Show Notes
In this episode of the Nine Finger Chronicles, Dan Johnson reflects on the passage of time, the importance of family, and the lessons learned from the past year. He expresses gratitude for the support of his partners and emphasizes the need for balance in life. As he navigates the challenges of parenting and personal growth, he shares insights on being present for his children and the significance of family connections. Looking ahead, Dan discusses the future of his podcast, aiming to keep content fresh and engaging while exploring the history of hunting and connecting with experts in the field. In this conversation, Dan Johnson discusses his journey in outdoor podcasting, emphasizing the importance of expanding content to include broader aspects of the natural world. He highlights the quality of the podcasts within the Sportsman's Empire network and expresses his passion for coaching youth sports, focusing on personal development and mentorship. Dan reflects on his hunting experiences, the significance of family, and his aspirations for the future, including brand growth and maintaining balance in life.
Takeaways:
- Time flies, especially when raising children.
- Finding balance in life is crucial.
- Gratitude for support systems is essential.
- Being present for family is a priority.
- Parenting requires patience and understanding.
- The podcasting landscape is evolving.
- Content must remain fresh and engaging.
- Exploring the history of hunting is important.
- Connecting with experts can provide valuable insights.
- Personal growth is a continuous journey. Dan aims to broaden the scope of his podcast to include more aspects of the natural world.
- He believes the Sportsman's Empire network offers some of the best hunting podcasts available.
- John Tutor is recognized as a leading expert in habitat management.
- Dan values authenticity in podcasting, emphasizing hosts who live the outdoor lifestyle.
- Coaching youth sports is a passion for Dan, where he enjoys mentoring and developing young athletes.
- He sees sports as a vital escape for kids facing challenges in their lives.
- Dan reflects on his successful hunting season, highlighting the joy of family involvement.
- He prioritizes family time over extensive out-of-state hunting trips.
- Dan acknowledges the need for balance in his life and business decisions.
- He expresses gratitude for the support from listeners and fellow podcasters.
Show Transcript
Dan Johnson (00:01.912)
Two words, holy shit. I cannot believe 2024 is over and this is the first episode of the Nine Finger Chronicles for 2025. I don't even know where to start, man. I'm just in awe of how fast time is going. just like I can see it in my kids, right? I have this...
this cabinet door where every time I come across the loose picture, I stuff it in behind this door where there's a little gap in the wood and I can stuff a picture back in there. And then I open up my cabinets when I'm grabbing a glass of water or something and I look at those pictures and I can watch my kids grow on these pictures. And it's almost depressing to be completely honest with you how fast
time is going and I know that on a previous episode this year I talked with Tony Peterson about midlife crisis. Right, I'm 44 years old and I don't want this to start off like just a bomb depressing episode but holy shit, like my life is probably half over. If I lived to 88 it'd be a miracle but I cannot believe how fast
I've gotten to 44. You blink when you're young and you don't have any responsibilities. You look at this and you go, I'm gonna live forever, dude. I'm gonna dominate this life. And then there's this settling that occurs if you decide to have a family and you decide to have kids, which was by far the best decision of my life was to have children and get married. It made me a better person. And...
I just, every day I get to watch my kids grow and it is, it's just, it blows my mind how fast time is going, how watching them grow. It is, I once heard a quote that is, one of the best things in life is watching your children grow up. And one of the saddest things in life is watching your children grow up. And so I am, I'm trying to find,
Dan Johnson (02:21.582)
balance in 2025. And that's what this episode is probably going to be titled, is to try to find balance. I feel like in 2024, I was on a roll going into the year. And then there were things that happened that the organization that I had, whether it was business or personal, had kind of slipped a little bit. And I lost some of that.
You know, and obviously in life, things change and you have to learn how to adapt and you have to learn how to change along with the changing scenario that you live in. And so that's what I got going on for 2025. I look back at 2024 and I hate to be the guy who's like, here's some things that I regret. And there are things that I look at
and I don't necessarily regret that they happened a specific way. The outcome is the way it was. I just kind of regret. I wish I would have maybe done something a little bit different. Do I regret it? Maybe, maybe not. It's still kind of up in the air. when I, you know, in 10 years, when all this is over or, you know, seven years or whatever the case is, when all this is over, I don't.
I'm doing, you know, I look back and I go, yeah, well, maybe I would have done it differently. But, and I'll get into some of that stuff here in just a little bit. But the first thing I need to talk, say in 2024 is thank yous, right? Because without the support of the financial support from the partners of the Nine Finger Chronicles, right? This doesn't happen. I don't get to live this life. I don't get to put my kids on the school bus every day.
I don't get to make my family a priority. I'm that guy, if this didn't happen, man, I'd be either sitting in a cubicle somewhere, I'd be pouring concrete somewhere, I'd be on some assembly line somewhere. That's what I'd be doing if I was not doing this. And so, I just want to send a huge shout out to some of these brands and just say thank you.
Dan Johnson (04:49.345)
And really, I don't want this to be necessarily an advertisement. It's just, it's important to me because these people believe in me enough to give me money that their company has made to talk about their products every year. so huge shout out to Tether, amazing company, amazing people. And that's the theme, right? The theme is to work with like-minded individuals, to work with people who are
who are in it the same reasons that you are. And I'll tell you, I'll get into the one thing, the crossover, the business crossover thing here in just a little bit about like money. Let me put that, I'm gonna make a note here, money. But the people out Tethered are just great people. So if you're looking to pick up a saddle or get into that kind of mobile game, definitely go check out Tethered. The next is,
Wasp and they're one of the longest running partners for the Nine Finger Chronicles. I love their people. And I just want to send a personal message out to Fred from Wasp. And I just want to let you know, buddy, that I am thinking about you. I'm thinking about your wife and your family. And I'm sending as many good vibes as I possibly can to you and your family right now. So huge shout out to Fred over there at Wasp. He's been
one of the reasons that this partnership has lasted the amount of time that's lasted. so kudos to that. And so I'm thinking about you, buddy. On top of that, just in my opinion, some of the best broadheads on the market, man, as far as material design functionality, go check out WASP. Next on the list, just another group of people, right? The theme continues and that's Vortex Optics, man. I don't know what to say. When you go to a job,
and you get to see the...
Dan Johnson (06:49.995)
The people, it's like they don't wanna take vacation for some reason. And it just, looks like every time I've went and visited that company, they are there because they love what they do. And Wasp has got that on point, or excuse me, Vortex has got that on point. And all the people within the marketing department who I work with every year.
some of the other individuals who I get the opportunity to interview and work with every single year. Everybody from guys like Muckinhern, who is the knowledge base, like part of the knowledge base of that company and products and stuff, the guys at the marketing team. And then some of the Vortex Edge instructors that I was able to meet this year who were very patient with me and taught me how to shoot a handgun better.
Shout out to everybody within Vortex. These guys are doing amazing things. And if you're looking for optics or how to become a better shooter, then you need to go check out Vortex and what they're doing, Next on the list is Code Blue Sense. Just another example of a company who is making products for guys like me, I don't own ground.
have the ability to do food plots. So I try to get deer in front of my trail cameras with their rope-a-dope, you know, and they have products for the working man and Code Blue Sense, affordable products, quality products. And again, the people that work there are just amazing people. And so shout out to the marketing team, McKinsey and Hannah for, you know, taking a risk on me for all these years.
And for these last two, I think two or three years now, we've had a partnership. And so I'm just really excited to hopefully continue this partnership in the future and put my ropa-dopes out and get some kick-ass pictures of big bucks in front of trail cameras, man. So go check out Code Blue Sense. Next on the list is, again, another down-to-earth company, Huntworth, right? And they're a very, very popular company.
Dan Johnson (09:10.164)
Anytime people start to talk about the camo game, I just feel like they get overlooked. it's ridiculous because the quality of their products is right there with the three other elite brands that everybody, all the fanboys talk about. I would honestly put Huntworth up against any other product on the market. so...
Huntworth is the shit, man. And I've worn their products now for three years and I am very comfortable in what they do. And the people who I've met along the way at Huntworth, it's just, again, Nate at Huntworth over there and doing what he does, man. Huge shout out to that brand and that company and those people for making a good product for guys who just are serious, hardcore hunters, And have other lives too. So shout out to Huntworth.
Next on the list and the last one here, well two more really, is the partner reveal trail cameras.
Like my, my thought process of cell cameras is it's always working, right? It's like what, how much technology is too much technology. And this year I've really learned how to use my cell cams in a way that I feel isn't extremely intrusive to where it has become easy, but it allows me to continue to do the scouting and
have to use my brain and woodsmanship to get close to these animals and not necessarily have a trail camera over every fence crossing and pinch point and crick crossing and things like that. there's way to do it right and get a ton of information at the same time. And on top of that, their cameras are just bad ass, man. They're bad ass cameras that work and they're affordable. mean, they're right around that $100 mark, plus or minus $50, know, like plus $50, depending on what.
Dan Johnson (11:16.78)
what model you buy. And so that's really hard to beat this day and age. And they work, period. They send me pictures of gear, and that's why you get a trail camera. So shout out to Reveal. Last on the list is my own company. And I'll talk about the business side of things here in just a little bit. But my own company, full sneak gear. I've just introduced two more t-shirts. In the next couple months, I'll probably be introducing some hats.
I'll be introducing a new Turkey t-shirt here coming up pretty soon. And I'm really looking forward to growing this brand in a, hopefully getting people excited about it to the point where they go and buy some kick-ass t-shirts, man. I have, looking at my inventory right now and there's a lot here that can be bought. And I just have to convince people to do it, right? I gotta, I gotta kick up my social media. I gotta kick up my marketing. I gotta.
find creative ways to get people excited about the brand. And that's something that I'm gonna work on in 2025. So, shit, the only thing I forgot up here, I believe is a, gotta blow my nose once, just give me a second.
Dan Johnson (12:35.917)
YAAAHHHH
Dan Johnson (12:40.847)
feel like I've been blowing my nose now for two straight weeks. I felt like shit for two straight weeks. My son, he had walking pneumonia. My wife got the flu. My daughter was out for about a day. My youngest son has had a cough, but I don't know. I just hope this is all done by the time school starts back up. I'm recording this on New Year's Eve. And so I'm trying to sit here and...
Like I've been brainstorming in the shower this morning, the shitter this morning, on like drinking my coffee this morning. I've just been brainstorming about things that I wanna talk about today. And it all comes back to the most important thing in my life. And I think everybody knows this about me and that's my family, right? And as I feel the world gets crazier and crazier and crazier,
I just feel like there is a...
I wanna be more present and more present and more present and more present as I get older, as my kids get older. Because I heard this saying one time and it's like, you have the first 10 years of your life where you are the hero. The dad is the heroes. Everybody wants to be with dad. And that's the truth, man. My daughter crossed over into a, she's not a woman yet.
but she's acting like one, right? She's in that, the preteen years, she's getting ready to turn 11, or no, 12 next month. And she's already distancing herself, which I think is natural from parents. My two youngest boys, man, they wanna be with me, right? They wanna hang out with dad, they wanna go wrestle, they wanna go out and do deer drives, and they wanna go play catch.
Dan Johnson (14:40.67)
and play video games and hang with dad. And so I'm trying to cherish all of those moments as much as I possibly can. And so it's really...
It's dawning on me that my influence becomes less and less on my kids. I don't know. Maybe I'm off here, but molding them into the people that they are or that you want them to become, kindness, caring, helping, thoughtful, courteous, all those buzzwords.
Like I'm trying to make my kids into genuine people. And right now my daughter's a sweetheart, but she's got a temper like, she's got a little bit of a short fuse like her mom. And she's turning into a young lady. And it's a little sad, but it's awesome to see at the same time watching her grow. She is very nice. She is courteous. She's one hell of a wrestler.
I'll tell you that right now. She's one hell of a dancer, which is an absolutely crazy combination in my head where it's like, your daughter's gonna be one hell of a dancer. And then after she gets done with dancing, she's gonna go to wrestling and just kick somebody's ass. And so she's got this mentality where I think she's gonna do amazing things in the future. She has said she wants to be a lawyer, an attorney or something like that, or a pilot.
Those are some of the things that she wants to do. And that those two types of jobs take a lot of focus and dedication and her room is clean all the time. And maybe that's a girl thing, but also she's like, she's focused and that's something to see. That's like the opposite of my boys, right? That's the opposite of me. When I was that age or really even in life, I tend to lose focus easy and it takes me like,
Dan Johnson (16:48.121)
course corrections to get back on track every day and every year, things like that. So really looking forward to what she's doing. My oldest boy, he just loves, actually my two boys, they just love to live life. And they like to play with their friends and they like to be outside and run right around. They love video games, which is, know, this day and age they...
They like playing video games. love like my my youngest. loves soccer. He likes playing baseball. My oldest boy. He loves football. He loves watching football with me. He absolutely loves fishing. So don't be surprised. In the future, if you start hearing me talk more about fishing, you start hearing me talk about giving up hunts to maybe go do some fishing trips.
because my oldest boy, I mean, we got him a bait caster. We got a nine-year-old, a bait caster for Christmas this year. And he was just, absolutely loved, excuse me, he loved it. We got him, my father-in-law, grandpa got him crank baits and plastics and swim jigs and books on how to tie knots and things like that. And when you ask this kid, what do you wanna be when you grow up? This blows my mind.
He did some research on the internet about the potential earnings of plumbers. So now he says, dad, I think I know what I wanna be when I grow up. And I'm like, what's that, bud? And I'm like, I think I wanna be a plumber who bass fishes in tournaments. And I go, holy shit, that's a great life. That would be a great life, So.
Dan Johnson (18:43.759)
I mean, you think about it, in 10 years, when he's ready to enter the workforce, he's gonna be like, you put, you don't go to college, you put four years into trades because his generation is just a bunch of pussies, to be honest with you. And so all these kids who have been completely coddled, and I'm not saying all of them, but a majority of them are whiners, complainers.
They've been raised on video games. I mean, I was raised on video games too, but man, I spent a ton of time outside growing up. And I'm guessing every parent looks back at how they were raised and how their kids have it. And they'd say, well, it's much easier now than it was then, but probably. But with all that said, man, how many kids are growing up right now going, man, I want to be a plumber when I grow up? Not very many. And so,
from a business standpoint, that's a great decision. That's a great decision. And so instead of going to college four years, you grab an apprenticeship for four years, and then you have four years of trade experience. And now you are, now you're an official plumber, you start your own business and you're 24 years old, you start your own business. In 10 years, you got a company.
that you are running probably with some other people and all this other stuff and holy shit, it's real at that point and you're making good money at that point. And so, and then the tournament fishing too. that's pretty fun to hear him talk about as a nine-year-old what he thinks he wants to do when he grows up, even though that changes. And then my seven-year-old, he wants to be a firefighter still. He's just a kid, right? He's a goofball.
And we love them and we love all the kids and it's exciting. It's exciting to see them grow is what I'm saying. But the reality is that every day is important in life and every like I hate a day. I get pissed when there's a lot of negative energy and I have to always like take a step back and be like, OK, let's calm down. Right.
Dan Johnson (21:06.924)
Trust me, I get pissed when my kids don't listen to me and I tell them four or five times. I try to be as patient with them as possible. My goal is to still be patient, but also be patient in myself as I progress into the anger. Because I'll be honest, sometimes a kid needs to their attitude. They need that in life. But there's other times where
I think my patience ran out and then I jump in to something instead of thinking it through first. And I know that's natural, but I just, long story short, I just wanna be a better dad. And then the second part of that, which is in my, that needs to be me, my family, or me, my wife, my kids in that order. Because if you're just living in a shit box, like you have this,
negative cloud over you all the time. You can't be a good husband and then you can't be a good father because the foundation of any family are the parents, right? And so my goal is to continue to strengthen that foundation with my wife throughout the course of 2025, right? There's a whole bunch of things that my wife would be really probably embarrassed about that.
we need to work on, like as far as our communication, right? Our personal life. Like, I really do think it is important to like notch time out every week for just you and your wife. And that's something that I need to do a better job at. I've realized that. And in this chaotic life that we live, basically every single day of the week is something now.
between baseball and wrestling and soccer starting back up and tournaments and additional baseball practices. Like every single day something's happening. So I have to notch out something for me and my wife to continue to connect, to continue to have a solid foundation for this family to set on. So there's that. Outside of that, like,
Dan Johnson (23:31.695)
Like I'm getting it from all sides, right? I'm seeing my friends still have kids. I'm seeing older relatives and some of my family members with, or some of my friends with older parents pass away. And I got an 88 year old grandma who is still alive and I haven't made time to go see her. And she is honestly one of the biggest influences in my life, my grandparents.
You've probably heard me talk about that before, but I need to go and make time to go hang out with her. I need to drop things and just hang out with her for a day. She's a character. I absolutely love her. And I don't want to get emotional here, but
You hear about the word unconditional. Like, my grandma who's still alive is one of those people who is literally loves her family unconditional.
Yes, she probably voices some of her old school opinions. She was born in like 1932 or whatever the case is or... Yeah, no, 37, excuse me. Anyway, she was born in the 30s, right? She didn't have running water in her house when she was young. She had to go to an outhouse when she was young. Things that I'll never have to experience unless the end of the world comes. But what I'm getting at is...
She's old school and she has old school values and old school beliefs. But from a family standpoint, the word unconditional comes to mind because when I was going through some of the hardest times in my life, anytime I went to my grandma's house, I got love no matter what. Like when I was struggling with alcohol, she loved me no matter what.
Dan Johnson (25:42.457)
When I was young and my parents were going through a divorce and me and my brother were having a really hard time dealing with that, she came and she showed love unconditionally. And so it's one of those things where she was an absolute huge influence in my life on how to treat, like how to love family, how to work hard at life, all my grandparents were, and I want to instill all of that.
on my kids and my future grandchildren hopefully and things like that. So it's just more positive energy. That's the whole goal is positive energy. And I know that we come up across bridges in life that are built on negativity and we just have to try our hardest to learn from our mistakes and try to find a way to just become better people. And sometimes that's really hard, right? And so the family side of things.
Let's face it, I've done some things this past year where I look back at it and I go, was that the right thing to do? And I don't know if I have answers for that yet. I'm the kind of guy who I've used my gut to go with my gut feeling, and it's got me to where I'm at today with my businesses. And I don't ever think I'm successful in business because I always think there's the next step.
to making something, making something better. And I think you can do the same thing with life as well. So there's things within the past year, decisions I've made, both personally, business, financially, that I look back and go, was that the right thing to do? Was it not? Because there's like, you got to plan for the future, but also you never know when you're gonna die. And you also know that you can't take anything with you when you die.
So where's the balance? Where's the balance? All right. Let's get into the whole business side of things, which is very interesting, especially for outdoor hunting podcasts in this space. As we all know, there's like hundreds. It feels like there's hundreds. The bubble, the podcasting bubble in the outdoor space has pumped, right? We are seeing less hunters.
Dan Johnson (28:12.45)
listen to podcasts, period. And so I think that we have this really diluted space and eventually what's gonna happen is I think people are gonna start to drop off and say, this isn't for me. And I feel like I've done this now for 10 years. I feel like if I just ride a lot of this shit out, that I'm gonna get back to where I need to be. And the cool thing about this though, is you start to see
Like I was talking to Tony Peterson about this on a previous episode where everything kind of comes full circle, right? The outdoor writers before podcasts were writing about this. They were interviewing some of the best hunters in the world. Podcasting came along and they did the same thing, which really opened people's eyes up to like a bigger audience digitally to some of the...
the biggest names in the industry, some of the best hunters and bow hunters, and just like the knowledge that some of these hunters have, whether that's how to build an arrow, how to build a rifle, how to scout and look for animals. Like it really opened up all of that. And so the thing that I always struggle with, and this is where I'm at in my life, is now I'm seeing other people talk about
the same things that I've already talked about. I'm starting to cover some of the same things that I've already covered. And so for me, 2025 is all about how to keep it fresh, how to keep talking about the things that everybody wants to talk about and keep it fresh and keep things interesting and keep people coming in for the right reasons. Like, I'll be honest, whenever I talk about how to hunt the rut in October,
That's the biggest podcast that I, like as far as analytics are concerned, that's the biggest podcast that I talk about. But a guy can only talk about that so much. It becomes like, what am I doing this for? And so from a content standpoint, I have to keep it fresh. And that's what I'm trying to do in 2025. I'm gonna try to like, not necessarily go completely different directions, but I do want to talk a lot about
Dan Johnson (30:38.659)
history of hunting, like the history of human beings and how they've gotten to where they've gotten through hunting and survival and things like that. I want to talk to wildlife biologists. I want to talk not only at like a local level, but at a nationwide level as well. I want to talk, like get into the science of things. I know that I have a couple podcasts scheduled with some wildlife biologists over the course of the next couple months.
where it's gonna be some real eye-opening information, really interesting information. I wanna talk about some conversations that are outside the box and some conversations that are back into what I've always done and that's talk to average dudes who kill great deer or are good at hunting or have unique experiences or just have really cool stories to tell, right? And so the goal is to just kind of
continue to grow this and just pull in more aspects of the outdoor world, the natural world into this and really just become like, I know I have a specific base. I know I, but I also want to educate, entertain and like broaden minds as well into this space because I'll be honest, one of my biggest influences
as I grew up was national geographics. That had nothing to do with hunting really. I mean, it had to do with the natural world and animals and things like that. But outside of that, I loved all that type of stuff. And so I want to get a little, I want to start dipping my toes and wading into those types of waters as well. So that's the podcasting, it fresh there.
I'm gonna try to build the network. I'm always trying to cultivate new audiences, trying to bring other individuals who have interesting stories to tell on this podcast and then promote what we already have. I I'll be honest, man. I look around at what is on the sportsman's empire and then I compare that to what else is out there.
Dan Johnson (33:05.918)
in the podcasting game. And I know this is going to sound extremely biased, but I would put any one of our podcasts up against anybody else's podcast that's out there. We have one of the best Western-themed hunting podcasts out there on the market in the Western rookie, period, right? Period. Like the stuff that this guy's covering, nobody else is covering in that type of detail.
We have, and this is no joke, we have the best Habitat guy in the United States has a podcast on the network. And that is, and I know what you're saying. Well, wow, there's so many other guys there. Those guys are popular. Those guys are popular. They have big audiences. But John Titor with Whitetail Landscapes, he is by far the most knowledgeable, the
the best at habitat work that I've ever listened to, that I've ever read up on, the stuff he's talking about and that he's doing, nobody else is doing. And he's gonna kill me for saying this, like, if you're a land manager, if you're a serious guy and you want to take your property to the next level, there's only one phone call that I would make and that would be to John Titor. Man, that guy's brain is a...
It blows my mind just listening to him talk about habitat management, wildlife management, hands down the best. I know I give a lot of kudos to him, but it's earned. I don't believe in the word deserve. I believe in the word earned. And it goes without saying, I'm looking at my line up here, and I'll just run through these. The Missouri woods and waters guys,
They are in my spot killing it. They have one of the most entertaining, laughing, great outdoor average Joe podcasts that's out there. Love what they're doing. Wisconsin sportsman, Pierce is an excellent host and he's knocking the ball out of the park. have like the Vapor Trail podcast. It's called The Range with Ricky Bruhle of Vapor Trail. Another awesome podcast.
Dan Johnson (35:30.178)
We have Nate from, and I quote, I don't know shit about podcasting, but I want to podcast. And so he's a down to earth Michigan, Michigander, I believe is how you say it. That dude's a stud and I love listening to him talk. Like he doesn't even care about podcasting. He just wants to be outside, run his dogs. He wants to hunt deer, like being outdoorsman.
and then he pushes record once a week and talks about it. And so, I love, that's what makes a good podcast host in our space is to live the life that you're talking about. How to Hunt Turkey podcast, he just had a kid and Jace is gonna be back here pretty soon putting out some more episodes and things like that. Jeremy Dinsmore, a very, very, very underrated podcast in the space.
I'll say it's underrated. Like as far as the content that he's putting out, the interviews that he's doing, dude, the dude is, I'll put him top 10 in the entire space. I'll put him top 10 in the entire space of what he's doing there. What else we got? Hunt Detail, very unique, small niche podcast, right? And I know that podcast may not be for everybody, but
I really would encourage people to go listen to a couple episodes of it. It's very unique. It's very niche. But I think that there would be a lot of enjoyment out of it. And then the Pennsylvania Woodsman, Hardcore Hunter, is also an, or God, I'm going to mess the word up. Ergonomist? Ergonomist or?
Anyway, the dude knows about plants and vegetation. He also is pretty good at habitat management. Just a guy who loves life, loves to bear hunt, loves to spend time with his family, loves Pennsylvania and all the things that it brings. Mitch over there at Pennsylvania Woodsman is doing an absolutely amazing job. and we got some new ones, like the wing and tail boys.
Dan Johnson (37:56.271)
and the Mid-Atlantic Outdoorsmen. These are two new podcasts to the network that are in a region of the United States that is highly populated, but doesn't get talked about a lot. And that's that Mid-Atlantic, South of New York City type vibe. And then you've got the Wing and Tailboys who are like, they talk all about the Northeast, right? And I know I'm missing somebody here, but.
You know, we got a lot of the migration waterfowl. If you're a waterfowl guy, holy shit. Top five in the waterfowl space, period. Right. And so Brian over there at the migration podcast, they're absolutely killing it. Dan, you probably know him from social media, but Dan with the Nomadic Outdoorsman, that podcast is very interesting.
wide podcast as far as some of the topics that are covered. mean, Elk, mule deer, Arizona, Maine, Canada, Florida, like everything. The dude loves the outdoors. He loves to hunt by himself with people. Like the dude just loves the outdoors and that shows in his podcast. And that's the Nomadic Outdoorsman. And outside of that, man, there's only one left.
I would say it's one of the most, underrated podcast out of Michigan, Nick Otto with the Huntevor. Man, that podcast, I could listen to him talk all day long. I don't even care what it's about. The dude loves the outdoors. He loves his family. It shows in his recordings and it's very venison focused. It's very...
I caught this, I killed this, now what do I do with it? Type podcast cooking, wild game cooking. That's his strong suit and that's what his podcast is about. And it's very underrated. that's a long way of saying that we have some absolute bangers on the sportsman's empire network. And I really do think people need to listen to more of the sportsman's empire. That's not to mention the how to hunt deer podcast, the
Dan Johnson (40:18.018)
hunting gear podcast, the nine finger chronicles podcast. And I got some irons in the fire, some shit I can't talk about right now, but it could be coming down the pipe. So I'm gonna blow my nose one more time. Cause I'm sick of shit.
Dan Johnson (40:36.45)
I got that red, like rubbed raw underneath my nose from blowing my nose so much.
And if you're watching this on YouTube, it's disgusting watching me wipe my hands and trying to get the snot out of my beard. All right. This is actually going a lot longer than I thought it was. Talked about family, talked about kind of like my personal life, talked about the podcasting. This next part is real easy. Real quick, full sneak. I'm gonna grow that brand, man.
I feel like I got some kick-ass stuff and I got some kick-ass stuff coming down the pipe here pretty soon. I I think the designs on the t-shirts are really cool. I think the hoodie or the crew neck sweatshirt is really cool. The stocking caps are really cool. The logos and the designs are really cool. And so I'm really looking forward to expanding that brand and trying to grow that.
as another, basically from a business standpoint, just another revenue stream in my yearly income. And so I'm hoping that that gets a little more traction. So this will be a mid roll, what they call a mid roll commercial. Go check out fullsneakgear.com and buy a t-shirt. Yay. Boom. Go check them out. The two new t-shirts are bad ass. And then,
I forgot what I was gonna say about the money. I know what I was gonna say.
Dan Johnson (42:22.638)
When I started the network, when I started the Nine Finger Chronicles podcast,
I didn't have to worry too terribly much about money per se because I had another job. Yes, I was looking at building up the network and building up the nine finger Chronicles in order to find a way out of the cubicle that I was sitting in. And eventually I got to the point where when they laid me off, I didn't go looking for another job. I had this to fall back on and now I was working.
full-time, full-time on the network and the nine finger Chronicles and the other business side of this. And so now I've been doing this full-time. And what you realize is there comes a point where...
If you want to continue to have a successful business, you have to kind of drop, and this is just being real here. You have to drop the, I'm only gonna work with certain types of people attitude because everybody in the industry has money to spend, right? Whether I use a product in my everyday, so it's gonna be less about products that I, you know, I'll just say it like,
less about products that I truly believe in and I'm really faithful with and brands that I absolutely love to who has advertising dollars.
Dan Johnson (43:59.023)
Right? And I have to make those decisions of, man, I don't know if I want to use this brand because I don't use this brand. Well, if someone goes, got X thousand, you I got this many thousand dollars that I want to give you to talk about my product. I would be a stupid businessman to turn that down, I think. And so especially in this world that we live in where everything's more expensive. And so I have to be able to
juggle that, right? I need to pay my rent or pay my mortgage. I need to, you know, put gas in my car, pay the electrical bills, all that shit. It all has to be done. And I'm not going to be able to do that if I turn down a company that, I'm sorry, I don't use your product. I'm sorry, I don't use your product. That's dumb. That's not good business decision. like, I've learned that I have to find this balance again.
of products that I'm really jacked about and people who are willing to buy advertising slots. Straight up, that's what this is. I've created a pool of impressions and somebody wants to buy those impressions in this space. And that's what everybody's doing in this space. Now, if you listen to the beginnings of some of these podcasts, you hear some...
advertisements that are not me reading it. Those are called dynamic ads. And those are advertisements that I put a slot there. And then I go into the background and I say, I don't want any political ads. I don't want any religious ads. I don't want any sexuality type, know, LBGTQ ads. I don't want...
these specific, like certain types of ads that may go against what my, what my values or what the listener's values may go against that, right? But, if you hear a commercial at the beginning of some of these or at the very end of some of these podcasts that are some random person talking about insurance or some COVID vaccine or some shit like that,
Dan Johnson (46:29.272)
That is a gap that I have put an advertising slot in that is full so I can generate additional revenue to pay my bills, right? I've created an ad space. So if it's my voice or one of the other podcasters voice, listen to those. If it's some guy going at progressive or, know, it's that time of year where we really strongly suggest you get a flu vaccination or whatever the hell they're trying to peddle these days.
Just don't skip it, just ignore it and then get into the meat and potatoes of the episode. It's there for money, straight up. It's there for money. The real benefit comes after the commercial. So that's why I have to balance all that shit, right? To run a business, successful business, there's things that passion takes you so far, drive takes you so far and then after that,
it becomes like, okay, well, now I have to start making business decisions. Business decisions and personal decisions. Yes, they cross over sometimes, but they're not always 100%. Like sometimes they have to be separate. outside of that. Hang on one second, making a note here before I forget. The next thing on my list, right? So obviously the personal, we've talked personal, we've talked family, we've talked business a little bit.
Coaching. Coaching is one of my absolute passions in life. Like the older I get, the more I love teaching kids how to play sports. Whether that's football, whether that's wrestling, whether that's baseball, anything that I personally have experience with. I love it, man. I love.
And when you look at it, you're not only molding, teaching people how to play a sport better, you're also teaching these individuals how to become better men, like young men, and teach them that if you want something in life, you have to work for it.
Dan Johnson (48:48.929)
I love one of my favorite things, especially with my own kids, if I work with them, like my son Mac, right? He wasn't very good at baseball, but we went out to the local baseball diamond and we hit grounders and we hit pop flies and we threw the ball and we were doing all this repeatedly. And I was watching him grow. And that's the best thing, like on the baseball team that I coach, this past year, there was a couple examples where there were some kids.
at the beginning of the season who weren't as good as other kids. And I had the opportunity to work with some of them and it was awesome watching them develop at this age. And so I absolutely, I absolutely love that watching these kids develop as players and as people and teaching the sportsmanship and teaching them how to act in certain scenarios. And when you strike out or when you
get smoked by an opponent when you're wrestling or when you're playing football, you get back up and you go at it again. And you get back up and you go at it again. And there's so many quotes that I could say right now, like, you know, it's not about how many times you get knocked down. It's about how many times you get back up, right? Strike out. There was one kid in particular who was having trouble like fielding. And you just do that.
repetitiveness with them over and over and now you get to see them. Like, holy shit, they did it right. And then you go up to them and you're like, dude, like just watching them get excited because you're excited. When a kid does something who he's failed a lot of times, one example was football this year. I had a kid never played football before and his first step was always backwards.
As an offensive lineman, that's not what you want unless you're pass blocking. But run plays, he was running backwards because he was kind of afraid. But you keep going through the motions of blocking and going over and over and over. And then towards the end of the season, like in the last game, he made some pretty damn good blocks. And I was excited about that. And then you get to see how excited that they are because you're excited.
Dan Johnson (51:11.212)
and then they go out and they try even harder the next time. And that's the motivation that I love to give to some of these kids, And on top of this, I've also learned that there are kids out there who the best part of their day is sports, because maybe their home life isn't the greatest, or maybe they get picked on at school, or they struggle with reading or whatever the case is.
Sports offers an escape in some way, or form from the outside world because you have to be so focused on what you're doing that the troubles at home, the troubles at school, the troubles with friends or bullying or whatever the case is goes away.
And it's really awesome to see kids grow through sports. I don't know why I keep talking in circles there, but as a coach, I want to keep growing my skills on how to coach, how to become a better coach, how to coach these kids. And also like for me, I know as a coach, sometimes you're pulled into drama. My goal in 2025 is to
distance myself from all of that shit and just coach. Like that's all I wanna do is just coach. And I'm looking forward to continuing my, I guess what you would call a coaching career moving forward into 2025. So love all that. Now, I know you're thinking, okay, Dan, you haven't talked about hunting yet. And I honestly don't know if I even want to, right? I have no...
I don't even know if I'm gonna get out anymore this season. got like 10 more days. I doubt I get out.
Dan Johnson (53:08.28)
Like I had one hell of a year. Iowa didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. Right? Weird rut. I had some opportunities. I decided not to take them and it is what it is. Right? The whole shotgun hunter thing during the shotgun season with them messing with my trail cameras and admitting it. I was furious at the time. I've calmed down since then.
I guess we have to cross that bridge next year when they come to the property and if they decide to fuck with my shit again, right? So I don't know what's gonna happen there. I'm not too terribly worried about it right now. It just comes down to being a good person, right? That's the goal, that's the goal. I honestly don't know if I'm gonna be taking any hunting trips. This year I drew South Dakota and I drew
Kansas this year. So statistically, I know I'm not going to draw Kansas. Statistically, I don't know if I'm going to draw South Dakota again. So I'm in this space where I got some other preference points that I could possibly start to use for like Wyoming or go to another over-the-counter state like Missouri or Wisconsin or something like that where I could possibly hop across the border.
Man, part of me, to be completely honest with you, wants to spend more time with my kids, more time fishing, more time hunting with my kids. Turkey hunting is gonna be a huge priority for me this year with my oldest son being his first year, taking my daughter out again, being her first year doing this. Her third year of turkey hunting, second year of trying to kill a bird. So fishing, turkey hunting.
And then as far as my personal, like, I just want to be closer to home, to be honest with you. I want to hunt Iowa a little bit more and go on a little bit less out of state hunts and try to connect on a target buck within Iowa. I got two deer this year. so me striking out in Iowa doesn't mean that my season is unsuccessful, man. The moment I knew I killed that mule deer, nothing-
Dan Johnson (55:38.209)
Everything else could have went horribly wrong. My season was a success. The buck I shot in Kansas was a cherry on top of everything for this year. And so that mule deer hunt was absolutely amazing. Six years of me going out there trying to get the job done is a testament to how hard some of this is for people who don't live in those types of environments. So I'm a tree stand guy. I'm a saddle guy. I'm a woods.
fingers agriculture guy. And I went out to big plains, mule deer, spot and stalk. It's gonna take a guy some time to get good at this. And so I know there's examples of guys who go out and get the job done every single year. But for me, it took me a little bit longer to get the job done. And so I was, I'm just straight up jacked about that mule deer hunt. And I had so much fun.
hunting with my uncle again. I mean, he's the guy who kind of started it for me as far as taking me pheasant hunting and running traps with him and all that stuff. Like, it was awesome to go do that with him. I shot my first turkey when I was with him and being able to hunt with him this late in the game, as far as I know, I'm in 44 now, is pretty freaking sweet. And so I don't know.
what I'm going to do this upcoming year as far as hunts yet. haven't crossed that bridge yet. I don't know if I'm going to cross that bridge. I think that I have to get healthy. I got to fix my knee. I got to rehab my shoulder. I got to get those two things figured out. And then I think 2026 is going to be a year of burning preference points where I have elk, mule, have deer, have antelope.
in Wyoming and I might do a big elk hunt, like a once in a lifetime type hunt in Wyoming. Alaska is in the back of my head. And so that could be something that happens hopefully before I'm 50. I can't believe I just said the word 50 before I'm 50 because it's pretty damn close, right?
Dan Johnson (58:04.076)
Outside of that, man, I got a good life. And I'm really looking forward to just continuing to move forward in the industry, in the space, in my life. I'm gonna try to be as positive as humanly possible. And I'm gonna try, you know, always work on myself, always, you know, support others as much as humanly possible and really just
Try to be happy. I don't know. think that's it, man. I've covered everything that I've wanted to cover today. The last thing I wanna say is to everybody, there's a couple guys out there every once in while that'll reach out to me and then they'll just be like, hey, I just wanna let you know I have listened to every single episode that you've ever put out.
That's a lot of episodes, man, right? In 2025, I will be hitting 1,000 nine finger Chronicles episodes. And that's a lot. That's a lot of, that's 1,000 hours of just recording. That's 1,000 hours. That's probably 500 hours.
Dan Johnson (59:24.942)
Sorry, I'm not editing this out. That's like 500 hours of editing.
That's hundreds of hundreds, like thousands of emails bouncing back and forth between people trying to schedule shit.
That's hundreds and hundreds of episodes trying to find sponsors or trying to emails, trying to find sponsors for the show, selling advertising. That's hundreds and hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles traveling to trade shows, traveling to different locations to hunt.
Scouting, it's just the time that goes into all of this. There's a lot of time. And I wouldn't be surprised if I decided to do something different with that time in the upcoming years. What that is, I don't know, but family is a priority. It will always be a priority.
I like where I'm at right now, to be honest with you. I know that there's roads and there's things that, there's more, like there's more in my future. I know there is. I'm gonna go out and take it. And I'm just looking forward. So I wanna say thanks to each and every one of you who have supported the Hunting Gear Podcast, the How to Hunt Deer Podcast, the Nine Figure Chronicles Podcast, the...
Dan Johnson (01:01:00.62)
sportsman's empire as a whole. I wanna send a huge shout out to all of the content providers, the guys who are hosting their podcasts, they're doing all the same shit I am every week. without those guys, this isn't possible.
Dan Johnson (01:01:22.318)
All of the people who have listened to the Nine Finger Chronicles throughout the years, whether you've done it before, you don't anymore, or you've just gotten into it, thank you. Thank you for enjoying what I do, man. It's a huge shout out. So balance is like my life, I need to get more balanced in 2025 and in all aspects of it.
And that's it, man. Good vibes in, good vibes out. Be safe out there. Wear your harness. Wear your blaze orange. Go out to 2025. Take up by the balls and go do what you got to do, Family over everything. I don't know what else to say. Thank you. And we'll talk to you next time.