BOWFEST 2023

On this episode of The Nomadic Outdoorsman Dan and Sam talk with some of their most memorable guests from their time at Bowfest 2023.

Dan kicks off the conversation with Bowfest Project Manager and Mont Du Lac Resort GM Mike Ohara to talk about the event. He then sits down with his wife Samantha and fellow vendors Todd and Melanie to hear about the coolest products at Bowfest and hear about their passion for the outdoors. Dan and Sam then hear from Bailey Dahlberg about her involvement with a nonprofit designed to get disabled vets and their families out on the water. Last but not least they talk with new hunter Cooper Romundstad about a very memorable first deer.

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Connect with Mont Du Lac Resort

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Connect with Antlered Mugworks

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Connect with Our Heros Tour

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[00:00:00] All right guys. Welcome to the show. I'm excited about this show. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this episode, but that's because we just got back from Bo Fest. My wife and I went up to Superior Wisconsin, shot some three D courses, hung out with a bunch of other vendors, met all around outdoors men and women, and it was just a really cool opportunity for us to go and connect with other people in our community.

Other like-minded individuals who love to shoot bows and love to hunt. And I can't tell you how many pictures we swapped, like trail cameras, dude, check out this book. I got this one on camera. Also, I got 15 different invites to go hunt places, and now I've gotta figure out how many my wife is actually gonna let me go hunt.

But my voice is gone because I was talking basically all weekend, whether it was just connecting with people at the booth or actually interviewing them on the podcast or shouting at the top of my lungs trying to communicate. During the music at [00:01:00] night, so this is an amazing episode, but I'm gonna break it down for you real quick.

We had a lot of people stop by and sit down to record. If I went one by one and did them all in a row one week at a time, we'd be halfway through archery season by the time I finished. So I took some of the more memorable interviews that I did throughout the week and put them all into one episode, condense it down so that you guys could get a feel for what BOFU is like.

The variety of people that show up, the different vendors, the guests, the management, and their view for it. And I think this is gonna be a really cool episode. So first up, we've got Mike O'Hara. He is the project manager for Bo Fest and he is the GM at Lac Resorts, and that's the resort that hosted Bo Fest.

I'm telling you, it was unbelievable. Mike and his team hooked us up big time and we had a lot of fun up there. Then we talked to Todd and Melanie. Now these guys were at a booth not that far from us and we had walked by it one [00:02:00] day and it just caught my eye. I couldn't look away. And then after a few days, like we had been connecting with Todd and Melanie in a few different areas, and we got to sit down with them and hear about the start of their company.

Hear about the product, hear about their passion, their love for one another. And I'm telling you right now, I wish I coulda got a YouTube video of this because us talking about these mugs is not gonna do them justice. When you go somewhere. And it's just like the most beautiful place. The mountains are awesome, the different colors in the sky, the water, whatever.

And then you go back to tell somebody about it and it just doesn't do it justice. And even a picture of it, you take a picture and you're like, man, it's just not as good as being there. That's how I feel about these mugs. Everybody needs to check them out in person. They need to get one for themselves.

And so we're gonna talk to Todd and Melanie. It's an awesome conversation and I really can't wait to get one [00:03:00] of my own. I wanna do a custom one, and you're gonna hear more about that in that interview. After that, we talked to Bailey Dahlberg from our Heroes Tour. Now this is an amazing organization that gets veterans and their families out on the water doing sports that maybe they didn't think were gonna be possible after suffering an injury serving our country.

One of the really cool things about it is they bring a videographer and photographer out there so that people don't have to be on their phones. You know what, I'm not gonna spoil any more of this, but Bailey is super awesome and she was probably my most visited booth of the entire event because she had free monsters.

I am a sucker for mango monsters and every day she's stop buying and get one quick grabbing the warm ones off the table. Come get a cold one outta the cooler. And so that is a really awesome interview. And then we wrap this whole episode up with Cooper. Roman said he is a young guy that. Honestly, I had multiple [00:04:00] people come up to me and say, dude, you gotta interview Cooper.

He is just diehard. He's super passionate. And he came over to the booth earlier in the week and he was like, dude, who shot that deer? Who shot that elk? How big is that one? How did that one happen? You could just see the passion in his eyes and you could just hear how excited he was to just connect and share stories and find out more about how he could be a better hunter.

And like I said, unique episode. I think you guys are gonna really love this one, because I enjoyed each and every one of these conversations. So let's kick this one off by jumping in with Mike. Like he was doing things that were just badass. That was one of the coolest moments of my life. I was really scared, but knowing that Dane had the gun, I did have the rifle, like we would be okay.

Her. All right guys, welcome back to the show. And [00:05:00] today we're on with Mike O'Hara with Mont Delac Resorts. Mike, what's your official title here? I'm the Resorts general Manager project manager basically for the Bo Fest event. And conveniently a janitor. Very often you are just the resident problem solver, I feel like.

Sure. For an event like that. I guess that's that's the perfect title. That's awesome. This is a sweet event. I grew up in Eau Claire, but it sounds like this event started after I moved out outta state, which I don't feel as bad. Not knowing about it, but now knowing about it, I'm like, man, I wish I had been here from the beginning.

This is a sweet deal. It's been super fun. Might've been a celebration for when you left the state, wow. I didn't know we were going that direction with this episode. No, this is cool. How long have you guys been doing this? We've been doing archery events since 2014.

But Bo Fest really became the combination of the art, the sport of archery, and then combining it with that family friendly festival atmosphere in 2018. So since 2018 we've been Bo Fest. [00:06:00] Okay, sweet. And have you been part of it from the get-go, from day one? That's sweet. It's a cool, it's a super cool location.

So in the winter you got, it's a snowboarding skiing resort. You've got the lifts, you've got all this stuff, there's lakes around. It just seems like year round there's something to do here. Yep. That was the mission when I came here originally was basically how do you take a ski hill that's open for 112 days a year?

And, converted into something that's viable and great for the community, your own. Yeah. And I was talking with you and Larry the other night at the bar, and you guys were telling me about the even surrounding properties. Like it's virtually undeveloped around you guys. It just seems like we're in the middle of this amazing wilderness, hanging out with a bunch of like-minded people.

That's true. Larry obviously know the exact acreage, but there's thousands of I guess land that's, that belongs both to national Forest, the state of Wisconsin. And then we're this little keyhole access point that's privately held that [00:07:00] allows you to get access to, thousands of acres of state land as well.

Sweet. So how many people do you guys typically see here at Beas? We're running about, we're. Three to 3,500 people a day during the main portion of the event, Beau Fest is really about a week long. Starts on Monday for people who have access passes. They get to come and use the facility and shoot.

But the main event, of course, starts on Thursday at 7:00 AM Okay. And then at night you get, there's concerts. It's a full on stage. Tons of people. Last night was rocking. You guys had a hairball out there. That was my first experience. Everyone I've talked to since they, everybody knows hairball around this area.

And even my parents, they just came in today and they're like, no way. We see them all the time. We go to Country Fest, we go to Country Jam. Like we see 'em everywhere we go, but huge concerts, tons of people out there hanging out until, what, 1130 last night? Oh yeah. That's the, I think the music ended at 1130 [00:08:00] Hairballs a unique phenomenon in the area.

But we were talking to some people from California that asked us if we knew who Hairball was. I said yeah, they'll be here actually at Bo Fest. They've been here every year for I think the last four years. Great great entertainment. They play a lot of favorites. And then we just, I think, yeah, we put a pretty nice music lineup for Fri Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Bo Fest every year.

So you got about five hours, five hours of music to enjoy in the evening after you come back in from the woods and the target ranges. Yeah, it's cool. They do the big, they do the big program at night, but like even now we've got Michael Waddell and his son and somebody else right behind us on stage singing, playing guitar, hanging out.

And the overall atmosphere here is amazing and it's definitely a place that we're gonna come back to year after year. Huh. We're excited to keep it going and have you back. Yeah, we've got, let's see, there's three main stages depending on your vision of a main stage. But we've got bands that play down at the beach bar during the day, out on our mid stage at Base Lodge.

And then [00:09:00] of course, the main event stage at night. Plus inside the bar there's a stage at the base lodge. The trophy lodge has live music. So you can find a lot of things to do. You don't have to be I guess diehard, archery, you could bring the whole family out and everybody has an opportunity, I think, to do something.

The vendors are great. There's a multitude of technology and items for out outdoor outfitting and the sport vendors are great. Yeah. I encourage anybody listening to this, come check it out if you're in the area right now or if you're gonna be around next to you or come check it out.

We've run into multiple people now from Missouri that are actually up here. And a couple different people that have been on the podcast before and they're like, dude, we couldn't believe you were coming. And so we're super excited to be here. Like I said, an event we'll do year after year, and you guys have crushed it.

You knocked it outta the park with this. Thank you. All right, guys. Here is a hot tip for last minute scouting before the season starts, and that is to break out your optics and get boots on the ground [00:10:00] on your hunting property. Find a spot where you're not gonna be noticed, where you're not gonna disrupt their patterns, but that you can observe them transitioning from feeding to bedding, and hopefully put you in a spot to have a close encounter.

During season. For that, I break out my entire arsenal of Vortex products. I've got my Fury 5,000 range finding binoculars, my razor HD spotting scope, several different tripods as well as my window mount for while I'm driving. Because if I see a deer out in the field and want to get a better look, I can hook my binos right to that or my spot or write to that.

And who knows, maybe it's a property that I look into getting permission on. So if you want to check out these products, you can also save money when you head to euro optic.com. That is EU R O P T I c.com and enter code nomadic 10 at checkout.

Now, I will say our table [00:11:00] looks better than it has all day, and that's because you guys have your mugs up here. Right now I'm sitting down with Todd, Melanie Strep and. You guys, I have to say you have the best booth or the best presence. What? No. The most attractive or it draws people in. Yeah.

Probably more than any other booth that I've ever seen. We may trade show come second just 'cause people wanted to score your dear. But I feel like that's doing a disservice to their booth though. Very much absolutely. If this is the second, you take antlers and horns and you create the coolest artwork I've ever seen.

Thank you. Thank you. That's yeah. Wow. 'cause it never gets it's my eight years now. Yeah. Full time. And it never gets old. I never get tired of the compliments. As you're complimenting me now, and I'm listening to you, it reminds me of the very first show I did. When you almost have to keep from having tears like, wow, people really love my work.

Yeah. Because just because you do something, you pour your heart into something and your energy and your soul and your passion, [00:12:00] and when somebody else is admiring it, it does hit your heart. Yeah. Yeah. So to hear the compliments, even eight years later, it's I still have that humble oh my gosh, people are still loving my work.

Like people are really loving this and it's awesome. Yeah. It's just one, it's eye catching. But then last night at the v I P dinner, I was hearing some of your story as we were talking to the guys from KU U and Oh, up at the dinner. Yeah. Yeah. We were, I was listening to you talk about it and just hear your guys' passion for this stuff, and then hearing the detail and like how the business progressed and how you went from like your first show and all of a sudden people were like, almost hunting you down, trying to find out more.

How do you get more, like what all can you do? I just like when people can take a memory, especially like of hunting, because you do custom stuff. Yeah. You can incorporate antlers and I guess Yeah. For the listeners, explain what it is. Yeah. I was gonna, this isn't video. I'm gonna let you guys explain on air what we're [00:13:00] looking at right here, because I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it.

Circus, and we'll put a picture on Instagram and Oh, yeah. Okay. The other platforms for people to see, but for those listening Yeah. What's in front of us? I'll give you the kind of short version of how it got started. Sweet. Back in 1993, I was like 21 years old and I was at a Rendezvous reenactment, Prairie Ddue Rendezvous, as a matter of fact.

And, I saw a gentleman with a horn mug, basically out of cow horn and an antler handle. It was really raw and crude. It had nails sticking out of it. Yeah. The guy's drinking out of it. And I just thought, I'm like, man, that is really cool. Instead of using metal or plastic, I'm like, mother Nature.

Yeah. It's like a horn cup. So I went home and I made one. I made myself one 'cause I wanted to have a horn cup and and it was authentic and period. Correct. Drinking out a raw horn, a cow horn. That was. And so I made one and as I'm using it, people would be like, oh, that's really cool or neat, where'd you get it?

And I'm like I made it. And I never like, oh, this is my idea. I created this. It's my take on it. Yeah. Horn mugs go back to Primitive Man and The Vikings. We all know [00:14:00] that. So I never claim, it's my idea. Yeah. Yeah. And I didn't steal anything. No. I just, I'm gonna make my own horn cup. Yeah. So people would be like, oh, can you make me one?

And I'm like, okay. Ever since I was a kid, the coloring books and crayons. I've always had the desire to create, I never stopped doing art or building and creating. Yeah. So I was building these mugs and people would be like, oh, make me one. Oh, okay. And what do you want on it? Or artwork or whatever.

And then it just was snowballing and all of a sudden I just kept experiencing with artwork and next thing I'm selling like, 10 or 20 a year and I'm thinking, this is cool just for fun. And then it grew and all of a sudden, next thing you know, I'm selling 30 or 40 mugs a year. And then I didn't do it for a few years.

You get married, raise kids, build a house. Yeah. And then I picked it up again. I've always been building and I started doing them. And people would say to me even 10 years ago, they're like, you could do this for a living. Yeah. And I would laugh at them going, are you kidding? Yeah. My artwork is nothing like that.

So then it got to a point where enough people were wanting these that I made I was like 12 or 15 mugs. I paid $50 and went and set up at this [00:15:00] gymnasium and did a little show. And in two hours they all sold. Wow. And I went, holy cow. So I'll go make some more. Yeah. And the rest is history. So then eight years ago when I did that, then I started it looking different shows and people really interested in my work.

And then it just kept growing. And all of a sudden after I started it, I found myself in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the art fair out there. And I'm thinking, I can't believe I'm hanging in the big leagues. Yeah. And so now here I am today talking to you guys and it just keeps growing. And then the ideas and in anything you do, whether you're building houses, whether you're crafting, whether you're making dinner, yeah.

Yeah. The more you do it, the better you want to get If you're love and passionate, if you care about what you're doing. Yeah. And I love doing this, so I've literally been living my dream. If you dump your passion into something, you're not gonna fail. Yeah. Yeah. And here I am today, now eight years doing this full-time for a living, and it's really common for people to say, oh, I'm living the dream.

We all say we're living the dream. Yeah. Because, and I'm going, no, [00:16:00] I really am living my dream. I'm just gonna, living being my, yeah. Really living the dream. I'm making a living and being myself. Yep. And doing what I love to do. And to me that's the ultimate. That's cool. I even have to speak for Melanie.

Whenever I came to your booth today and then even last night at the dinner, she was hyping you up and she was like, he's amazing. His craft. He's like, all this stuff. And I'm like, I'm just, Todd, just hearing her talk about you and like just Todd, your, your skill and like your passion for it was great to hear as a wife, just like supporting her husband. 'cause I love, supporting Dan and podcasting or even his hunting. That was so cool to see. And the fact that, you guys get to do this together is awesome. Not only that, but like supporting those when Yeah. Oh my gosh.

When you're sitting at the table and everybody it's an catching thing, right? It's like a centerpiece Yes. In any setting. And you guys drink anything and everything out it, black, cold, coffee, whatever you want. We were joking earlier about getting the shaved ice or Kona ice or whatever.

I was like, have you ever had that in it? Leaving the point of We haven't yet. Yeah. But it's it's such an eye catching thing and the quality [00:17:00] and craftsmanship in it thank you is unbelievable. Yeah. I don't know if I said this over there or if I just told Sam, but I was like, if I had one third of that talent, that ability, like I would be doing so many awesome things.

Yeah. I say the same thing too. Yeah. I look at his work every single day. I get to come home and see what new creation he's made in the shop and what is in the studio. Yeah. So I get the first eye view of what he's creating and it's so exciting because some pieces just totally scream. Wow. Yeah. And we, she's become my biggest fan and my cheerleader best critic.

That's cool. And I say critic 'cause I check with my kids, I check with my family and it's don't just tell me it looks good. Be honest, because we're related. Tell me, if it doesn't look right. And right outta the gate with Melanie, not right after we met, she's looking at my work and I'd be working on a piece.

And in my mind I'm like, okay, the position from the nose to the ear isn't right when a white tail's turning like this. And the ear iss bothering me 'cause I don't feel I [00:18:00] have it right. But I don't say anything. Yeah. I said, and I'd be like, Melanie comes home and I'm like, Hey, what do you think of this whitetail?

She's the left ear isn't right. And I'm like, yes. You see what I see. So he has that connection. Yeah. And so I don't say anything to anybody and I want to see what do you notice about this mug or what I did here? And it's beautiful. And somebody who's used to seeing your work, right?

Because like for me, I couldn't be a good critic for you because I'm so blown away right out of the gate. I'm not gonna see by the first impression the flaws. I'm not gonna see, like I can't compare it to your other work that I've seen year after year or each project that you've done. So to have someone that's close to it and can actually say, okay, I noticed this about it.

Yep. That's gotta be extremely beneficial. And I don't know if Melanie has heard me say this yet in a couple weeks we'll have our three year anniversary from We Met. Oh, congrats. And my last show, somebody said, Oh my God. How did you ever think of this as a business? I said I didn't plan on it.

Yeah. I said it. I says, it's just like meeting my other half my life partner. I didn't plan on Melanie meet my life partner. I didn't see [00:19:00] her and been like, there it is. Yeah. Yeah. It just happened. And I said, I started this 30 years ago. I made a mug. Yeah. And even 10 years ago, I was just making 'em for fun.

And it just slowly happened. That's crazy. So sometimes now when somebody comes up to my table and they say how long does it take you to make this mug? I'm like 30 years. Yeah. And they'll look at me and I'm like thi it's taken me 30 years of practice to get them like this because it's perfection over time or striving to be.

Yeah. Yeah. And it just keeps getting better all the time. Yeah. Yeah. His work improves all the time. In new ideas. You showed us that, was it a moose Antler end table? Yeah. He made the tables like going from mugs to pieces of furniture. Yep. He uses them for displays whenever he has his shows. And then the pieces gets sold too.

So it's like a win-win. The benefit for me is my furniture changes all the time in the home. Oh. As a pieces all time. Best thing ever. And I'm like, oh, that one's gonna have to leave. Oh darn. Oh, shoot. Okay. He'll make another one. Did he prepare you for that? Don't get emotionally attached to this furniture?

I think I already knew that from the beginning because all of his stuff flies [00:20:00] out the door so fast and nothing stays in one place for very long. His art sells and it sells itself. So I see it. I get to enjoy the beauty of seeing it being created and watch it develop into this beautiful piece.

And then it goes away. And then I get to hear the backstories of the customers and the connections he has with people. And that's a beautiful thing too, 'cause I just love it. And then I get to meet these people and then I already know the backstory of these people and see the reaction. And it's just a really special union that I have with Todd.

I feel like I'm his biggest cheerleader. You are. She is. I feel like you are. She's, and I gotta give Melanie props. She's very modest. She has an artist eye. She has what I call the vision or the eye. Yeah. She gets it. Not long after we were together, we were in AR because Melanie's from Arizona. So we're at the art studios in Sedona, and we'd walk into a gallery and before I'm saying anything, I'm looking at a piece that's just blowing me away.

And not because of the price or anything like that, the quality. You see something that just grabs you. Yep. Or something about the piece, not the whole piece, but just maybe the way the eye is on a mountain [00:21:00] lion and it's just grabbing me. Yeah. And I'm standing there, just taking it, and Melanie comes up and she goes, oh my God, I'm just drawn to the eye.

Yeah. And I'm like, so it's one of those where that's how I feel. Yeah. Yeah. And so we share that same vision, like she sees what I see. Yeah. And has that feeling and it's awesome. That's so sweet. And real quick on a side note, so we were sitting in an establishment not long ago, drinking out of our mugs, and there's just a random couple up at the bar and they're like, oh, we love your mugs.

We had our hats on and they were complimenting, milling on her hat band. She made her own hat band for her hat. Yeah. It was about two weeks after that, the gentleman called and says, can you design one for my hat? And I'd like a bowl to go with it. Awesome. So now Melanie finds herself doing custom work.

Is so cool. So who knew? Yeah. I, being with Todd really does bring out the best in me because I have an artistic eye, like he's talking about. In my past, I used to do a lot of sketching and I loved art. Oh, that's, and I fell away from it for a long time. And since I've been with Todd, it's all starting to come out again and I'm starting to [00:22:00] create my own pieces.

And it's just really fun to feel myself growing back into who I was when I was younger. So I feel like I've been reborn Yeah. In a sense. To have those Todd. Yeah, to have those creative outlets is amazing. And it's funny because I see people with good creative outlets. I feel like mine is in the form of like physical, yeah.

Like I like doing something physical. I can sing. I can't, he can draw. I don't wanna He you draw. I can doodle. I can doodle for sure. But like she's a phenomenal dancer. I hear these mu musicians here and I'm like, dude, yeah. They don't let me sing Happy birthday at parties. That's how off I am.

And then I see you guys like with this amazing artwork and I'm like, this is just unbelievable. But I hear, and I feel like there's a certain vibe with people who have artistic ability. Like you guys, you're the easiest people to talk to. Yeah. You're so like genuine and kind, and like outgoing when you meet people and you just get that vibe from them.

Like they're just positive and like [00:23:00] uplifting. And I could hang out with them forever. Yeah. Like it's super, super cool. But I want to jump into, Like the mugs themselves, the handles, because you mentioned. You were asking about these antlers over here. Here Yeah. Elk. Yeah. And I feel like this could be beneficial, like making connections because a lot of my listeners will go out and find deer, antlers, elk antlers.

So you obviously have to get like source your antlers from somewhere. A lot of people will say, oh my God, you shed hunt. I'm like yeah, but those are my prize trophies. Yeah, for sure. Like I find a, I don't use, an should gone. I don't wanna cut. Cut it up. Yeah. So I. Purchase trade and buy the materials for what I do, whether it's the horn and the antler and the wood.

So I have a lot of incredible contacts. My favorite is running into people that say, oh, I got a box in my garage from my grandpa. And yeah, they're like, what are they worth? And I'm like, and when people come to me, I was like I'll tell you what they're worth. Top dollar Grady. Yeah. High price. Yeah.

I'll tell you what they're worth to me. And then you make the choice. Yep. 'cause I'll tell people, it's I might not give you top dollar for these if you [00:24:00] need to get that, that, I don't mess with people. It's about integrity and quality with people and anything you do. So I'm like, I'll tell people here's what they're worth to me.

And then what I love doing is or let's say I'm gonna buy a hundred dollars worth of antlers to somebody. I'll just say, Hey, if you like my artwork. Yeah. A hundred dollars off on the mock will trade with the antlers. Yeah. And three years ago I was at a show and someone in the crowd came up and says, I've got like a box of 200 shed.

And I said, okay, I only live five minutes from here. The guy says to me, and he brings him in and my buddy says, wow. He goes, you're not even shed hunting. They're coming to you. Yeah. Yeah. And I thought, yeah. 'cause shed hunting requires a lot of time. Yeah. You could spend days and not find one.

Yeah. For sure. So it's like his personal toy box. I'll come home and you'll say, look what I got today. Look God Uhhuh. It's, that's like your mom, Dan. Yeah. And she like, has bins of them. Yeah. How she does. She has so many And you're just telling me this now. Sorry. No I found out her secret and I felt bad this year.

'cause she's oh, when you drop your deer off to get it processed, like I don't take my whole deer [00:25:00] home when I come up here to hunt. Yeah. And so I went and dropped it off. She's just check and see if they have any antlers that people didn't want. And that has never even phased.

Who would not want that? I never thought some people just don't want them. Yeah. I'm like, It's not about the trophy, it's about the memory. Like when I look at this elk, when I look at any one of these deer, I could tell you where I was, what time of day. How it all happened. Yeah. It's a memory to me.

And so I went and dropped it off and I was like, Hey, I'm supposed to ask, do you guys have any, deer antlers that you're not? Oh yeah. All those heads over there. And I'm like, there's a lot of them. Yeah, I know. How could people not want that back? I was like, oh my gosh. They don't see the value in it.

Yeah. I'm like, how do you even if you don't sell anything, even if you don't make anything out of it, like just the memory to have something physical there. 'cause the meat's gonna go away, right? You're not just gonna hold a pack of meat in the freezer for 30 years. Hey, this is from my deer in 1924.

And but let's call jerky, right? Let's, it just became jerk freeze. Dried jerky, unintentionally. [00:26:00] But to be able to make something out of a memory and to have a piece like this, Sam told me earlier, she's go over and get one. And I said I'm not gonna do that because I talked to him and he said that he can do something with one of my antlers.

Yes. Or with the elk irys that I have. Yep. Yeah. Or the Turkey spurs that I have. And he can incorporate that. And I'm like, it's one thing. And not discounting what you already have over there, but I'm like to have something and then to be like, you see that elk that he engraved on this? That's my elk. Elk.

That's my elk. That's your elk. This the ler from that shot. These are the ivory from that. Here's the bullet case, like whatever it elk story. I'm glad you said that too. Bullet casings. Yes. So whatever you want or can think of, discuss it with me and we'll work it out. Yeah. Put your bullet casing that you shot that elk with.

Oh yeah. Yeah. I like, I for real, I just got chills like thinking about holding something like that. 'cause I love keeping this stuff. I keep the brass Oh yeah. For my shotgun. Shell I'll cut the plastic off of it and I'll punch the primer out and I'll string it through if I had an awesome Turkey hunt.[00:27:00]

Or a duck hunt, and I'm like this reminds me of that. That personal media a symbol. Exactly. And that's what it's about for me. And so anyways, we've been talking and I'll, we'll be working out a deal. You better get on his waiting list though, because I heard it's pretty long. I can only imagine.

I'm like that would be the tough part is not, is wanting it immediately trying to help everybody. Obviously can handle it, but it's obviously it's a fast food society right now. Like people want it quickly and you can't pump these out that fast. This takes time. You're not laser engraving these with a C N C machine.

This nothing RAV process, this real, real artistic, it's all by hand. There's no machining. The only machining I'm using is routers, grinders, sanders, and burning pens. Yeah. Saws cutting the horn. But as far as doing the artwork, it just good old fashioned fingertips in my energy. Handcrafted individually.

And every one is a one of a kind piece. Yep. None of them are ever the same. And like the one we're talking about that I'm gonna build for you, [00:28:00] 30, sometimes 40% of my business in any given time is just custom orders. That's cool. And there's a beauty in that too, especially when I get to meet the customer.

A little like with you, Dan is just from this cast we're doing and meeting you and talking. When I go to build your mug, this energy will go into that. 'cause now I'm getting a sense for who you are. Yeah. And what kind of person you are. And it, and I'm gonna think of that as I'm picking out the handle and how tall should I make your mug?

And his energy will go into piece. I already see it. He's gonna be listening to the podcast episode. Wow. He's, I'm so excited right now. Can I just add recently there was a customer that ordered a mug, a couple of mugs from Todd to gift to a family member. And they were so excited to give him. These mugs that they videotaped giving him his gift and opening it and the responses, and they filmed it and sent it to Todd.

Wow. So Todd gets to watch. That is amazing. The Na Jeremiah Johnson mug. Yes. And it was so special because they were all so [00:29:00] excited about it. Yeah. And that kind of feedback just pumps him up more and builds him up more. It's that validation that you're doing what you're supposed to do and you're good at it, thank you. Yeah. It's it came to me as I've been doing this and I've been literally living my passion in my dream and these thoughts come to me that it's just like everybody's got a gift. I think the most difficult thing for us sometimes as we go through life is finding out what that is. Yeah.

Everybody's good at something and everyone wants to find it. They don't know how or I didn't know this was my thing. Yeah. It just started to happen and then I just went with it. I don't want to take your time away from making these amazing mugs, but do you do tattoo work by chance?

No, but if I had a nickel for every time somebody asked me to do tattoos I work on horn, not skin. Yeah. So that's a, it's a different, little bit different, but it's a very similar process. 'cause I take a hot electric wood burning, burning pen, but wood burning pen polygraphy, and I burn it on horn instead of on a log or, yeah. So I, and it was just an experiment. I wanted to [00:30:00] see what I could do on the horn and as you see, this is what it comes out. So I start with burning it. I do what's called a base burn and basically do a shadow of the image on there. And then I come in and do all the hair lines and the fine lining the detail, and then it reaches a point where I start to introduce the paint and I manipulate the paint back and forth.

And I just keep playing with it's until it's done. Some of the fun things that people won't realize, I just sold one before coming over here. It's a white tail buck rubbing on a tree. And the fun thing is when I made the rub on the tree, I burned the tree with the pen. The pen, excuse me. The pen very heavy.

And I actually took my exacto blade and I'm scraping the tree I made. Oh my god. Which is what A, it's emulate it's emulating rub. I'm actually rubbing the tree with my Yeah. Blade to make it look scraped. And I'm laughing going. Okay. That's how much I'm into hunting. I'm like ing the rough.

Yeah. So realistic. Yeah. It's very realistic. Very realistic. So speaking of hunting, do you hunt? Oh, yes. You do? Oh, yes. My father took me up the tree with him [00:31:00] when I was nine years old with his old homemade climber with a hemp rope at my waist and pull me up. Wow. Dragging a deer up a ridge and strap me up above the tree stand.

And ever since then I'm like, this is the life. Yeah. That was at nine years old and now I'm 53 and I've never missed a bow hunting season. Nice. I'm addicted to it and everybody's okay, antler antlers, trophy. I love antlers. And I can say this with conviction when I'm in my stand and I've been hunting since I was a kid.

A spike Buck walks in behind me and the hair in my neck goes up just because I love seeing a deer and feeling it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm the kind of guy that shoots a dough and I'll show everybody the picture and they laugh at me. Yeah. And they're like it's just a dough. A dough is a dough. I'm like, you don't understand.

If you ask me about how this hunt went, and then I tracked her for three miles after I shot her. There's, it's the story. It's the whole thing is the trophy. Yep. The antlers are the bonus. Yeah. The antlers are a memento of, the actual experience, the adventure. Yeah. And you can't deny. There is something to be said when you're out in the woods seeing a deer and getting it.

There's something [00:32:00] about that giant buck or that elk. There is something majestic when you see that crown they're wearing. Yep. It, it does, which is what it's meant to do. Those bucks, have those racks to attract. Yeah. The others, and it's the rarity of it. I think, like a 200 inch white-tailed deer would almost lose its luster if every property had them.

Yeah. If pe if you could go out and shoot one every single year. Then it's like the 300 inch buck would be the one because it's like a, it's like a, an elite representation of the species. Exactly. It's take, use a car analogy. If everybody had a Corvette Oh yeah.

Would it still have the energy Absolutely. And meaning of having a Corvette. Yeah. Once everybody has one, it becomes the average in the general. Yep. So That's true. And Melanie, you're getting into archery. Yes. Yeah. Yep. Have you shot the courses here yet? No. When are you going out? Hey, I'm going on the practice course tomorrow morning.

If you wanna join me, I would love to join you. However I am not able to use my bow on these courses oh, okay. I. Yeah, I have a crossbow. Nice. Okay. So [00:33:00] I can't use that here. However, I would love to try it. That would be wonderful. But yeah, this is my first year of archery and I'm very excited about it.

I'm very happy to be here. Yeah. This place is just pumping me up like crazy. Same. Yeah. This is the first time at boast. And when I got here and set up on Thursday, I called Melanie and I'm like, oh my gosh. I fell in love with the resort. I fell in love with the energy here, all the like-minded people.

And I'm like, her and my daughter out here. I'm like, you guys gotta get out here. Yeah. This place is awesome. The energy. And I'm like, oh, I should have brought my bowl. Yeah. 'cause I'm looking at the courses here and just the energy, the amount of parents with kids. Yeah. Six year olds walking all with bowl.

Those little kids quivers those and just love it. Shoot the course and to see all the family involved. Yeah. It's beautiful. It's total and I am looking forward to it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a totally different vibe. Because this is our first year too. There's lot of your Okay. Yeah. This is our first year here.

Okay. And it's We just, there's something about the precision and the accuracy and the intimacy of archery. Yes. That just breeds a different crowd, versus like long range shooting with a rifle. [00:34:00] There's a lot of people here that are just like-minded and the experience is what it's all about.

Watching them walk up and down these mountains and just almost geek out about the shot angles and it's dude, that trail was crazy. It was gnarly. I almost fell down like having to shoot through these trees. It's like there's an awareness of the surroundings and an appreciation for, what they've set up here at Bo Fest that I don't think we've seen at any other show that we've been to.

No. It gives you a eing angle that you can have. Yeah. Yeah. And I've been, rifle hunting and gun hunting all my life too, and they both have their beauty in equal respect. Yeah. I don't ever want to dison one, and I want to say this and be careful not to insult. Any of it. Yeah. 'cause, but a lot of times there's the argument or people get in or, bull versus gun and I don't care what weapon you're using.

Yeah. Yeah. It's the energy of being out there. With that said, there's something about taking, let's say for an example, a white-tailed deer. It's 700 yards across the canyon versus at [00:35:00] seven yards when you can hear it breathe. Yeah. There's an intimacy that's not there with the rifle that there is with the bow or close range.

Yep. That it's a whole different energy field and not that anyone is good, bad, right or wrong or not, that one's better than the other. It's just a difference. So it, it's just a different energy when you can feel that animal breathing. Yeah. I mean I look at it like at a sports event, right?

It's one thing to be up in the nosebleeds, it's another thing if you could sit on the bench right on the edge of the field. Yeah. And just be close. And there's something about the closeness of it. And even hearing people talk I was talking to, I think it was Nick the other day, and he was talking about hunting deer from the ground.

Yes. Instead of being up in a tree Yes. He's like just getting on the same level, like the eye level right of it. He's it just changes everything. And like you said, it, everything has its own perks. And its own respect. I still love rifle hunting. I come up here every year for rifle hunting, but for some reason archery just has a different draw to me.

Yeah. I had a guy, similar conversation to this and he was just like, yeah, I'm a big go hunter. And I get tired of the bow [00:36:00] hunter saying all this. And he says, what's really the difference? And I says, do you have kids? And he says, yeah. And I says, how old's your kid? And he goes I have a son who's six.

I says, try this once. I says, next time you talk to him, tower right over him and look down at him. Have him look up at you and talk to him. I said, then do it again on your knees at his eye level and tell me you can't feel the difference in his energy. I. And your, yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. And yours. And he went, he just looked and you could tell I got him because he was like, how are you gonna argue that?

Yep. Get on your knee and talk to your six year old. Yeah. And not only will you feel a different energy, so will he. He will. And now you have a completely different energy transformation than that. Hey, I'm your father and I'm up here. Look at me. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I don't want to take you guys away from your booth because I've been watching, all day.

I feel like we've been trying to connect and you guys have had people over there the whole time. Yeah. But I do want to give you guys an opportunity. Where can people find you? Where can they go and make an order? And what shows are you going to that they could come and be a part of? My business with what I do is Antler Mug [00:37:00] Works.

I have my website, antler mug works.com. I am on Facebook which has been a little laxed I haven't updated in a while. I'm on Instagram and I have about seven shows that are my staple shows each year that I do. And then I'm always trying to incorporate new ones. I have my business cards. My business phone is also my personal cell, so it's the same phone number.

And the next show I'm gonna be going to from BofA is I'm leaving right from here. I'm going to the Sturgis Bike rally. Nice. It'll be my eighth year out there. And then after that I will be at the Warren's Cranberry Fest in Warren's, Wisconsin at the end of September. And then I will just be working on orders of my next show to start all winter.

Yeah. And then the next show that I have to get ready for, that I'm already building for is the wild She Foundation Show in Reno, Nevada in January. Oh, nice. You're traveling out there. Cool. Yeah, I'll be traveling out to Reno. I am working on getting my website updated. Every take takes so much time and trying to keep up with all the thing is right now you don't need the business.

You've got it. He's so busy [00:38:00] already. He's booked up until spring of next year. Yeah. People ask me like, oh, I wanna order one for Christmas. And I used to tell them I need it by June now. It's like I start taking Christmas orders in January now. Yeah. I hand custom make each piece. Yeah. People will call me up and say can I rush order one?

And I said, no, you can't. And they're like why not? And I'm like, 'cause to me you don't rush quality and artwork. Yeah. So I can, I can't do it fast. Yeah. It's not done until it's done. Yeah. And I am working on, eventually I wanna do it soon is have it on my website where here's the shows I'm gonna be at.

That's good. Yeah. Sometimes customers, another way is they see me at a show. They pick up my card, I talk to 'em, they got my number. They'll call me and say, Hey, what store are you gonna be at? Sometimes I find out they live 10 miles from me and they'll say, oh, can I come over and see what you have? Yeah.

So it's very common for, you know what, I've got nine white tail mugs made right now. How about I meet you somewhere for a brunch? Yeah. And I'll show you what I got and Oh, sweet. It's just yeah. That's awesome. That's super cool. I love just seeing all of the different people here, their passions and how they're [00:39:00] incorporated into the outdoor space, into the industry.

Absolutely. In fact, before we hop off, I gotta have you try Minnesota Marsh, marshmallow, Minnesota. We were even earlier when Melanie was here earlier. It was so good. Say, it surprised me. What I didn't know what to expect. I thought I was gonna get like a crumbled up s'mores mixed in with a marshmallow, but it's.

The craziest thing. It is. It is an actual marshmallow, but it That's more than a marshmallow. Honey. Try one. You're gonna love it. If not good to melody, she'll eat it. When I got here Thursday and set up, I was walking around to meet the other vendors. Yeah. And I want to say she was seven or eight. The girl in the booth, she is.

She was adorable. 'cause I walked up and said hi, and she said hi. She goes, are you familiar with Minnesota marshmallows? I said, no. And she was so professional and so sweet. Sweet, wasn't she? I was amazing. And I looked at her and I says I don't typically eat marshmallows and I have to watch my sugar.

And I said, however, my wife and my daughter coming out, I says, and there's more junkies they'll stack the marshmallows. [00:40:00] So they love the marshmallows. I will send them over. And she go, and I said, but tell me about your product and this girl without missing a beat. She says have I got a treat for you?

Even when I told her that I wasn't going to eat one, she said, you never tried. No, she didn't change. Your gotta treat me as, oh, I don't have a customer. She is going her passion. And I'm like, oh my God, you're golden. Yeah. Yeah. And I said, tell me about your product. And she didn't miss a beat.

So because of that, and now with you guys at your show, I'm, I have to try a marshmallow. The spirits are telling me I gotta try it. A and I give it to your daughter. But yeah, the girl, the same thing. She stopped us. Oh my gosh. And what are these Bigfoot bites? Peanut butter Oreo and cookie dough. I think so.

Good. They're oh my gosh. What? When I took it out of the bag earlier when you offered it to me? Yeah. I was not expecting it to even be squishy like a marshmallow. No. I was like, whoa. It's like a marshmallow. It's it really is. It looks like a piece of marble from Italy. Yes. Yeah. Or the Rocky Road ice cream.

It was marbleized for real. After talking to her again on Thursday when we were all setting up. Oh. I was like, [00:41:00] so she needs to be selling herself. Can I make these noises on air? She's, there's whole industry of the smr, so yeah, there you go. From what I've been told, and I haven't met this girl, but she sounds like the puppy in the advertising because she Oh, for real.

Oh, she was, she draws you in like Shark Tank. If she was on Shark Tank. Oh. Deals everywhere. She could make 20 grand at this show. Just by offering her time, like an hour at a time. Yeah. Going and promoting for other people because she's real. She was so sincere. She crushed it. She really did. One of the best salespeople I've ever met.

Nice. I'm not kidding. Not there's so many. I get her name. I'm not saying it's we're on you. What the owner is, Amy. But that was Oh my God. Like her husband's cousin or something. But Okay. And if you wanna see the marshmallows, they're online at the Minnesota marshmallow, but it's this, oh my gosh. Dense square of yummy deliciousness.

It's really good. But I really, that's a taste of heaven. Holy cow. It's so good. Wow. I really appreciate you guys coming on. I love connecting with you, and hopefully in the next few years we'll be back. Thank you for having us. We'll see you guys. We'll connect. Thank you for [00:42:00] having us, Dan and Sam.

Thank you very much. We're about to set up a deal off there with some anglers and some mic, so yeah, I'll be in the middle of that as well, back at home. Sounds good. Thank you very much. If you're an avid listener of this podcast, you've probably heard me talking about Infinite Outdoors in the past.

Infinite Outdoors is expanding access for hunting and fishing on private land across the country. From whitetail hunts in Missouri to waterfowl hunts in Wyoming and pheasant hunts in Colorado, they provide access to over a million acres of private land listings for all types of hunting and fishing.

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All right guys. Welcome to the show. We are here at Bo Fest and we're sitting down talking to Bailey. Bailey. You and I met yesterday, the three of us met. Yeah. You, me and my wife. And we stopped by 'cause I saw a sweet contraption. Was that technically a surfboard or a wakeboard that it was on? It's technically a surfboard.

Okay. It's an adaptive surfboard. Yeah. So I, my name's Bailey and I work with a nonprofit that started just back in August. Oh. Recently, we officially became a 5 0 1 3 C Nice. In August of 22. But we've been doing this since 2019. Okay. But it was just, out of pocket. Yeah. Yeah. Our founder, president, his name's Jeremy, he did 28 years in the military, and when he got out, he didn't know what to do.

Yeah. But he had a boat and he found himself taking his friends who were military and some first responders and their families out on the water. Yeah. And he realized he was onto something. It was healing. People put their phones down Yeah. [00:44:00] And people started bonding on an, on another level and Yeah.

He's I think I need to do this. Yeah. Yeah. And he started working with some bigger partners and they got us a boat and before we knew it, we were taking everybody out. And a lot of the people that we take out are amputees and they don't always have like the equipment that they need.

Yeah. So we built the surfboard so that people with prosthetics or with no legs or we have the opportunity to get them up and out of the water and. That's awesome. Up on the surfboard, doing something cool again, like they're living, take picture of it and post it online. Oh yeah. That's so cool.

And when I talk to different people, it seems like just being outdoors and doing activities like that breaks down walls. It's like you can build relationships so quickly when you're in the outdoors, when you're doing a fun activity like that. Something that's just a little out of the box.

Something that might not be an everyday activity. And so that's really cool that's what he realized in that moment. This is it, this is what we're doing. Yeah. So we've been helping a lot of families. [00:45:00] The nonprofit's been growing way quicker than we could have ever imagined. Yeah. We have just a lot of people on board with it.

And thankfully we're so blessed to have awesome partners who believe in it with us. And, Jeremy and his wife actually Kaylyn, she's gonna retire this year out of the she's National Guard. Wow. And she's gonna retire after 20 years and. She's, on board with Jeremy and making sure that everybody gets out there, but you don't realize that the family is also affected.

Affected when, they, you put on your uniform, you go out for the day. Exactly. Who are you leaving behind? When and if something happens. And so the main point of it is to get people out on the water. To grow and heal together. And we actually bring a film crew out, a professional film crew.

So we've found that people put their phones away. Yeah. And they just interact with their family on a whole nother level that they haven't really done before. And then a lot of times they're learning a new sport. Yeah. And Wake surfing is one of those where we [00:46:00] can teach you how to do it. Yeah. You can learn it in a day.

Yeah. It's so cool. It's so rewarding, especially if you have felt challenged to learn something new recently. Yeah. Yeah. So that's sweet. And Wake surfing is, I started doing it what, two years ago, three years ago, something like that. And it's funny because it's so low impact, like when you wipe out, you don't wipe back.

When I was a kid, when I was in high school, I could jump off a roof and probably be fine. And now I'm like, if I've bend down to tie my shoe wrong, I get hurt. And so that's really sweet. Doing the whole wake surfing thing, being on water, getting out there that's just, that's really cool. How do you guys find, like the veterans, the servicemen and women that you guys partner with and take out?

So we do a lot of it by coming to these events, Be Fest. We come out here and we have a website, our heroes tour.org. We send people to our website to get involved and they can volunteer, they can donate. Oh, cool. They can nominate a hero and hero means different [00:47:00] things to every person.

Yeah. So it's really interesting to get all the nominations and we read these stories and you click with. You so many of 'em, and you just wanna help every single person that you can. And so we actually have some family days too, where we have a bunch of boats that come out there and we invite everybody.

We have volunteer days where all of our volunteers get to come out and bring their families and we grill and have a good time on the water. That's so fun. But mostly it's through these kind of events where we meet people. Yeah. Can you tell us a few stories of maybe some that you've taken out that you're able to share?

Yeah. So one of one of the most imp impactful stories that I've had actually I, I feel like we're all pretty good friends now, but yeah. When they wanted me to come on board with our Heroes tour, I was like, I'm in no matter what. But he started telling me this story and I was like, okay, now I'm in tears.

Then now for sure. And I'm for sure here yeah, to have every, all my time. But one of our. He now helps with us, but his name is Eric. He was an army ranger and he got in an accident when he was deployed and he hurt his leg [00:48:00] and for years he just dealt with a hurt leg and he was having some issues, some blood clots and stuff.

And he actually had to get his leg amputated on his son's third birthday. Wow. And he has two kids. They were three and three and five at the time. And actually they're pregnant with their third right now. Yeah. But he was seven years post amputee and he came out on the boat with Jeremy and his kid didn't really think much of dad at that point.

Yeah. Dad can't skate. Dad can't run. Yeah. Dad can't swim. Like he didn't really have a good relationship with his son after the accident or after the amputation. Yeah. And They're all in the boat and just having a good time and dad's trying and trying to get up and they're not having any luck.

And then all of a sudden, dad stood up and he's surfing and he is got his prosthetic and he's killing it. And his son just starts crying. He's my dad, you're doing it. You're doing it crying. And then they realized that the kid was so [00:49:00] stoked to see his dad doing something cool again. I know that gets you, that's just, you can't make me cry.

I It's a podcast. Oh my gosh. It's so hard to even tell. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Wow. So the mom is crying now. The dad's crying. Jeremy's driving the boat. He's crying. And we have the entire thing on camera because we bring a professional film crew out there. And so now they can relive this moment.

And since he Eric, he comes out and surfs with us pretty regularly. Yeah. He gets a lot more people with prosthetics. Out there too, and we get people up that never thought that they would surf. Yeah. But he's loving it and he is actually works he's working with the VA right now. Yeah.

And they created a ice skating blade, so it's a foot attachment for his prosthetic. And so he's, his son will be five this October and he is going to surprise his son taking him ice skating. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So it's super huge. Yeah. That is so great. Yeah. It's so touching. You think, you know these stories.

Like I knew [00:50:00] Eric beforehand, I knew we have another kid, Jed, he lost his leg in a farming accident when he was 17 and he didn't really think he was gonna do anything ever again. But now he's working back on the farm and he's out there surfing and he competed in a tournament a couple weeks ago and he's trying to get more people with amp or amputees out there and Yeah.

Yeah. Wow. It's a really unique experience. You just think, you know these stories and then you're out there on the boat and you're crying every single day and it's oh, stop doing this. I swears the way you're splashing on my face. That's not me crying. I know. We actually had an event, or not even an event, we just wanted to introduce Jed to Eric because they both had prosthetics.

Jed had a, he is not in the military, so he doesn't have as many opportunities as Eric with the va. And so he wanted to talk to Eric about, what should I get? What should I do? What kind of foot attachments should I have? All these things like, yeah. And so we brought 'em out there and the two of 'em got to [00:51:00] talking about all these things that are completely over my head, but for them, it's just they know another day in the life, doing all these things with their foot attachments and putting 'em on, and it's.

The struggles that only they know. And so getting 'em out there and making those memories and with their family, like how impactful Oh my. Yeah. I can't imagine. That's incredible. Where are you guys, where do you guys do this all? Are you in the Great Lakes area or state specific? So we are technically located out of Chisago City, Minnesota.

Okay. But we travel all around. We have families that are from Wilmer. We've been up on Big Sandy next week. We're doing an event in Balsam Lake, Wisconsin. We just pretty much travel to the hero. Yeah. Yeah. And some people sponsor a big event and they'll have we would just show up with the equipment.

We have the boat, we have the boards, and then the people will have an entire day of it. Yeah. We'll take 'em out to lunch or whatever and, but yeah it's a pretty good time. [00:52:00] Yeah. That's super cool. I love that. And I'm super excited that we got to meet you. Honestly, you roped me in with the whole thing of monsters and with seeing the board, I'm like, I've gotta know what this is, and I really want to get one of those mango monsters.

And and then Sam came over and she's she's coming over to do a podcast. I'm like, yes, I gotta chat about it. It's awesome. Yeah. And to get people to, be more aware of it or, they themselves if they want to, do it or nominate someone else, it's Yeah. Share that website again, where people can go if they want to participate, nominate somebody else.

Donate, donate any of it. So our website is our heroes tour.org. And that's where you can go to nominate you can volunteer, you can donate we can't do this without other support. Yeah. Yeah. And it's a, it's quite expensive to get everybody out on the boat, but it's worth it when you hear stories like that.

Dan, I don't know if you shed a tear, but I was crying over here. I was getting choked up. I had to think of other things. I was like looking off in the distance don't cry down. Enjoy the view it makes feel worth it. Yeah. Enjoy the view. There's a [00:53:00] nice trail lift over there, right? Ah, sand in my eyes.

Dang it. Yeah. And there's a lot of ways to get involved. There's a lot of partnership options. We actually have a film crew that records all of these experiences and at the beginning and end of all the videos we have our partners that we work with and we give the video to the family.

They can do what they want with it. Yeah. Some people choose to share it, some people keep it for themselves. Yeah. We wouldn't share anything without the family's consent. Yeah. But yeah, so it's really rewarding. And I love that 'cause you, you said yesterday when we first started talking like about the film crew and I'm like, oh, that's really cool.

But not only to have the memory. But like the fact that they don't have to be on their phones. Yeah. Like they don't have to have their phones out, be like recording, present. They can be fully present and still have something to look back at. Yeah. Instead of experiencing it through a screen for the first time.

And that's true. 'cause you see people on the water and it's oh look, dad surfing, let's take a video. And all of a suddent. Remember, you're worried about the video or you're worried about Yeah. The [00:54:00] quality or your angle, and all of a sudden you're not even engaged in the moment. You're not fully there.

Yes. So that's amazing. I love it. And I encourage everybody listening to this go on, check it out, figure out how you can become a part, how you can be involved, nominate somebody, share it and yeah. I can only imagine how much what you're doing, the work that you're doing means to these people.

Like all of these people who gave so much and their families, their kids. Jeez, I don't want to think about the kids' story anymore. I'm like, I'm getting choked up again. The kids, it is so fun for the kids, especially when the kids. So Jeremy will get in the water and he'll help the kids get up surfing too.

He'll hold onto 'em and he'll take, 3, 4, 5, 6 year old kids up there. Yeah. That's, everybody gets to learn how to do it. Wow. Surfing's for everybody. Surfing is for everybody. There's something about it. I would've never thought that would be a thing. Like I would watch somebody doing it.

I'm like, this is so lame. You could be wake boarding and like jumping over the wake and doing this and that. And then after I ate it on a wakeboard like two or three times, I'm like, I want that thing. That seems way [00:55:00] more fun. Still not good at it. It, so I might need to come take some lessons.

Yes. We actually try to wake Wednesdays where we just invite everybody out on Wednesdays. Oh, sweet. That's fun. Yeah, it's super fun. How good are you? Do you have it down pretty good, so I am not very good. But I learned how to wake surf. That's why you're not giving the lessons, is that right?

I learned how to wake surf. I actually grew up on the lake. So I'm a water skier. Yeah. But we learned how to wake surf because it would be the calm down from the day. So you'd be wake boarding or skiing all day and then all of a sudden you just wind down with wake surfing. Yeah. It's calming and the boat goes slower.

So people in the boat can actually like interact and enjoy what you're doing as opposed to can't hear anything going fast and not being able to hear anything. Exactly. So that's how I learned how and what I don't know. I'm 31 now and I learned how to do it when I was 13. Yeah. But I didn't know that wake surfing had been around that long.

Yeah. Holy cow. But the boards are way different. They have come a long way, but, and the boats have also come a long way. There's just, there's some really great equipment out there. It [00:56:00] helps. Yeah. Times it progressed. Yeah. That's super cool. We need to talk about it and figure out how we're getting involved, for sure. Because this is exciting. Yeah. It's really fun. Where are you guys out of? We're in Missouri. Okay. Springville, Missouri. Yeah. But his family, he was born in Eau Claire, so we always come north for Thanksgiving for hunting season. So we're hey, in the heat of the summer in Missouri, if we can just come up here and for volunteer Oh, for, and do something that sounds, yeah.

And we're trying to expand for everybody. So like right now we are on the water but we wanna expand seasonally. 'cause obviously we're in like different activities. Cool. So hopefully we'll be we work with a lot of other nonprofits too, so we do like wounded Warriors and basically if somebody else has a nonprofit, we will just show up with the equipment.

Yeah. So they'll bring the people and we'll have the equipment and make sure everybody can get up and out and get on the water. I'm sure we could volunteer our time. I am not gonna be an instructor of anything. I don't know. I think you can do it. You can take don't let Dan fool you.

He's I told her about going with Dustin, not to Brett. Your ridge. Oh yeah. And my buddy Dustin he rides like the slalom ski and he is got like the [00:57:00] ski poles and stuff and he's Hey man, if I tip over, I'm gonna need your help like to get back up. I can't get myself back up. And I'm like, okay. I mean it, he's in a strapped in seat.

That dude shredded down the mountain like, and waited for Dan was the X Games. And meanwhile, I'm like turning into a cartoon snowball, like just eating it over and over. So yeah, I'll volunteer somehow, but do not let me instruct anybody. Sometimes as a volunteer all we do is just talk and engage with the family.

Yeah. Perfect. You're really good at that. Hey, he's a people person. That's his job. I'll just throw a trash bag over the top of my board and we'll just come out and hang out and chat us. Podcast. We'll podcast from the boat next level. Some of the really good guys are gonna be wake surfing behind with the headset on top.

Wireless to US wireless, Mike. Meanwhile, I can't even stand up in the boat. That's awesome. We appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much for having, we'll be coming in and hanging out by the booth. I saw you. Apparently we drew a crowd over there today during the rock climbing competition. Yes. We are very grateful that the National Guard [00:58:00] could be here with the rock wall.

Yeah, they, it was fun. Yeah, they're awesome over there, so they truly are. We're lucky. We're lucky that we get to work with them. Are, have you guys done anything like here at Bow Fest? Not a booth, but I know they've got like boats and stuff to rent out here. Have you ever, have you done an event during Bo Fest yet?

This is my first time up here at Bo Fest, but we met Mike at the Sportsman show and we talked about how we wanted to hopefully next year close a family. That would be awesome. Hopefully next year Mike will provide a family from the area and then we can host an experience out here, either probably Monday or two, right beforehand.

Yeah. Yeah. So the family can get featured out here and we can provide that. Awesome. A place to stay and then have 'em on the water and. Yeah. That's sweet. Yeah, because a lot of the families like hunting. Yeah. Bring 'em out. These courses are awesome. I feel like this place, this is something we're gonna come back and do year after year.

Yeah. Yeah. And we didn't know about it. This is our first year too, but, and I can't believe [00:59:00] we haven't with how long it's been around. Yeah. Like 10 or something. 11 years. Something crazy that you didn't, and some of the guys that you know have been on the show, they're like, wait, what are you going to, yeah. So everybody listening to this go on, donate. Put in your input on hosting an event right here at Bo Fest. Next year, submit a form, nominate a family. Yeah, and we will have 'em out next year. Donate money or tissue boxes, one of the two. Thank you guys. Yeah, thanks. Thanks for being on. I hope you guys have been having fun so far this episode.

I really did enjoy editing this and recording with all of these awesome guests. But last and definitely not least, we've got Cooper Roman said, I'm pumped for this. You guys are really gonna enjoy hearing from him and talk about a first dear story. Just wait. It's gonna be good.[01:00:00]

All right guys. Welcome back to the show. And we are still here at Bo Fest right now. I'm sitting down with Cooper Roman. Ted, how's it going dude? How's going great. Man I was talking to Matt yesterday and he goes, you want a podcast? Guess you gotta talk to Cooper. This kid will talk your ear off about hunting.

And then we stopped over by the booth today and yeah, you're like, let's do it. Absolutely. Yes. So now we're here doing it. So why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself? Cooper, I am 14. I love deer hunting. I love going fishing a lot. And yeah. So deer hunting is your, is that like your favorite thing to hunt?

Oh, yeah. Archery or rifle? Rifle. I wanna get into archery though. Yeah. Do you have a bow yet? No, not yet. All right. Next few weeks here though. Nice. I was gonna say you're in the right place for figuring out what bow you want and and shooting. 'cause that's when things I feel changed for me.

I bet you I was probably around 14 when I got my first bow. [01:01:00] And it, after that, it was just in the backyard. Every single day. I'd shoot 500 arrows probably. Oh, nice. As soon as I got into it. Oh, someone there goes the Mustang. I heard that pretty loud. Oh yeah. But yeah. So rifle hunting. Where do you typically hunt? I hunt in about, I hunt in Twig, Minnesota. Okay. It's it's by, it's a little bit north of Duluth. Okay. And yeah, I, we see deer. Yeah. And yeah. Hunt with a Mossberg 2 43. 2 43. Yeah. Nice. What what type of terrain is it? Are you hunting crop fields?

Big woods? Public land like hardwoods and swamps and stuff. A lot of it's wet. It's wet. Okay. Cedar swamps and, oh, dang. And then there's some old logging cuts and stuff. Nice. Yeah, I bet you see all kinds of different animals up there. Oh, we'll see, like we're so far north. There's bears, there's wolves, there's all kinds of stuff up here.

Yeah. We see [01:02:00] wolves sometimes we see fox and stuff, and then we'd see deer and too many squirrels. Dude, it's amazing. It's like they, I feel like they have a powwow before deer season, and they're like, all right guys, the hunters are coming out. Let's just mess with them as much as we can. Oh yeah.

I've had 'em, I had one poop right down my back of my shirt sitting in deer stand. Oh, no. I've had 'em. I feel like they're intelligent enough to where they can really mess with you. Like I've had 'em go up in a tree above me and they're just snapping off acorns, like just dropping 'em on me. Oh, yeah.

And I'm like, I feel like it should be legal to carry a BB gun with you while you're rifle hunting. Yeah. Just for squirrels. 'cause they're in season typically at that point, yep. I feel like that's a no brainer. Yeah. But then you go out squirrel hunting and all is deer. Oh yeah. Do, I've walked out, I've been out squirrel hunting.

Like shotgun or gross hunting. You go out and you just spook 30 deer. Oh my. Geez. Yeah. So [01:03:00] how long have you been hunting for? What or what's the age requirement Here in Minnesota? You gotta be, you can hunt at any age. So if you gotta have your gun safety to hunt in a different stand within yelling distance at 12.

Okay. Once you're 14 you can do whatever, hunt, wherever nice you want. And then but before that, you gotta have a parent in the stand with you. Okay. To hunt and, yeah. So how'd you get into it? Was it fam Like does your family hunt or did you get into it with some friends or what? It's a very funny story.

So my mom and dad don't deer hunt. Okay. At all. But my, on my mom's side, they deer hunt like big time. Yeah. And they got a camper out there. They'll go out. And so I first went out there when I was in like third grade, and I just sit in the stand, no gun or nothing. You were just interested in it? Okay. And then a couple years ago I got Remington eight 70 four 10 with slugs. Yeah. So I go out there and I would sit in the stand with [01:04:00] them and didn't see any deer, but yeah, we'd wait. And then so the next year I got my first rifle, and then we shot a deer that year. Nice. Nice. Yeah.

That's pretty good. I, how was your first Deer experience? Tell me the story about your first deer. All right, so it's opening weekend of rifle season and it's a Sunday. And we're, I wake up and I told my dad, I was like, all right, you want, let's go out. And it's me and my dad. My dad in the stands.

We're sitting in the stand and we hear gunshots, I don't know, 200, 300 yards away. So we were sitting there quietly and all of a sudden, bam, about a hundred yards down the shooting lane, there goes a dough running. And they were running hard. Yeah. So then like 20 seconds later, her out steps out this nine point buck and I, and we don't shoot [01:05:00] many bucks.

Like we'll shoot like four corns and stuff. Yeah. And this was like the biggest buck in 10 years. Wow. And so it steps solid. And I dropped my grunt call and it's a wooden stand that just bam. Oh no. And the deer looks at me and he comes, like trotting up the shooting lane towards me. So I'm pulling up my gun and I got him on him.

And he goes, he's zigzagging in the woods. And he's Seven or eight yards from the stand. And I look at my dad and go, can you plug my ears? My dad looks at me and goes, just shoot him. And so I shoot him and I never shot a deer, so I don't really know where. So I was like, okay, I'll just put it like somewhere in the heart.

Yeah, somewhere in the like chest. And so I shoot him, he does a big meal kick and he runs out and then me and my dad are like, sheik and I'm like, holy crap, I just shot it here. I just shot a deer. [01:06:00] My uncle's wait in the stand, like at least 20 minutes and that dough is gonna come back to you.

And I said, I don't care about the dough. I want to go get my deer. Yeah. Yeah. So we went and got down out of the stand, like a minute and a half after I shot. Yeah. And he was, he ran. 25, 30 yards. Wow. Oh my gosh. And he died right on the four wheeler trail. So yours, so your first deer was the biggest deer in camp for the last 10 years about that?

Yeah. That's sweet, man. Yeah. Heck yeah. Yeah. I don't think there's anything that's gonna get you hooked faster than that. Oh, for sure. And then, yeah, so my dad's never shot a deer before. Okay. So I've shot one. Does he still come out with you? Yeah. Cool. Yeah, he bought a gun and he comes out. Yeah. You needed some him nap.

I was gonna say, after seeing you and your excitement for it, I'm sure that probably got him pretty interested. Oh yeah. And then, yeah, he's just cool. That's sweet. So a nine point buck, did you get it mounted? No. No, he [01:07:00] wasn't, it wasn't quite mounted. 'cause I bet I'll get something bigger later. Yeah. But I I put his like rack on the wall with a nice, like a plaque.

Oh, you did? Did you like do a cap or did you do a euro mount? A plaque. Oh, okay. Like the cap. Yeah. Yeah. That's how, basically I bett you. That's what you grew up having. Every deer that we've ever killed got a plaque mount. Oh, nice. For, my whole life, I think. Yeah. When you were younger, the only exception, my dad shot an 8.1 year.

And back then, that was like a 200 inch deer in my mind. It was just, it seems so gigantic. Oh, yeah. And now looking back at it, I'm like, oh, that's just like a normal eight point back. Yeah. But back then, it's they got it shoulder mounted and it was just, we had all the red velvet and green velvet and blue velvet plaque mounts just covering the wall.

So I think I've got, I've probably got, you still have 90% of those still. Oh, nice. I love 'em. But now these guys, my Euro mounts, that's my favorite mount now. I love, I, I love, I wish I would've done [01:08:00] a European mount on my deer. Yeah. But hey, for your next one, the big one. Yeah. Do it for sure. Yeah. When is rifle season in Minnesota?

Is it the same week as Wisconsin? Thanksgiving week, typically? So when. Okay, so it's from February is like the first week of February and it goes, you got second week of February and third week in February, and then Dang. Yeah. And then Thanksgiving after that. Okay. So then, yeah. So you got three weekends to Rifle hunt.

That's sweet. Yeah. That's really sweet. Yeah, the, I've never hunted, I'm trying to think, I don't think I've ever hunted Minnesota for anything. I've fished Minnesota, but never actually hunted. But yeah, seeing the deer that get pulled out of here. Yeah. The racks no joke. Yeah. The racks aren't always the biggest, but the bodies are huge.

Yeah. Yeah, that's just northern deer. It's pretty incredible how much weight these deer put on, how much mass they put on. And yeah. Minnesota's a cool place. Yeah, we, we haven't really spent a whole lot of time in Minnesota at all, Uhhuh, [01:09:00] but it's. It's a land of a lot of opportunity.

Oh, yes. So that deer that you shot, was that on public land or was that Yep. Public land. Yeah. Geez. That's cool. That's sweet. How big is your hunting camp? Like how many people typically come out? I think we got, it'll go from eight to 13 people and yeah, they just bought a new camper.

Oh, sweet. The other I think last spring. So they just pull up the camper. You guys hang out there for the whole Oh yeah. The whole rifle season right down the snowmobile trail to haul it. That's sweet. Yeah. Yeah. I, there's something about hunting camp and obviously you said you, you started going out before you could actually hunt.

But just going and getting away. Yeah. The tradition of it the banter back and forth in the conversation. Them texting you in the stand, sitting down and making meals, getting up early. Yeah. Breaking out that pack of hand warmers, making some hot chocolate or coffee or whatever.

Yeah. There's nothing like it. Going to bed at two and waking up at four [01:10:00] stuff. Yeah. So you guys in an hour and a half? Yeah. Yeah. We'll be right back in the sand. So you were in a wooden stand you said, for that? Yep. And is that stuff that your party's put up over the years? Oh yeah. So yeah, it's just, this spot was like it was up on a ridge and it's like a big valley.

Okay. That it went down and it's just, it was where they logged, it was just little pencil pops everywhere. Yeah. And he just, he was, he liked it in there. And there was rubs everywhere that year. I don't know why. Nice. Yeah. So is that gonna be a new strategy for you, is just drop your call on your wooden stand from now on and see if it brings the deer in?

I don't know. The next year after that, my dad's seen a nice block when he was in the stand and then, Oh I heard something making a scrape. Yeah. So I grunted. Yeah. And then it came right at me like a little for corn. So I pull up my gun and he spooked. Oh, man. Yeah. It's funny how you get during the rutt, I feel like [01:11:00] everything flips.

Because normally mature bucks are hard to call in. And the young year and a half, two and a half year old bucks will come into anything. Once the rutt hits, the mature bucks come in easier. Oh yeah. And all the young bucks are scared that they're gonna get the crap kicked out of 'em by the older bucks.

Oh yeah. And so it's like the roles reverse quite a bit. But that's cool though, man, first, first experience it took me, I need to look back and really figure this out. It took me several years before I shot my first deer. Oh yeah. Same thing. I'd go sit every year, didn't matter. I'd go sit on the log with my uncle and my cousins.

We'd typically be carving sticks or something and he'd say, heads up, there's a deer coming in. And we'd get ready and he'd shoot it. And by the time I could actually hunt. 'cause back then it was 12 years old, that was that was the cutoff. Now in Wisconsin, there's no age requirement, but back then it was 12 years old.

And then you could actually go out and hunt. You had to sit with somebody. But it wasn't until, [01:12:00] I bet you I was 15 or 16. I had shot one deer and it got away. Oh. And I was sitting by myself. I shot it per, as I wouldn't change a thing. I thought it was a perfect shot.

Maybe how quick we went after it. But I saw it right behind the shoulder. I thought this thing was gonna be dead in 10 yards. We tracked it for a mile and a half and then blood ran out and never found it. Yeah. But my first year, same thing. Less than 10 yards from me. Shot it at last light, shot it with a 20 gauge slug, not a four 10 or a 2 43.

Oh yeah. But a 20 gauge slug that close. And it dropped probably about from me to you? From the base of my tree. Oh my gosh. And that was a wooden stand that I put up. I made it out of two by fours, an old plywood and screws. Nice. Is it still standing today? No. Questionable. No, it barely made it through One season I hung that tree with a couple ratchet straps and I didn't have a ladder or any I [01:13:00] had a ladder, but it wasn't an actual ladder that I built.

Yeah. It was an old wooden those old rickety wooden ladders that you stand on and it can twist like 90 degrees any direction. Oh my, I'm out. I just leaned that up against the tree. I was sitting like six feet off the ground. That was it. Oh, nice. Yeah, deer came right in, shot it, and my mom and dad walked up the hill and they were like, Did you get something?

Yeah. And I go, yeah, I did. And they go, where is it? I said, turn around. And it was right behind them. They were standing at the base of my tree. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So what's what's on the list for this year? Just deer? Or are you gonna hunt something else? Yeah, I wanna get in the bowl hunting. Yeah. And then I wanna, I got a couple spots I want to try.

Okay. There's a crick stand that we have, and I, it just, it looks so good and everything. Yeah. If you see it, it's gonna be close to you. Yeah. And it's gonna be a perfect bull shot. It's just a funnel that brings them right underneath you, huh? Oh, yeah. There's a big open metal, like swamp metal and there's a beaver dam. Yeah. Everything funnels either they go to the west, [01:14:00] southwest, or they come southeast. Okay. Which is right to where the stand is. Nice. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds like it'll be good. That's pretty sweet. Are you do you have plans to hunt any different location or, obviously a couple new spots, but.

Do you have a place in mind that you want to hunt the most? Like a different state? Wisconsin. I wanna try it down there. I've, that's where we got our deer shack from, and I heard every, they were driving down there and every deer they see in was large. Yeah. Yeah. There's definitely some big deer here in Wisconsin.

Oh yeah. That, that's just, it's known for it for whatever reason. Don't people to know that. But it's known. Oh, people already know. People know. That's been the consensus longer than I've been alive is that there's big deer in Wisconsin. Yeah. But it's like just the Great Lake States. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota.

Yeah. They all hold big deer. And even Iowa and Illinois there's just, there's something about this part of the country for whatever reason, I don't know if it's the mix of like good [01:15:00] growing seasons. A lot of crops, a lot of cover. And then the harsh winters force them to put on a lot of weight.

Take in a lot of nutrients and protein. Yeah. Yeah. So whatever it is, I'm not gonna argue with it. Oh yeah. I'll take the big deer all day long. Yeah. Do you have a bucket list hunt? Dream. That's a tough dream species one. I was gonna say, if I told you right now, like I wish I could do this, I can't.

But if I said you get one wish, any hunt anywhere, any weapon, what would it be? Me and my grandpa go to Canada or Alaska and go Moose hunting. Moose hunting. Yeah. That would be cool. You're speaking my language right now. Does your grandpa hunt? Oh yeah. Nice. He's a big time. He's white. Tail gross and duck.

He used to duck hunt, but not anymore. But yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Moose hunting. Yeah. There's something about it. I've been on one moose hunt. And it was amazing. You getting anything? So I didn't have a tag. It was my buddy Sean that drew a tag for [01:16:00] Colorado. Oh. We went out and the Colorado Moose are obviously much smaller than an Alaskan or Yukon moose.

And we went out in July over my birthday and scouted and we found 23 moose in two days. Wow. And we knew right where to go. I took off two weeks of work to go and help him. At the beginning of October, I believe it was beginning of October, I said, dude, I'll take off two weeks. I'll come help you.

So we get out there the day before we go out. I came in late 'cause my buddy actually from Eau Claire he flew out to come hunt with us. Yeah. And when I was going to pick him up at the airport, I get a call from my buddy Sean. He goes, dude, there is a monster moose outside of my camper right now.

Like a guaranteed shooter. Like I would shoot this thing first day and he is I walked outside and it was standing outside of my [01:17:00] camper. No way. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. But we knew right where to be 'cause we had scouted it and he had scouted it more times than that even. Yeah. So anyways, I go, let's hope he's still there tomorrow.

And so I pick up my buddy from the airport. We drive up into the mountains. Yep. Get our camp set up. We're hanging out the next morning we wake up and we drive 300 yards down the dirt road and look out and there's a moose. Wow. And he gets out. He shot one opening day. It made the one year Boone and Crockett book.

Yep. Not all time. It was just a little shy of all time. But when you say. A different level, man. Hundreds and hundreds of pounds of meat. Oh. Like even boned out and quartered out. Like I'm talking one hind quarters, 120 pounds. Oh yeah. You're talking that's one quarter of that thing is the size of a mature dough.

Yeah. [01:18:00] And it was crazy, man. It was a lot of fun. But that definitely solidified my desire to go up to Alaska. Yeah. Because I want to fly in to the middle of nowhere and float out and hunt my whole way out. Yes. Yeah. Who knows, man. Maybe we'll see you up there one year maybe. That'd be pretty fun. Do a podcast in the middle of Alaska.

Yeah. Dude, I appreciate you hopping on. It is hot out here today. Yes, very. We're roasting. Have you gone out and shot anything or tested out any bows or anything like that? No, I don't. I don't. Got a bow. A few. Is there a few? Yeah. He's, he said a couple weeks maybe he's getting his, but is there a few to grab, to shoot or try out?

I don't know. I haven't, we haven't looked at every booth yet, but I don't know if anybody's got any bows like to test out here. No. And it's hard, right? This is my lack of knowledge of bows, but it's hard because you have to have the right draw length and the right poundage. Yeah. Oh, for sure.

So you, it's not like you can just pick up anyone and try it out. 'cause I'm like, I have one you could try out, but I don't know if it's the right draw length or bounded. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's gotta definitely be fit [01:19:00] for yeah, the person, the hunter. But a lot of times if there's an actual bow company on site somewhere, they'll have different ones that they can quickly adjust in a bow, even a recur, range something. Yeah. That, I feel like that would be fun. Yeah. I wonder if, what do you suggest that, what about Mattson? He's got a recurve, doesn't he? Yeah, he does. You just gotta go shoot that. Yeah. Maybe get into it. Yeah, I think you're gonna love it. It sounds like you're sold on hunting. Yeah. Even when we first came over there, you were like, dude, I'll talk honey.

No. He was like, what's the shed you got? Tell me about it. Oh yeah, he saw you out. Yeah. Why don't you tell me about this? Where'd you get this? Yeah. Yeah. So as soon as we had that first conversation, I was like, yeah, he's gonna be on the podcast. Thanks for hopping on, man. I appreciate it. Yeah. And we'll keep hanging out and get some more content.

Go hike the trails and see what we can shoot up there. Yeah, if you end up getting something next year, let us know. Hit up the, and we can share the story on the show. All righty. Sweet. Thanks. Yeah, man, I had a ton of fun putting that episode together. And [01:20:00] if you want to come hang out and do a live podcast recording with me, you gotta come join us at Bo Fest next year.

We're gonna be there. I'm gonna bring Scout. We'll have him back from training, so he's gonna come. Chill at our booth the whole time. Sam's gonna be all dialed in with her bow. She'll have a year of practice at that point, so she's actually gonna come shoot the three D courses with us and it's just gonna be an unbelievable time.

I know a lot of these vendors that we got to hang out with, they're looking forward to coming and hanging out again. And so I'm telling you, I think Bo E is gonna be on the list year after year, moving forward. Now, early registration is going to open soon, so keep an eye out for that. And I may even have a discount code for you coming up if that is something you're interested in.

Now I just have to decide who all I want to go and hunt with that I met at Po Fest. So until next time, always choose adventure and God bless I.[01:21:00]

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