Well, what else am I gonna?

SPEAKER_02 36:22

I don't have yeah, there's nothing else in Jersey that you can do.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to get the full draw and let one go before he's eating me. So I it you know, he stopped at like 10 yards and just and then ran back, and then he did it again, and then he ran back again and and he stood at like 50 yards just standing there looking at me, and I was like, now's my cue. And I put my backpack on and I walked backwards, literally backwards all the way to my car.

SPEAKER_02 36:51

I I had a um two years ago, a juvenile bear, probably not as big as 180. He was probably like probably I'd put him at that 150, 160. I still would have shot it. It's right before the bear season. I would have shot him during the the bear bear hunt 100%. Well, um, but he he didn't charge at me, but he was doing that, he was hitting the ground with it with his paw, and I could have sworn I heard him do that little chomp where they where they hit their teeth together. I could have sworn I heard that. But me and my buddy, we just we just kept backing up and backing up. And he was following us, like, and I I think yet again he's juvenile, he was curious, um, but he's also like I might be able to push push them around because I'm always getting pushed, I'm always getting pushed around. And and you know, just like you see with with humans and everything like that, like look at the teenagers nowadays and everything like that, you know, they think they're the toughest things in the world, and you know, they wanna they wanna test, you know, test the limits and everything like that. Like, I straight up tell people, like, if I see big boars, I'm really not worried at all. Like, usually I've had big boys just look at me straight in my eyes. I look them in the eyes and just they're like, okay, I want to, I don't want to be bothered by this, by you know, this human. I know I kind of know he's a human, and they just usually walk off. It's it's the it's those uh juveniles, and then if I see a mom with cubs that I startle, I try not to ever startle just a mama with his cubs, and that's you know a given. You know, I've I've watched mamas with with their cubs and they've watched me and often distance, and that's that's okay, but yeah, walking up one and startling one is not uh not ideal.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

Yeah, I I uh I've never had a problem with the with the females and with cubs. Uh it seems like they always just make their way away from me. Yeah, yeah. And uh, yeah, the big guys, the big guy, you know, I I've I haven't seen that many that I were, I mean, there's been a few where I was like, oh, he's he's he's considerable size. Uh and yeah, they it seems like if they get your win, they kind of just oh they moseon away from you. Yeah, but it was just that one. That was the only time I've ever had a you know, like a I guess a scary moment with a with a bear in New Jersey. You know, just I don't you know, and nothing came of it when he ran he ran back out and he just stood there and he didn't follow me or anything. I don't know what he did after that. I was but I walked backwards all the way to my very slowly, but I would not turn around. I was out and uh but I got he never never followed, so I don't know whatever happened after that. And I never saw him again. I never you know he had he had a tag in both years.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

I remember oh he's okay, so he's a tag bear.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Yeah, he had he had a tag in each year, and I never saw I never saw him again in that spot. But uh, I tell you what, after that I went home and every time I went back to that spot, I I brought the crossbow instead of the compound.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

What what year what year was this?

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Uh 2022.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Well we'll we'll we'll talk after. I wonder, um we'll talk after, see if it's an area because I know of a bear that killed got killed roughly maybe around then. I want to say maybe. I know a a double tagged bear in and it's uh both those ears got killed. And I if you're hunting somewhere in this the same areas and stuff like that as me and a couple putties, there that bear might have been shot during the during the season, might. So we'll we'll talk we'll talk uh we'll talk after and everything like that. Um but how how about have you you said you started off with with ducks and everything like that? What does that look like? Are you still chasing waterfowl and everything like that nowadays?

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Uh once the uh once we lost our spot, you know, things got once the houses we never we never pursued another and I haven't I haven't duck hunted since I was a little kid. It kills my uh like you can't you can't even mention around my uncle. He gets he gets real butt hurt about it.

SPEAKER_02 41:02

It's it's I I don't I don't blame him though. I I completely understand that why why he does and everything like that. Like that's a I don't know, duck hunting, waterfowl hunting runs duck geese. It's fun. Fun, fun. It's so much fun.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

It's it's a blast.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

Even if you don't get anything, even if you even if you suck, it's it's still fun. It that's the one thing where you could suck at and miss and miss and miss over again, and it's like okay, cool. Like it does suck, but it's also this is so much fun, and the action is great. Where it's if you miss once or twice at a deer, like it kills your confidence. Where this is not it's not killing your confidence, you're just gonna keep going and

Bear Boom And Bow Season Bears

SPEAKER_02 41:40

going and going.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Yeah, you know, you don't really care. I don't know. I guess that's weird to say, like, you know, well, no, like I'm life to a deer's life, you know.

SPEAKER_02 41:47

Like I I just think it's it comes down to opportunity, right? And yes, you could you can have uh a duck hunt or a goose hunt where maybe you you don't see any birds or you don't have any birds coming into your decoys. Yes, that's that's always possible, you know what I mean. That's that's not, but if you are in the right spot or whatever, you're getting multiple opportunities at these animals versus deer.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

Hundreds of birds, you yeah as opposed to like you know ten deer.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

Yeah, and and if you're hunting specifically for a buck, you may see that buck once once through the whole entire season, and you and you have to make that shot count versus with waterfowl. You don't really have to make that shot count.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

And also you're gonna get another opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 42:34

Or you're hunting, or you're hunting in a group and there's like five, six guns, and you can just say, Oh no, that's the bird I shot, even though you may have missed it, you know. You don't even have to yeah, right? It's like, oh no, there that that's my bird. Um so yeah, okay, so you so you guys haven't haven't pursued that and everything like that. What would there ever be like I I I know it's difficult, it takes time, you gotta really scout and and stuff like that. But if if basically if it fell into your lap, it's probably something you guys would do. But besides that, it's just not not worth the time and and effort.

SPEAKER_01 43:09

Any time that we still that any of us still have, we're pretty much dedicating to big game now, you know, deer. Uh in Turkey, we're even starting to like phase out of turkey a little bit. We we we've been laxadaisical with the uh with the turkey hunting lately, but those are pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

Well, if you're if you're up there, it's the numbers uh decimated up there.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

Yeah, yeah. We don't uh well uh uh uh I see a lot of turkeys, just not long beards. Oh, do you okay? Uh uh we I get flocks, but it's usually hens with polts. That's usually what we see. But yeah, no long beards are few and far in between. And uh I I turkey hunted very hard uh every week of the 2024 season and uh Came up empty handed. Uh and then and it's my own fault. Uh had a shot. I was bow hunting for turkeys, and uh the last day of the season, week D, uh, biffed it, biffed a shot at a at a nice long beard, and he ran away. And that was that was pretty much the end of turkey hunting for me since uh pretty much since I didn't turkey hunt last year. Uh and I I'm I'm I would like to get back out there this year because I I saw I did see some nice birds uh actually uh late season January, and I was like, well they're still here in the spring. Uh I'd like to give it a shot again.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Now I have to ask. I have to ask. You went and did a a moose hunt, correct? Yes, yeah. All right, we we gotta we gotta talk about it. Uh I know this is the garden state, but you know what was that? That's that's a once in the life. That is my dream hunt. That is that's my bucket list hunt right there. So go over that.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

It was it was awesome. Um uh outfitter was uh this this company called uh Our Luck Outfitters, uh Newfoundland, Canada. Um we had to uh the hardest part was getting the guns into the country. It was you know during the rifle season. So, you know, you're customs, but that's not that's that's nobody's fault. That's just the way it is. Uh everyone's gotta go through that no matter what outfitter you use. So uh, but once we got there, uh we we had to take a helicopter into uh like into our lodge. Um that was exciting. Uh it's just it's just wilderness up there. Um and uh for six days we hunt moose in uh pretty much yeah, on uh in Newfoundland, Canada. And uh the the group went three out of four. Uh I was the I was the only one not to uh fill my tag. Oh man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it it's it nobody I I saw moose, just uh nothing within my effective range. Uh the closest moose we saw was probably 500 yards. And I'm I'm just I'm not I'm not skilled enough for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The range that I shoot at here in Jersey only goes out to 300, so that's what I was hoping for to get something, you know, 300 or and we we just it just didn't it just didn't work out. Worked out for everybody else though. But uh my dad, my brother four is great. That is still great. Our uh yeah, and our uh really good uh close family friend, he came with us and uh they all they all tagged out. They all tagged out. My dad tagged out the second day uh on a on a big bull. Um it's a it's a different type of hunting. Uh like it's uh I would I would compare it to uh see I've never really done western hunting, I've never been you know out west hunting, but uh I I have family that live in Colorado and I've visited and you can see far, you can see a lot further. And and Newfoundland is very much like that. You can see a mile. Like I could see moose that were 1200 yards away. Um everything's very flat. Uh, you know, like there was like uh I remember I was uh I'm sitting there and I'm like, and I'm I'm just using my range finder to get like an idea of how far things are. So if a you know if a moose popped out anywhere, I'd be like, okay, like I know you know, he's standing near that tree that's 220 yards. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh I remember looking and I and I was like trying to like guess off the top of my head, and I was like, I think that rock is 50 yards away. And I ranged it and it was 150 yards away. I was like, oh, I was like, I need this rangefinder. I was like, I put new batteries. Not even not even close. Yeah, yeah. I was like, it looks so close, but that's because it's everything is just you could see so everything so far, so far away.

SPEAKER_02 47:50

Is it is it a lot of like real real quick is is like I watch a lot of stuff in in Alaska and everything like that where it looks flat. There's still, and I know you said it was flat, but is it like boggy area, like also too? So, like if you when you guys shot you know, moose and everything like it, was it still really was it dry ground or everything, or was it that boggy, swampy area that they usually like now?

SPEAKER_01 48:13

It it's like the entire the entire I guess wilderness that we were walking around in was like walking on a sponge. Uh take those big car sponges and put them on and put them under, you know, tape them to underneath your big rubber heavy boots and walk around. That's what it was like.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Like you just sunk in every step you took. Um terrible. So terrible. Okay. Yeah, yeah. It is it is very hard to to cover a lot of ground walking up there. Uh thank god Argos, they have like these these uh I don't know what, I don't, I don't know what to compare it to. It's like an ATV on steroids. You got like six wheels, you got three wheels on each car. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can just drive it right through the water. And you need that because uh like there's uh you know, I remember there once there was this little puddle and you know, not even as wide as my boot. And I didn't think nothing of it. I was just you know, I I'm wearing waterproof boots, and I went to walk through it, I sunk up to my hip. I was like, Yeah, like you don't step on anything that looks wet. Like, you know, that's what I just that's a horror story just waiting to happen. I was using my like uh I had like shooting sticks in case I had a like yeah yeah, and I I would feel in front of me with that before I would take my step. It's it's weird walking up sponge.

SPEAKER_02 49:35

It's it's uh you guys are big bow guys, so like would you do would you is this something you want to do again uh with a bow or something like that?

SPEAKER_01 49:44

Oh, I mean I would absolutely love to go bow hunting for a moose, but I don't think that that area is is suitable for it, yeah, yeah. It's far. Like it's I mean, you can't, I mean, a moose could walk right up on you, you know, into bow range for sure. Uh I mean the our guides were showing us videos of them doing just that, but uh for the most part out there you're you could see far, it's really flat and open. Um it's more the area we were at was more suited for a rifle.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, that makes sense. Um I I I love I love that. You know, it's yeah, moose are are my is my dream come come true every time, especially if I can get in an Alaska and everything like

Bluff Charge And Staying Safe

SPEAKER_02 50:30

that.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

But I mean, yeah, the the very tough and they like it's like the the certain parts very, very thick, like the the woods are very, very, really, really dense forest. And they they they move through it like it's like it's nothing. Oh yeah, like it's not even right right on through. Like you know, I I happened to be there when my brother shot his moose, and this moose was shot, and he still right right through that stuff like it was like it was nothing. He was out.

SPEAKER_02 51:04

And uh that started another adventure, but I wasn't there for the rest of the um I I also see you know you you've gone down do some some gator hunting. I think I also saw I don't know if it was it was you or not, but I could have sworn I saw a bison.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

Oh that was a brother. My brother was uh stationed in uh Alaska, and that that was that was a friend of his. Uh he got a tag through uh wounded warrior. Okay, gotcha, gotcha. Out of uh where'd my brother say? Uh Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska.

SPEAKER_02 51:41

Okay, gotcha, gotcha. So you guys you guys do you you guys just love to hunt and everything like that. Um we're we're getting close to that 50. So we're getting close to hours. So I do want to talk about your guys' page and you know the the whole brand and and everything like that. So can you can you explain to us, you know, the whole first of all, where you came up or who came up with the the name Wood Shark? Yeah, like I that I love that me.

SPEAKER_01 52:10

Uh uh I don't I don't really know how I came up with the name to be honest with you. It was kind of like uh I like you know what what what are hunters, you know, or kind of like the we we play the role of the shark, but in the woods just instead of as yeah, uh Yojin type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 52:28

I love it. Yeah, I I I love it. I think it's real unique, pretty, pretty damn smart. Um, so yeah, tell tell us everything, you know, behind it and you know the wood shark outdoors.

SPEAKER_01 52:40

Uh I really just started it as like a I don't know, a way to show like to you know to keep track and like show our as like a memorandum kind of thing, like you know, our memories and uh and if I met some people or you know, some got gotten to contact with some companies along the way, yeah, then good icing on the cake. But it was really just meant to, you know, kind of share our adventures and you know, kind of show what we, you know, kind of show people what we do and you know, the uh yeah, that side of things, the hunting and fishing lifestyle. Yeah. I didn't really, you know, I I I and I I I guess I kind of saw other people that I know doing it, and I, you know, and I I kind of hopped on the bandwagon, I guess you could say. I was like, oh well, uh let's see where this goes. Let's see what happens. And you know, and if nothing else, it's just a page of you know, all our all our stuff, something to go back and oh yeah, I remember that hunt, or I know oh I remember that trip, or you know.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Yeah, I I I think you know it's everyone wanted, especially in the beginning, how everything really worked out pre-COVID was people wanted to show what they do in the outdoors, you know, maybe their personal, like for me, like my my personal page, like people weren't loving, you know, the whole idea of me killing stuff and and posting it and everything like that. So I I created this, and then roughly around COVID is kind of like when it's like, all right, cool, like we can do this, start the podcast, everything like that, and and really jump on this as a as a company wise and and things like that. And now fast forward looking, looking where we are and everything like that. But everyone, everyone wanted to do it, and everyone was doing it, and you see so many people doing it now.

SPEAKER_01 54:28

I mean, as bad as COVID was, uh, it got it did get people outside because that's where they could be, you know, away from other, you know, other people. That's you know, that's where they could, you know, and uh and people got out there. I feel like new people started to get out there and try the fishing and the hunting, and you know, just being in nature, and they were like, This is this is a pretty cool lifestyle. I kind of you know, I kind of like it. So in a way, it kind of might have, you know, as bad as it not not that it was a good thing, but it it it might have helped a little bit with no, I I agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 55:01

I I agree with that statement. Like you you saw people also you you see it now too, just how much like being healthier, being cleaner, you know, eating correct, drinking correctly, taking care of yourself, being in the outdoor, like everything, like, yeah, COVID sucked. But that was the if I'm gonna put a positive to to COVID, that was like the the one positive right there.

SPEAKER_01 55:26

Uh yeah, I was uh so my my schedule had changed when COVID happened. So I was off like four days out of the week. And uh not me. I went fishing every day that I could. It was an awesome, and I was like, man, I hope this lasts until hunting season in terms of my schedule, not COVID, but uh I was like, and then August came around, they're like, okay, we're going back to regular schedule now. And I was like, shit.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

I work in uh I work in a I worked in a work in a hospital, so or child psych. So we were there. I I they were there constantly. So I there was no off. So yeah, everyone, everyone was like, Yeah, like I'm off, I'm doing this, like I'm out in the woods, like yada, yada, yada, I'm fishing, I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

I'm like, yeah, my schedule hasn't changed. My my girlfriend's an occupational therapist, so she was she she was sharing the misery with you, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was time I was working airport security, so nobody was flying anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 56:26

No, yeah, nobody, no, nobody at all. You took full advantage, and and you kind of talk about the trout, you know. For here, us in Jersey, trout open opens up this Saturday, and you know, I saw you guys uh caught some great fish, and you guys are gonna be out this Saturday. Oh excited, can't wait.

SPEAKER_01 56:43

We can't wait to yeah, yeah. We uh open a day of trout. Uh I I mean it it's changed since when

Waterfowl Fading And Turkey Struggles

SPEAKER_01 56:50

we you know were going down there as kids, but uh it's still like a like a tradition type of thing, and we still enjoy going down there and catching stalker rainbows and whatnot.

SPEAKER_02 57:00

Yeah, it's it's a it's a big tradition, and I and I I think that's like the a big reason why a lot of people do it. I will say during COVID, I don't know if you remember, I can't remember what year it was, they did the where they stocked early and they did uh catch and release. Yeah, and that was a really cool idea, and I loved it because nobody was out there, so like I was fishing all the water, like at least where where most of these spots would be packed and everything like that, and you had the whole place to yourself, and yeah, you didn't get to keep fish. Of course, I caught my biggest trout ever at the time of that day, and I had to throw it right back and everything like that. But you know, it it it was cool because and I and I love the idea, and I think they've kind of started doing something a little different where I think there's places where you can keep like two two a day or something like that, or you can fish the same water um as as they've been stocking and everything like that. So maybe just to stretch some things out and maybe not have opening days so freaking packed because it's miserable of how packed things are. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:04

You gotta we, I mean, get there, you know, three, four hours before uh, you know, before 8 a.m. Hang, you know, get your spot, hang out there. That's that's the way it's always been for you know, since we were kids. I remember all my friends would sleep over, we'd wake up, walk down to the river, and we'd be there at like four o'clock in the morning, standing there at the at the bank waiting for a spot. And uh it really hasn't changed all that much in in in those terms, anyway. Yeah, no, that that's that's still the same.

SPEAKER_02 58:34

Like I get it to point like this year, like I'm not well, this year might be the final the first year that we have sunshine, and in the last couple years, it seems like like it's been miserable. The water levels have been so high and everything like that. So we might actually have a finally a normal normal dam uh opening day. But I think I'm gonna go and do some work in the in the morning and then try to get out like mid-afternoon and stuff like that. Because I definitely have seen like over the years like a drop off of everyone wants to be out early, first thing in the morning, and sit there and and claim their spot. And usually like when I get to pull up to a lot of spots in the afternoon, like it's completely usually empty.

SPEAKER_01 59:13

Yeah, by lunchtime, it's yeah, you go there's parking again.

SPEAKER_02 59:18

Yeah, f finally, finally parking. But um what what was you know we'll we'll we'll get into to we'll we'll get into the actually the the closing segment here here now as as we get to the hour point. Um if you and I know you've done a moose hunt and everything like that, what is if you had two weeks to hunt anywhere in the world and for anything money is not an option, what what would you be what would you be chasing? Um I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

Um probably the obvious elk. I I I would like to chase bugling elk at uh time. Um and uh believe it or not, um for uh for uh some reason I uh I want to go to uh Texas for uh javelina.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:16

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:17

Weird, right? I don't you've never had that one here, okay. I don't know why what my uh obsession is there, but I I don't know. I want to shoot one of those things. And uh man, that's that's a that's a very hard question because now I now I'm like, oh well then. Now you're thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah. But uh elk is, you know, I feel like elk is on every anyone that's hasn't

Newfoundland Moose Hunt Reality Check

SPEAKER_01 1:00:40

done it yet, or you know, elk is the one thing that you uh that we all see, like that's like that's the dream hunt for a lot of people. I know people that have done it, and it it uh you know it seems like it equals up to the the moose experience, you know, that I that I had. Uh so uh yeah, and something I've never done before. And uh having family in Colorado, uh it it's it could be doable as a as a DIY, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:11

For me and my friends. Um gotcha, gotcha. That makes that makes sense. Uh yeah, that that definitely makes sense. And plus you, like I said, you have chased moose and everything like that already. And um, you know, next thing is, you know, if you've used if you've completed that, usually the next thing is is elk or something like that, or vice versa.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:29

I I do have uh a vendetta with uh with moose. Uh I want to I want to go back. I would like to try it again. Actually, I just uh yesterday was like the the first day you could apply for moose lotteries in certain states and down here in the lower 48. So I applied to Vermont. Where are you Vermont, New Hampshire, and uh Maine?

unknown 1:01:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:49

We do I do I do the I do the main one. I got family in Maine. We have a lake house out in out in Maine, so I'm always doing the the main one. I have a couple family members that have drawn, I think killed one one of my cousins killed um killed a bull. Um, I think one of my family members killed a cow.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:06

They say it's your best chance in the lower 48 is the state of Maine, and that's your biggest chance.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:11

Which is crazy. Which is crazy because it is such a tough draw to to get from an out-of-stater stout out of stater's point of view. Like I know a bunch of mainers that that have pulled and and have drawn and everything like that, but I don't go too crazy with with putting in points. Probably eventually I'll be like, all right, I'm just gonna throw a bunch of money into and try to get me get me one, but like it's it's a fun time.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:35

Get like 10 10 lots of uh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:38

And that's what and that's what I think a lot of people do. Like a lot of people, you know, this is they live and die for from their main moose. It's a big tradition in Maine, so like a lot of these guys are probably forking out a lot of money to to to try to win that lottery.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

It's it's funny because uh when you go different places and people are you know, they have different things, you know, the residents can hunt, you know, residents of Colorado can hunt elk. Uh like you know, we're we're talking to our uh we were talking to our our our moose guy, and he's like, You guys have white-tailed deer? He's like, Oh, I'd really like to hunt that. We're like, what? We're like, you got moose and and caribou, and he's like, nah, nah. He's like, Yeah, I I want, I'd like to, I'd really like to hunt white. And then we told him about turkeys, and he's like, Yeah. He's like, Oh, I'd really like to hunt turkeys, man. That sounds so cool. And I'm like, Yeah, what? I'm like, you got all this cool stuff, and you want to come to you want to come to the lower 48 and hunt deer and turkeys. I'm like, you have caribou, uh you have mo, you know, they were showing us pictures of they have polar bear come in on the on the drift ice up there.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:44

I'm like, That's insane.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:46

They can't hunt, they can't, they're protected.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:48

Yeah, they can't, they can't hunt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think only in I think certain parts, I think, of Alaska can the natives maybe, maybe. I know they they hunt walruses and seals and you know, uh whales and stuff like that. But I do yeah, I think I think in certain places in Alaska, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So um, and that that's a that's pretty damn cool too. Like, I would love to obviously go out and just see it being done. Um that'd be a cool like hunt to experience just to go and and watch uh you know the natives do what they've done for, you know, since the beginning of you know their their you know existence.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:35

Yeah, yeah, straight up.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:37

So um well I'll give you I'll give you one more here. Um I I I don't want to give that one because it's it's I kind of know the answer. It'd be deer. I was gonna ask, you know, if you can only hunt one animal, you know, what would it be? Um if you could if you could work with one company, right, and have one company sponsor you or something like that, what company would would you would you pick? And I've gotten some very interesting out-of-the-box answers on on this one. So like if you can have one company, what what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:14

Probably Matthews Archery. Matthews Inc., man. I mean getting a new bow every year would be pretty dope. I watch a lot of their like you know, a lot of the uh content they put out, and uh they're they seem like a really swell bunch of guys that have really been, you know, kind of paved the road in the archery world. So uh, you know, I'm I would like to get to know a lot of those guys, and you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

unknown 1:05:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:42

All right. I I I like that. One one more, actually. One one more, one more. Um damn, and it was just on the top of my head, and I can't believe you you said Matthews, and it just completely went out my went out my head. Um oh, what are what is uh

Wood Shark Outdoors And Closing Favorites

SPEAKER_02 1:06:00

What is your route Mount Rushmore of uh YouTube TV hunting content that you like to watch?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:08

Oh man. Um let's see, what do I what do I really watch? Uh well Meat Eater classic, yeah. Meat Eater, uh Matthews. Uh I mean I forget the exact the like segment of shows that I watched, but they dropped last year. But uh I that was uh that was one that I was watching. Uh I don't know it's not really a show, but uh I don't know. I listen to Bear Grease a lot with uh I'll count.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:42

I'll I'll I'll count that.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:43

Yeah, Clay and Bear Nee. Yeah. And uh how many people are on Mount Rushmore? Four. I think it's four. Um man more. What else do I uh what else do I really listen to? Well River Monsters. I don't know if that really I like I like that one.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:05

All right, I like that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:07

My boy, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:08

I love watching Jeremy Wade one of the best he he caught all the bits ever created. He caught all the bit by the show ended. He's caught yeah, it it's not too often, it uh it's actually never done where the only reason why the show is ended because there's no more fit for him to catch.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:30

Uh the there is one more that I there is one more show that I used to watch all the time, and it's just kind of that was uh Wicked Tuna.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:38

Okay, the yeah, yeah. Everyone loves Wicked Tuna, yeah. I don't I don't know how it was fun to see how much money they got. That that's a good one. That that is a good one. It's also I like about that one is it's cool to see what how they live and and everything like that and what they have to go through. Like being on a ship like that for me, I I don't I mean, if I really had to do it, I I would do it, you know what I mean? But it's not something like that would terrify the shit out of me.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:05

I have very little experience with salt water, I've only ever like really surface. So I I see them do that, and I'm like, that's I don't know. I I I would probably have to live on Dremamine, and uh otherwise I'd probably be outside. Like I've only been out in the ocean for like far enough to where I couldn't see land once. And I I took dremamine before that trip, but it was uh I remember while when I was out there, I was like, I don't see land in any direction. And I was I was like, oh man, I was like, this is one of those. Oh man, I was like, yeah, it gets it gets you, yeah. I was like, well, this is for real now. I was like, oh god, I was like, I hope this I hope this I hope this is a solid boat. I started asking questions about the boat. I was like, what's that smell? I smell I smell gas. They're like, Yeah, it's the gas fumes uh from the engine.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:53

I was my my buddies are always like, Yeah, like let's go deep sea fishing. Like, you know, I got a boat or we can go take, and I'm like, they're like, Yeah, it's like five hours offshore. And I'm like, uh yeah, I'll I'll come. And I'm thinking to myself, like, that is horrible. That is a horrible idea. All the TV shows, movies that I watch, I was like, what? I was like, no, like, I I do not want, I like, I really don't have much of a desire to do that. Scares the shit out of me.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:22

Yeah, yeah. Uh uh, like my my one buddy took us out in the Raredon Bay, and I was like, I didn't know exactly what to expect, so I brought like survival gear, man. I like I was like, ah, well, God forbid, we get stuck out there. We're gonna need water for at least like three days, like you know. Well, the ocean, the ocean's a scary place. The ocean is uh and a very unforgiving place. So I I do not fool around when I whenever I'm doing anything near or around the ocean, yeah. Especially because I'm inexperienced, I don't know what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:53

So that that's just definitely, definitely agree with that. But um, Zach, I mean, listen, I I absolutely loved having you on. Um, you know, we'll we'll definitely have to get you back on because I imagine there's still so many stories that that you haven't even been able to tell and everything like that. Maybe you know, if you get the family on and stuff like that, if it if you want, um, get get the big the guys and everyone like that on do a big show. But I appreciate you. I love the stories. Um, they were they're quite entertaining. I love your first deer, deer story. That was probably one of the best uh stories I think I've ever heard about with somebody's first deer. I that that that might go in history of this this podcast as being being the best one, but um we definitely appreciate you. And any last words?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:40

Well, I appreciate you having me, man. And uh, yeah, if you ever want to do it again, just uh let me know, man. I can talk this stuff all day.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:47

Oh no, we we definitely will. I I I definitely gotta hear more stories from yourself and and definitely you know from your you know the family and and your friends and everything like that, more about you know what you guys do and and those stories. Really love the stories, but um, everyone, you know, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. Make sure you go check out Wood Shark. I'm gonna have their Instagram in the link below. Geez, I'm having a brain fart here. Woodshark outdoors. All right, go check them out. Zach, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on, and we'll we'll see you guys next time.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:23

Awesome. It's been a pleasure, man. You have a good night. Thank you, you too.