Best Season to Date w/ Mike Lindahl

Hey everyone, welcome to episode 178 of the Antler Up Podcast!

On this week's episode I was joined by Mike Lindahl from Domain Outdoor.  Mike was on the podcast two springs ago talking about how to improve your land and his company Domain Outdoor.  However, this episode Mike and I had an enjoyable conversation where we were able to just catch up! Last time we saw each other was at the 2022 ATA show and throughout the year we always keep tabs on what each other is up to.  So, we decided to catch up over a podcast for you all to enjoy!

Kicking this episode off, Mike lets us know what is happening with work and how much Domain is growing.  One aspect that really caught my attention in this discussion is how individuals over the last few years have turned their land habitat management into a year round process.  This is obviously great for Mike and Domain, but I love to hear how much he and his crew are still able to help individuals out with creating the best property they can.  From here I know Mike is a big golfer so we quickly share some golf stories and then discuss his best season to date!  Mike killed his biggest whitetail this past season with some great friends in Kentucky and a great buck in Wisconsin with his family.  Hearing the traditions he has with his friends and family in Wisconsin reminds me of what a lot of us hunters have here in PA.  Mike also shares his excitement for the Alaska caribou hunt that is on the horizon for this upcoming season! I really enjoyed this episode and having the opportunity to catch up with Mike! . Check it out and let us know what you think!  Enjoy this fun episode and see you next week! 

Thanks again for all the support and best of luck out there and Antler Up!

Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Antler Podcast, brought to you by Tether Nation. The world's best saddle hunting equipment. We got a fun show for you all today. And on this episode, I was joined by a good friend of mine, Mike Lin Dahl from Domain Outdoor. Mike was on the podcast about two springs ago talking about how to improve your land and his company domain outdoor.

However, this episode, Mike and I really had a fun conversation where we were able to catch, just catch up. Last time we saw each other was at the 2022 a t a show. And throughout the year we always keep tabs on each other to see what we're up to. But so we decided to catch up over a podcast for you all to enjoy and kicking this [00:01:00] episode off.

Mike lets us know. What is happening with work and how much domain is growing? One aspect that really caught my attention in this discussion is how individuals over the last really couple years have turned their land habitat management into a year-round process. This is obviously great for Mike and Domain, but I love to hear how much he and his crew are still able to help individuals out with creating the best property that they can.

From here. I know Mike is a big golfer, so we quickly share some golf stories and then discuss his best season To date, Mike killed his biggest whitetail this past season with some great friends and family in Kentucky and a great buck in Wisconsin with his family here in the tradition he has with his friends and family in Wisconsin reminds me of what a lot of US hunters have here in pa.

Mike also shares his excitement for the Alaska caribou hunt that is on the horizon for this upcoming season. Really enjoyed this episode and having the opportunity to catch up with Mike. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Enjoy this fun episode everybody. Aunt Lo.[00:02:00]

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You have deer prediction, journaling, and the best maps on any hunting app platform there is. Use code antler up to save 20% off your Spartan Forge membership@spartanforge.ai. What's going on everybody? Welcome back. And I'm joined on the other line by a good friend of mine, someone that I try to keep [00:03:00] tabs on every so often with a text message here and there.

Mike Michael Lindo from Domain. Welcome to the show, man. It's been a very long time like we, we just said. And I appreciate you taking the time this morning to, to chat with me. It's good to see you, man, as always. Like I said we pass, we cross paths. Not nearly enough, but I enjoy it when we do.

We were just talking, I got, was it two years ago when I saw you last? Yeah. Or was it, yeah. I know we exchanged texts and stay connected, which is awesome and life is busy, so it's fun to. Carve out 30, 40 minutes and just catch up on hunting and life and what's new with antler up and all the things.

Like I said it's a wild and crazy ride, so I enjoy. I enjoy the moments like these to just sit back and reconnect. Absolutely. That's what I like to do as well. And you were just saying too, right now, it's almost like you're already in Midseason form and you know what's going on with you?

And I, we will, we'll get into it a little bit cuz I know you killed your biggest buck to date this past year. So I do want to ask you a couple I want you to just talk about that cuz I, I love hearing those stories, but, [00:04:00] what's new right now for you personally and And as far as the food plot stuff going and what kind of golf trips you have coming up, that's Oh yeah, that's what I wanna know.

So what's new man? Yeah. My life revolves around four things really. My family work, hunting and golf. So that's where I'm, where I am most of the time. I've got a three days around my hands right now and that's why I was late today, so I apologize for that. She she is, Gonna rule the world someday.

And I think she's trying to start right now. So that's been a, that's been fun. She loves, it's crazy. My wife is not a hunter. And when we raise a child I was said like, I love to hunt, but I'm not gonna I expect her to go shopping and do the things with you and that I'm cool with that.

And she has taken to shed hunting and deer and the rangers and the dogs. And so it's, it'll be super interesting as she grows up to see. Obviously if she's interested in it, she'll have more opportunities than anybody. I'll make sure of that. But it's, that was one of those tire blocks. [00:05:00] Like you don't wanna force it cuz from what you hear, the more you want them to do it, the less they want to do it.

Yep. But she found her first shed this year. Technically the dog did, but we gave her credit for it. We were down on the property last weekend planting food plots and she was in the Ranger and. So it's, that's been a lot of fun. Works, work-wise. It's hard to believe it was, what, four or five years ago when we launched kind of domain and it seems like it was 25 years ago now, and things are just rocking and rolling.

And we're in the middle of it right now. We're still in that spring planting season for the northern half of the us. A lot of our mother lobes still going on in the south and folks are planning for fall. It's. It's definitely changed in my 11 years of doing this. There used to be specific buying or planting seasons, and now it's just 12 months.

People are always thinking whitetails and I love it. And I we're lucky. We've, I've got a, an incredible team of incredible humans who really make this work. That's the probably been the best part of the whole experience [00:06:00] is. Finding people that are as passionate or more passionable deer hunting than me and forming a team.

And the way they make this ship sail is pretty incredible. On the back end, they don't get any credit, but they do all the work. So it's coming up for you on the golf docket. Yeah, so I was fortunate to play a little bit of golf down in Arizona over the winter. That's my happy place in the winter.

I love the mountains of Arizona. This spring I'll be playing my wife and I'll be playing some golf this weekend for Memorial Day, and then I'm going to Sand Valley in two weeks. Sand Valley, for those of you who don't know, is just this hidden little gym in the center of Wisconsin. Look it up.

Yep, it is. It's incredible. There's sister courses out in band in Oregon which we're gonna go play it. In March or next year, you're going to do Bandon Dunes? Yeah, we played it last February. Okay. And just fell in love. Yeah. I mean it, you stand there and look out in the ocean and wonder what you did deserve to be there.

It's that incredible. Those are the kind of the two big ones. We always go to Sand Valley. It's only two hours from here and I got some buddies that I meet [00:07:00] down there and we play. Three days of golf and just have a great time. It's walking only and it's just a fantastic treasure. There's no houses on it.

It's cut through the Pines of Wisconsin and it's incredible. And then Bandon will be in March, and that place is it's funny it's a golf destination, right? So you think of it in my head, I think of it like a pebble beach. If you call Pebble Beach and try to play golf, it costs two grand and you gotta stay there.

And it is gonna be a $10,000 trip. Like no way. You go to Bannon in February or March and you get half right half price rates and then your second round of the day is half of that. So like our second round of the day in Bannon is under a hundred dollars for 18 holes at one of the best golf courses in the world.

Yep. It's incredible. It's a bear to get to, but when you look at the cost of golf, it's more expensive for me to go to the Muni municipal golf course down the road and play 18 holes than play Bandon in February or March. That's crazy. So I, it's wild. So not to go down a golf rabbit hole, but when, yes.

Sorry. No, this is great. So when I [00:08:00] was. Doing my undergrad studies at Penn State University. Originally I went to school to do what I'm actually doing right now, health and Phys ed as a teacher. Things didn't go that route actually right away. I didn't do too well. I wasn't really prepared for college and I.

I had my first test for what was it? Oh man I'm drawing a blank, but it was for like, just educational type, normal class. And I didn't do well. The professor wasn't the greatest. And I was like, okay, I guess I have to switch majors. And my sister's you're.

You're like a bachelor type guy. You like sports and the nightlife in the sense of running things and why don't you do hotel restaurant management? And what I found out was not only does that have its own thing of casinos, I was like, oh shoot, I could go out to Vegas, make good money, do something like that.

Then I found out that it also, it clumped into that as golf club management like country club management. So that's what I really focused on. So when I was going into, I. Going into my senior year, at the end of my [00:09:00] junior year was when you take that big internship and I was down to Bandon Dunes and Oakmont Country Club.

Win when, so I ended up, I called Bandon, I talked to this woman. Did you go to Oakmont? Yeah, I did go to Oakmont. So I, you gotta hook me up there, brother. So I lived on, so this is will probably blow your mind. So I did the tour at Oakmont and it was an interview basically at first with a HR individual and then one of a supervisor that I would have.

We walked around, I got a tour of the whole. Whole club met some members, and I was coming down the steps. And at the time the club manager was Tom Wallace. And he's Jeremy, it was a pleasure to meet you. Nice to meet you. Hopefully we'll see you around here. And I didn't even get back to my car.

And our, my phone rang from them already and they offered me the the internship and basically what I had to do, Mike was live there upstairs and. I believe it. And [00:10:00] then they, it was the year after the US opened, so they Oh yeah. Yeah. So they built a brand new like outdoor pool facility for their members and with a restaurant in it.

So that's what I was like in charge of, so I took that, I called Bandon Dunes before I committed to Oakmont. I was just like, Hey, one last shot. Cause I really wanted to go out west like I want. Oh yeah. You know what I mean? And this was before they have what are they up to now? Five courses, I think.

I think there's six. Yeah. So this was before they only had the three I bo I bought posters that I had from certain holes on the ocean course, like in our apartment when I was in college. So Bandon was always like, you said that destination. Yes. And the lady was like you did get Oakmont.

So I was like, I guess I'll take Oakmont. Thank you for your time and the communication that, that you give have given me. I hope I could make it out there one day. So it's still on a bucket list for me to do. Yeah, it's a challenge. You gotta fly into Portland, drive four hours and there's nothing in band other than a golf course.

Yeah. Coffee shop, [00:11:00] it's special. That place is special. Yeah. So that would, it's funny you're, it's funny your path and mine arely similar. Yeah. And then after I did that internship going into my senior year, I took, I went down to the, National club Managers association, like big conference in, in New Orleans.

And I went down there, had a really good, talked to a bunch of clubs. Oakmont offered me a manager and training type position. And I, I was young and dumb and I just was like, I don't know. And I ended up taking a position at Liberty National in Oh yeah. In I guess it's.

Bayone basically, or Jersey City, but it's just right across from obviously the New York City. And so I took that, I worked in an event there, which was the FedEx Cup. They had one of the events there for that year. Yep. And then I, moved back here in State College area with my student, Tobe wife and Yeah we, I went back to school full-time to be a Health and PhysEd teacher.

So everything leaves [00:12:00] you to where you are. Yeah. Yeah. And I, and what's funny is before I went back to school, I. Before I took the Liberty National job, I was in the final running for Mion Golf course position there. Ooh. And I got they selected a different individual. So before I went back to school, I was managing one of the hotels here that hosted a lot of the away Penn State football teams.

Okay. So I was managing, doing that for about a year. And Mion called me and they're like, Hey, why don't you come down for a visit? You could play around and we'll talk and all this stuff. I was like, okay. And they're like, what's new? How are you? And. So I go down, I visit, I play around and with the one individual, and at the end of it, they're like we would like to offer you that position back.

I'm assuming the individual left or whatever. And I was like, yeah let me talk to my girlfriend and all that stuff. Like we weren't even. Engaged yet at the time. And I told, I, we knew where we were heading though. And I said to her, I'm like, if I turn this down, like my career in the club industry is basically over done.

Yeah. If I'm turning this down, then I'm going back to [00:13:00] school. And that's what ended up happening. Yeah. I, Mary and opine who? Yeah. But again I was in golf for a long time and it's I. I give those guys a lot of credit, guys and gals. Yeah. It's an, it is during season 80 hour weeks, no weekends, no break.

I love golf more now that I don't, that I don't work in it. I get it. I get it. Yeah. So I'm surprised where, going from golf to domain man it's it's it, it's in that same world of that's how we roll. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. Yeah, it's just, like I said, I fell into this industry 11 years ago and I've been a passionate hunter since I could walk, right?

And then I surrounded myself with a bunch of really smart people and was willing to listen and learn instead of try to think I knew everything and and I still get to have those resources help me do things to this day. So I think that's one of the biggest things I could. Not that people care, but if people ask me like, how did you do it?

It's like I sat back and listened to people that were smarter than me. Yeah. And I had a vision and a plan and [00:14:00] things that I wanted to do, but in order to get to where we are, I needed help to do it. Dude, one of my favorite things, and just because of knowing you on this, personal level, when I'll go to Sportsman's Warehouse or wherever, like up in, in Altoona, up the road from me, and I don't know.

When I see your product there it. Puts a big smile on my face just because, and I'll buy something just because I'm like, I'm supporting, even though you have no idea. But it's just it's like one of those things where it's a close-knit connection.

And I love being able to see that and, I'm able to get my recharge or bad habit, whatever it be. And I actually threw. I have a male dog, so he's always ruining our backyard grass and everything like that. But what's funny is I threw some comeback kid and hot chick in it. Just cause my wife's that has clover in it.

I'm like, yeah. She's what's, throw it in the yard. It's taken just in my backyard. So it's, that's all right. I'll have a clover backyard. It's not that big anyway, so it works. Every year our yard gets smaller and our food plan gets bigger. I'm not much mowing the yard it works out better that way.

[00:15:00] I like it. So what do you got going on right now, like you said, for as far as whitetail management goes? It is, it's that busy time. I know some friends that are gearing up for it and I'm sure you are as well. Yeah, we had a long winter, and our spring was short and we just got it like a week, couple weeks ago.

Honestly, our soil towns have been below 50 for half of May. So we're, we literally are just getting in our actual spring plots. We did a bunch of frost seeding and stuff, and we're finally starting to see that come to fruition. But we were down last weekend rebuilding one of our main hunt over plots.

It's about an acre and a half, and we've beat the hell out of it as far as just. Not great pH and just pulling the nutrients from it. So we spent the weekend doing some dirty beefs and some overhaul to build that up and get ready for fall planting. And we're in the process of a 20 acre field renovation that is probably a five year project cuz we don't have enough time to really dedicate a ton of it to it.

But yeah. But we're installing, a lot more perennials is our plan this year. Just to build up that level of food that we always have available. We're adding a bunch of switch [00:16:00] grass and some cedars and some things, some pollinators and things of that nature just to create more of a habitat in that 20 acre egg field, right?

And it's got poor soil, sand and rocks is kinda what we're blessed with around here. A lot of soil building in our, it. The last couple weeks and the next few, and then our mother load mix is going in here. The next couple weeks, the soil temp rise and around the shop things are crazy.

Like I said, I got here this morning, we had two trucks ready to unload and we shipped nine trucks. Three days ago and things are rocking and rolling. There used to be a busy season, and now it's just always, which is, we're blessed. That's a, an amazing thing. But also people, covid kind of changed the way people operate.

They buy it when they want, not when they need. And or they buy it so they have it and they don't want to not have it later in the year. Yeah. So we sell Big Sexy in March now. We used to just sell it July, August, September. It's great. I like, I love that aspect of it that we're things were always rock and rolling and Lot of mother load going in lately, which is fun.

A lot of overhaul. Those are the buzz [00:17:00] mixes this year, which is great. Come back in. Hotch been around a long time, so those are obviously popular, but the buzzwords this spring have been overhauling mother load, which I love because yeah. Those two mixes are un unsung heroes.

Overhaul builds your soil. So 10 years ago, nobody even thought about using it. And now it's a buzz and mother load again, it's a summer feed product. It's feeding beer pellets, which 10 years ago eh, no big deal. I'm not gonna waste my money on it. And now what can I do to improve my habitat is the.

The mo of a lot of folks and I love it. Yeah. That has been like, from my point of view where I don't actually have quote unquote food plots, but like hearing my friends that do and everything like that, like just that improvement of that and, I. I always just say check out domains.

So that's what you know, cuz I, I don't know anything else but know we're here to, yeah. That's what we love to do. But that's the other thing. You guys do a phenomenal job with that. What are your current plans for this upcoming year? What, what's on the agenda for you as far as, hunting, maybe different states or, your[00:18:00] the properties that, that you're planning on piecing together just to see what you got going on.

Yeah I'm embarrassed how little I hunt Wisconsin. I, I've got, My home property, which is five acres, which is probably my best piece of ground. But that's, lately it's just been, I've been bringing friends and family over to shoot their first deer, their first buck, shoot some dos like fun hunts like that at the house, which has been great.

Then my in-laws have a 140 acres that we hunt a lot, but I didn't hunt at all last year. So for gun season, my dad, and then I've got a lease that I jumped down with a buddy and pun that a few times. So I've got a few options. My lease is early season. My house is just bonus hunting.

Yeah. Cause I can, hop down there and hunt for an hour. And then the family property is the family hunting stuff, which is great. Lucky enough to you going to Alaska on a caribou hunt this fall. Whoa. Nice. So that'll be a fun adventure. Definitely an adventure. We are as green as it comes when it comes to chasing caribou.

So my buddy Luke and I are gonna, Head West in September and cut our teeth and up in the Brooks Range and see if we can get our ass beat [00:19:00] by some caribou. And then we do our company trip down in Kentucky every fall at Whitetail Crossing, which is a, just a special place. Brian's become a dear friend of mine.

I've hunted quite a few outfitters. I, not compared to some people, but and I haven't been to one that's better. And I always tell Brian, I say, Hey we're buddies so it doesn't matter, but the tough thing about being an outfitter is if I kill a deer, I'm supposed to, so you get no credit.

If I don't kill a deer, I'm pissed. Cause I paid and didn't kill a deer. So the challenge for you and your goal needs to be like, how do you make the guy happy, the experience that doesn't kill Exactly. And what he does, it's just a, it's a family owned biz. He's got a bunch of ground to haunt and that guy.

The whole time we're there and everybody else is there, just grinds. All he does is grind. His goal in life is to get people on deer make sure they have a good time. The food is incredible. The lodging's is fantastic. It's just a really fun place to just disconnect from work and just hang out with hunters and be in camp and [00:20:00] kill some deer occasionally.

So where's the what's the name of this one you said? Wait Till Crossing gets called. It's in Springfield, Kentucky. And he's also got a sister camp in Ohio, but we Yeah. Owe Hunt the Kentucky one. Nice. That guy, he's won a heck of a deer hunter. Like he just, he has it. Yeah. Like I have friends that man, that kill guy kills a deer every year.

It's yeah, he, that guy gets it, but she knows how to, Kill deer, really? And Brian, that's he has it, but he also outworks everybody. So when you have to put those two things together, they just wear 'em out. Yeah. And I've been lucky enough to I take the guys down there for a week and I'm, I always say, put me in a new spot you're trying to test out.

And I'm just down there to hang out and I've been lucky and went to for two the last two years. At some point the horseshoes gonna disappear, but It's a special place and Brian does a, just an incredible job. He plants a ton of domain too, which is fun. He's just tr he used to just feed exclusively.

And now he's probably planting 40, 50 acres of domain and strategic spots and it's really actually helped cut down his [00:21:00] feed bill because he was going through just corn. Just. Tons and tons of corn. And he's been able to really cut down on his costs, which is pretty cool too.

Yeah. When you think about it. Yeah. Improve habitat, improve hunting, cut down costs. That's a win. That is a win. That's what I'm, my dad is going to be retiring in the next couple of years, maybe within two. He always says three. I feel like he's been saying three to last five years, and retire. Yeah retire, retire. Yep. So that's what and I know he's al he, he wants to have that experience and. I feel like he's afraid of what you just said, if you go and you pay, you don't, and I want to take him somewhere with exactly what you said is someone that's, regardless of what happens, he's going to have an experience that he will be ex so happy that he was there and didn't feel like he was, quote unquote, at an outfitter.

Just an awesome hunting camp just because, he's grow, he's grew up his whole life hunting and doing all that type of stuff, but he's never. I don't know. Like we could, if you're like, Hey, Jeremy, let's go to Ohio or something like that. We could camp and have that my dad doesn't [00:22:00] want to do that.

He wants to go somewhere, have the food. You know what I mean? And yeah, for sure. You know the experience. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I think the challenge without outfitted Hunt sometimes is the pressure you put on yourself. Because you paid money to go do it. And I, for whatever reason, maybe I'm just, I don't know, just an old dumb redneck for some reason I've gotten beyond that where I.

I'm not there to kill a deer. I'm there to unplug from work, hang out with my buddies, and enjoy just sitting in a tree and hunting. And I've gotten way better at that in the last probably four or five years. I used to hunt to kill big deer. That's it. Yeah. And I almost got burned out from it, and now I've taken a different approach.

I just, I love to hunt. I'm gonna enjoy it. No pressure. If I kill a deer, awesome. I'm gonna be super excited. If I don't, I'm happy that I can be out there hunting and. I've killed more big deer in the last five years than I have in my entire life. Yeah. So I don't know if it's coincidence or what it is.

And I've been trying to not coach, but help my guys who work here cuz they, like I said, they're more passionate about hunting deer than I am. [00:23:00] They just are, they're, they are just wired, they're obsessed. And I see a lot of my old self in them. Yeah. Where they just get so caught up in it where it's all about winning and losing.

If I kill one, I win. If I don't wanna lose, and that's, I don't think that's how, that's not healthy. And it doesn't help you peel big deer, right? So I've been trying to not just trying to instill kinda my way of thinking of how I go about it and how just take the pressure off. Cause you know, what if that big deer does show up and you're all.

Tight and coiled up because it, it's like the biggest time of moment of your life, you're probably gonna screw up. So find a way to look past that and be thankful that you're in a tree hunting a big deer or whatever it is. Win, lose, or draw. I don't know. I just think it's a a better approach.

You can still be passionate without being obsessed because I just don't want those guys to get into the situation and not be burnt out even. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So hunting is supposed to be fun. And whether you shoot spikes or forks or just [00:24:00] big deer, it can be fun no matter what. Yeah. And that's, thankfully I've been able to hunt a lot and it's changed my perspective a little bit and it's made hunting a heck of a lot more fun the last few years for me.

I love sitting in that dang tree. In November I hunt, that's what I hunt. I work all year and I hunt in November and. I love it. Let's just take the guesswork out of building your own arrows for this upcoming season by ordering a custom set of MMT arrows from Exodus outdoor gear. They have developed and sourced literally the most precise archery components on earth.

To build a tailored arrow for your hunting adventures, just head over to Exodus website and plug in your specifications in the arrow builder and have your custom set sent straight to your door. And use code au 12 to save 12% off your custom set over@exodusoutdoorgear.com. What's funny, what you said is, I remember I.

Couple years ago, like you said, just and I don't think I had that mentality of win or [00:25:00] loss, because I wasn't as quote unquote obsessed as I am now with it. I heard it cuz I loved it and I, but I remember being like, how you said this so tight wired and when that buck would come it's just oh my gosh, this has to happen.

And just so tight. Whereas now, I'm enjoying it and a buck or a dough. And I, and in all honesty, I know like even just like calming myself to, to shoot a dough and putting on that a good shot and all that type of stuff. I, like this year I didn't get a chance to kill a buck, but I had some really good encounters on some of the bigger, biggest deer that I've had opportunities on, and I play back those moments in my head.

And I keep saying to myself, man, the process and your, the way I've gone about it, I'd think I would hope in that situation it would've gone good because I wasn't as like tight coiled, and I felt you were composed. Yeah. I was a little bit more to some degree. Yeah. Yeah. I hone like [00:26:00] honestly, Mike, I was, and What's funny, like I had a really cool encounter this past year with a pie ball that I was planning on shooting.

I just, he didn't give me that opportunity, like he was close enough. It just the shot window and he ended up, something spooked him and he bounded a while and he was just basically, butt to my face and I tried to stop him and when I stopped him at 35 yards, he took off and It took maybe 30 seconds after that when he was gone.

Like I took a deep breath and I just remember being calm, cool and collected and then all of a sudden I got the shake. The shake. Yeah. Like I videoed my foot and I messaged my dad and I was like, yeah, he came in, he got me real fired up now. But like I remember in that moment I was, I've had people on and they were.

Like Greg Glitzing he's from New Jersey and he's been going after killing bucks for a very long time, and I remember him saying, Yeah. Like he, there's a saying in his head where he is like, time to kill. You know [00:27:00] what I mean? He just, yeah. It's almost like a business mentality, and for us playing sports our whole lives, it's like there's that moment where I finally feel like I've connected those two where, yeah I th I thrived on opportunities when, as a baseball player, when it was up to me, either I'm gonna hopefully extend this game, win this game, or lose this game.

Yeah. And I, or. If it's a tight one to get that last out. I know good friends of mine that in their head they're probably saying, don't hit it to me. Don't hit it to me. Don't hit it to me. And I'm like, come on the ball too. I want the ball And And I finally feel like this past year I was able to calm down and mesh that, that mentality and that physicality of it.

So yeah, that's a neat connection. I like that. Yeah. I like that analogy. Yeah. Bottom of the ninth, I want the ball or, I want that six foot putt to win it. Yep. And when I think once you can get that feeling that. People might think the words are on, but like you, you go into that kill mode where you just, you're focused, you're you're composed, and maybe it's for [00:28:00] five seconds, whatever it is. Trust me, when it's, once the shots released, I need to sit down. Yeah. I'm shaking so bad and when the, when that goes away, I'll quit. But yeah, it's I don't know, maybe it's maturity. I hate to think I'm, I don't know. I don't know.

Perspective, maturity, whatever it is. Yeah. I recommend it. I'm with you. So like you were saying you have that horseshoe going this past year. You shot a really nice buck. Where did where was that, how was that, what story could you share with us on about that hunt? So that was at Whitetail Crossing down at Kentucky on our annual hunt.

We go the last week of October. My favorite time to hunt because you got deer that they're pre-up. So you've got mature deer on their feet in daylight. That are semi unpredictable. When you're humping the rut, anything can happen, which is awesome. But when you go to an outfitter like this and you have five days and you got five guys and you want everybody to try to have an opportunity, it's the best time of the year to have an opportunity.

In my opinion. My brother-in-law, Tim and I were hunting this farm that Brian has, and he had two really good shooters on it. I was hunting this big wide 10 [00:29:00] pointer short time. And then my brother-in-law, Tim, was hunting this big 13 pointer little narrower with taller tins and whatever.

And first day in I, I saw nothing. No dear. And whatever, who cares, is beautiful out. So it was like, wind's not good. The next, that night we'll go somewhere else. I said the next, then the next day. So the wind's right, like you're gonna sit there all day. Perfect. So I, day two, I go to the spot where I hadn't seen a deer.

I saw one fall in the morning. And he's Mike, this deer, is he's on a pattern. He's there. Just, I was like, man I'll sit on the moon if that's what you're telling me to sit. I don't care. Yeah. So I'm going in there for this 10 pointer that's on a pattern and Timmy's gonna go in there for this big 13 point or whatever the heck it is.

And wind is, Perfect. For the spot. And I always laugh about perfect wind cuz no matter where it's blowing somewhere, right? Yep. And sure enough, you're like half hour before dark two fawns and a dough come out right down wind from bedding. I was like, oh God, this is terrible.

They come out and start feeding the out in front of me and pretty soon here I hear some crunch and I look and here comes the buck and it's a an eight pointer and he comes and stands right [00:30:00] down, wind right under my tree. I was like, this is about to get bad. Yeah. This is gonna blow up.

Yep. And you can hear him crunching acorns. And then pretty soon he goes out and starts bumping those dos and I can hear like a guttural barrack. And I kinda looked around the corner of the tree, right down wind. Again, here comes a deer that I just. I kinda looking, I was like, yep. That's all.

Yeah, that's all I saw. Just yep, he's good enough. And did the same thing that Little Buck did. And then he came up and I was at full drop for what felt like six weeks, but it was probably 30 seconds. And he finally gave me a nice quartering away shot and I shot him and entered a little further back than I wanted, but I had a really good strong quarter.

So it ended up getting, Liver long, liver won long. And we came back that night because it was gonna rain. I was like, let's just get on the trail and see. And we ended up finding him probably a couple hundred, eh, 150 yards, 200 yards away from, I shot him and and his first bed and it was the deer, Timmy was something No way.

A big 13 pointer. And everybody at camp was giving me shit. They're like, how do you shoot a deer? You don't know what it was. [00:31:00] And I was like, cuz once I knew that it was a deer, I wanted to shoot. My mind doesn't go to like how many points, how wide is it? My mind goes to kill modes. Yep. Like how do I get an arrow into this deer?

And, a good shot. Do all the right things to make sure this is successful. And all the guys were asking me and I was like, I don't know what deer it was. I don't care. All I know is it was big enough. Yeah. And then sure enough, it was the big one that Timmy sh Timmy was the deer that. Brian sent us four weeks before hunting here's the deer I want you guys to shoot.

And that never happens. Trust me. Nor Yeah. I always shoot a deer. It's I've never seen that deer before. Yeah. But it was so funny. It came down wind with a perfect wind. That's just hunting, right? Yeah. It was the deer, Timmy was hunting the other side of the 600 acre farm, and it's just funny how it wor, it is just funny.

And also too, like it was the third time I sat in that stand and I'd seen one deer, the prior two sits. But Brian's trust me. Like this is the spot. And he just knows how it works. And the worst thing to do in an out figure is to not listen. Yeah. The second guess. Yeah. Trust me, I am a, I'm not an [00:32:00] expert, but I'm a very good hunter.

I know what I'm doing when I go there. Tell me where to go. And that's kinda why I like it too. Like I, I can just take some of the. I don't know, stress out of it. Just tell me where to go. Sit there. I'm gonna love it. Yeah. And I, like I said, it was, Almost 152 inch, 13 point, which is my biggest deer.

Yeah. I shoot every one 40. I see. So happy to shoot a one 50. So when you're talking about like for the downwind and you had the perfect win, what kind of access were you had it take consideration of getting to your stand location basically? Yeah, I had good access. It was a kind of a trail cut through the timber.

It was, the access was good. I wasn't gonna bump deer in that regard. But typically there's two different bedding sites that access this food and they were always coming from the one where the south wind was perfect. I suppose during pre rut, those bucks can bump deer and be in places where they aren't normally.

So they were coming from a whole different side of the farm which happened to be. From the south and or sorry, from, I had that [00:33:00] south wind coming into it and it's oh boy. Yeah. For whatever reason, the thermal must have, it was warm enough where the thermal was still rising a little bit, or who knows what.

But I take. From a scent control standpoint I'm more of a wind guy than a than a nuke. All my stuff in Scent Crusher, sorry. I don't disagree with it and I don't disagree with all the other things at work. I just, I don't know, I just old school in that regard. And those deer come right down, wind and shoot, I shot him at 15 yards maybe I just got lucky.

I don't know. That's awesome. What, that's my story, yeah. Yeah. What, how else was your, the rest of your hunting season and when you got back or Fantastic. Yeah. I hunted three times in Wisconsin. I didn't bow on much. Took my dog out pheasant a lot, which I love to do.

So I did a lot. He's 10 now, so I'm trying to maximize the last. 20 years of his life. Yeah. And so I do a lot of FEA hunting and then I spend gun season with my family hunting the whole nine day. It's, that's our. Gun season in Wisconsin is a national holiday. It's a just an incredibly fun time where you just get together with your [00:34:00] boys, you see once a year and spend seven days at camp.

And and I, the deer behind me right here, I actually shot on public ground this gun season, so That's awesome. Yeah, it's a, it's not why I gun hunt. I gun hunt to hang out with my guys and let the kids shoot the deer and it was just my turn, yeah. Tradition. It's very similar to Pennsylvania.

You know what I mean? Yep. And that's like when I watch certain videos of either like when Jake from the hunting public, he'll post his hunting experiences like with his family up in Wisconsin. Yeah. And I watch that. I, you could very, you could see the very, the similar, family traditions, the heritage, just all that is very similar to Pennsylvania.

I've been going to hunting camp since I could walk. Yeah. I've been lucky. My dad had hunting camps in the north woods all growing up and then now as he's gotten older he kinda hunts with me opening weekend at our camp. And then I hunt with my buddies the whole week and a lot of these guys have been hunting for 25 years and I only see him once a year and it's like a brotherhood where.

It's just so fun and we hunt hard during bo [00:35:00] season. We're trying to kill good, mature deer. And during gun season, that kind of goes out the way that kind of goes out the window, which is fun actually. It's all about, getting the kids deer and helping others get deer.

And we do old fashioned deer drives and it's, it is incredible, the teamwork. It reminds me of, I grew up. Playing sports. That's all, that's what I did. Yeah. Highly competitive, played sports and it reminds me of that team atmosphere playing sports and all the guys that I hunt with played sports too.

And some of the older guys, coach sport and it, we all have that same feeling about, it's just, it's a team and it's so much fun. And when a guy shoots a deer at the end of the drive, there's 24 dudes that are just as happy as the guy that shot it. And that for me. That's a, that's an experience unlike anything I've ever had in my life.

We're on public ground back in the boonies. It feels like you're out west. There's nothing around. It's, it is, it's magical. Yeah, it's magical. I haven't my buddy Jim, he, when he does And another friend of mine from New York, his name's Bill, bill Harvey. He comes down with [00:36:00] a big group of people to Pennsylvania, the northern part, Potter County, which is the big woods here in Pennsylvania.

And he'll have a group of, I was supposed to go this past year, but I couldn't make it. There was like 30 of them and they have, they have it mapped out to the T and it is serious. It's not, it's not don't mess this up. And Jim actually shot one of his, if not the, it wasn't his biggest buck cuz he shot a real big one couple years ago.

That's one 40 something. But but this buck, he was a doozy and it was cool to, to hear his stories and exactly what you're saying is, He's dens, you have to come like you, I'm telling you. Come to this. And I was planning on it. I just, plans change for me, but it is it's a very cool experience in hearing them.

I've listened to their recap on like when, on Bill's podcast, when he's talked about it and he just, some of the cool stories they all share and the celebratory between them all, when. Like you said, when someone gets it, and I think they were pretty successful this past year and it's cool to see we're we our best year ever?

[00:37:00] Yeah. We had six deer that went on the wall. Wow, that's awesome. On public ground. I was putting on 10, 11 miles a day. Yeah. So it's not like it was a chip shot. That's what I love though. I mean that it takes me back to out hunting out west and I, I definitely enjoy.

Getting out there and getting after it. Yeah. So cuz I know you for time wise for Alaska, what's anything that you have to get ready for? As far as gear wise or you're like, oh shit, I need to get this piece of thing that I forgot about. I don't wanna say we've bit off more than we can chew, but when we quote unquote signed up to do the hunt, I don't know that we fully understood what we were doing.

Yeah. So we're hunting out of a U-Haul van. Yeah. That's base camp which will be a first experience for both of us. We're hunt with bows. We've got all the gear from hunting out west a bunch with elk. An inflatable raft is one of the new pieces of gear that we've Okay. Added because where we're hunting a lot of spot in stock, but you can see for a hundred miles.

But there's rivers everywhere and they're not like, just walk [00:38:00] across rivers. So that'll be a new experience. Experience of seeing the car be like, all right, let's go after that one and blow up our raft and float across. That's a new one for me. Yep. Otherwise I think we're, I think we're dialed in for the most part.

Fortunately up in Alaska, they're used to a lot of the outdoor stuff. So from a like meat perspective, like fish boxes are. You just buy once you get up there. If you kill one, we'll buy some fish boxes and we'll get 'em back, get the meat back that way. So we're lucky in that regard. It's, it'll be an adventure.

We're flying into Anchorage and then from Anchorage to Fairbanks, then driving and it's a, it's gonna be wild. Zero. I have zero expectations. I fully. Plan to come back with my tag unpinched. And just an incredible experience of caribou and muskox and grizzly bears and wolves and all the things that we don't see here, and I may never see again in my lifetime.

I'm a, I'm along for the ride. My good buddy Luke's gonna be hunting with me and he Unselfishly enough. I always seems to get out of the way when [00:39:00] the bull elks come in and I shoot it and it pisses me off. So this time he's gonna kill the caribou. If I have to throw my bow into the river, he's gonna kill the dang caribou.

It'll be a, it'll be a lot of fun. We're gonna have, it's gonna be a blast. He can't screw it up. But it's gonna be something out, out of our comfort zone as far as hunting. Yeah, we've never hunted caribou. We've never been to Alaska. It's gonna be a fun adventure. That sounds like fun.

Not a lot of people get a chance to say they hunted, Alaska and and anybody that has done it recently, all they talk about is how they can't wait to go back. That's exactly what I was told. You're gonna wanna come back. It's I believe it. Yeah. I want to see it.

Yeah, we see it to believe it. It'll be fun. Yeah. It'll be a lot of fun. How about you before we Yeah. Tie up here, what about you? What do you got cooking this fall? This fall, I obviously Pennsylvania, I plan on doing Ohio. I bought, okay. I went out and killed a Ohio Turkey during their first couple days.

And with the license, all you have to do is buy the whitetail tag. So I have two weekends of October. Perfect. And make it like go out Friday [00:40:00] almost. Yep. Yeah, just two weekends, back to back regardless. And then I believe then early, was it November? Whatever that. Fourth or fifth is, I think it's a Friday or Saturday.

Okay. I'm planning on going to Missouri and hunting with a couple buddies for a few days there, and then Perfect. And then that leads into that weekend of, what is it like the 13th or whatever that is that leads into that Sunday where we could hunt here in Pennsylvania. That's one of the Sundays we could hunt here, gotcha. I plan on. Sounds like a pretty good stretch of hunting there. Yeah, it does. And I'm excited because there's, I put a lot of, I put all my eggs in back at home in northeastern Pennsylvania last year and this year for me, Mike, for my spring. I did not coach for the first time in 10 years, so I, okay.

I've been scouting a lot more where I currently live just to have Yeah. Options and opportunities and I told the misses that, hey, on, on certain Saturdays, if Nora, my daughter wants to go out, like I'll take her if if it's not great or the [00:41:00] morning's not great, like I'll, maybe I'll go in the evening.

I want to, like how you were saying, I want to play it a little bit, and I say this now in May, but I, and who knows when October rolls around, I'm gonna be a psycho again. I'm just want to go hunt. But right now I'm gonna try to do my best where. Because of taking those trips. I want to be cautious of my family and let them know hey, like I'll, I'm here.

But when those opportunities come about that I plan on going here with my friends, I, I'll, I'm here. And they're not too far. You, that's my life in the fall. I've got my trips and that, that's when I seriously focus on hunting. Good, bad, or otherwise around home. I use my cameras to And like I said, I hate to do it, but I try to spend as much time with my family as I can because there's a lot of time, I'm gone in November, my wife's on her own and Yeah.

However, if I get a shooter popping at the house, I'm gonna go hunt one night. That's just how I roll. Yeah. So that's, you gotta have, you have to have that balance. Balance. Yep. And I feel, and I finally feel like because of not coaching, I would be gone all spring, right?

From [00:42:00] January, basically un until now, June. And then, you have this summer months we do things and then it's all of a sudden it's ramped back up again for hunting. But now that's eliminated, now it's just hunting. Yeah, that's nice. So I, I have that. I'll give you that balance, that peace of mind that'll be good for you.

Yep. And like I said, this past year, Because of the deer that I had on camera and opportunities. It was every weekend. I went home, I went to northeast pa or if a buck showed up on a weird Monday, I randomly, I got that stomach bug the next day from Yeah. You know what I mean?

So I plan on not doing that this year. I plan on saving those days for when it actually matters for those trips and Perfect. Yeah. And like you said, having that balance and continue to work on I improving in the best way that I can. Yeah I'm excited. Excited, man. This should be a fun stretch for you.

You never have too many tags or too many places to hunt, yep. I'll be paying close attention come fall to see how many. I'm gonna dare you knock down. Yeah. If you don't knock down many, I'm sure you'll have a good time anyways. Absolutely, man. It's just nice to get out and explore and find new places and yeah.

That's fun. I'm excited for you. I [00:43:00] appreciate it, man. Mike, dude, this was a fun catch up episode. I appreciate your time and I know you're busy, man. And I, dude, I, thanks for being flexible and sticking with me. Hey, thanks for being dude. I appreciate you and being flexible with me as well with it.

Absolutely. I appreciate it. Mike, where could people fall along? Check you out this upcoming fall, this summer, and obviously please, if you're already not doing so, people follow domain, but Mike, go ahead and take it away with, where could people follow you guys? Yeah, you can visit our website, www.domainoutdoor.com.

We've got. Thousands of retailers throughout the country, please shop them and support your local retailers. Or on Facebook or on Instagram. We're on TikTok even imagine that. Good, bad, otherwise. And then we've got our Beers and Bucks podcast, which is live. Yep. Really once a month on Facebook. Love this shirt.

Saw that we're actually having one tonight. That'll be live. It'll live on our feed and then it'll be on wherever podcasts are found. I appreciate you Jeremy. This has been a blast. It's been great getting to know you over the years. I enjoy friendships where you can not see one another for six [00:44:00] months or whatever it is, and you just pick up right back off.

And and I'm happy to see your success and look forward to seeing more of it. So thank you, Mike. Same goes for you man. I appreciate it. All right everybody. Thanks again for tuning in. We'll see you next week. Aunt Lu. Up. That's a wrap for this week's episode of the Antler Podcast. Wanted to say thank you so much for everybody tuning in.

If you like what you heard, go give it a five star review over on Spotify and iTunes, and also write one in that iTunes there for that review. We got a good one for you. Next week we have Ike Eastman on from Eastman's Hunting Journal Tag Hub 2.0 is about to be released or is released already at this time, so be on the lookout for that one next Wednesday.

Thanks again for all the support everybody. Aunt Laura.

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