Show Notes
In this episode of the Antler Up Podcast, host Jeremy Dinsmore is joined by special guest Josh Hillyard to celebrate the rich traditions and enduring memories of deer camp. For the past 12 years, Josh has been attending his best friend Mark Kenyon’s deer camp in Michigan, immersing himself in its cherished rituals and close-knit camaraderie. This past year, Josh finally connected on his first buck at camp, making the moment even more meaningful with his young son in the blind to share in the success. Josh reflects on how deer camp traditions not only strengthen community bonds but also create unforgettable memories that transcend generations.
Listeners will hear how Josh and Mark are now incorporating their kids into the deer camp experience, hoping to instill the same love for the outdoors and respect for traditions that they hold dear. From shared meals and storytelling to celebrating hunting successes, they aim to pass down these rituals, ensuring the next generation understands the value of community and heritage. This heartfelt conversation captures the essence of what makes deer camp so special—bringing people together, shaping lives, and inspiring a legacy of hunting traditions for years to come. Tune in to hear this inspiring story of family, friendship, and the enduring magic of deer camp.
So, grab your gear, sit back, and join us on this episode as we Antler Up with Josh Hillyard! Stay tuned, stay safe, and Antler Up!
https://ourgroundscoffeeco.com/
Show Transcript
Antler Up Podcast (00:00.00)
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to this week's episode of the Antler Up podcast. And I'm thrilled because I got a good buddy of mine, someone that I finally had a chance to meet last year at the Pennsylvania Outdoor Show where we worked the same booth, the Tethered booth. got Josh Hillard on the...
Josh Hillyard (03:33.05)
Sounds good.
Antler Up Podcast (03:50.73)
the other side here where Josh was on a man that had been two years ago when you were still with first light, doing some awesome things there in the white tail side of things. so it's a great time to have you on for this discussion because this is episode two of our camp discussion. So I hope you enjoyed that first episode listeners, but Josh, man, welcome back to the show. got Michigan native, the guy that is again,
Like I've been telling everybody when I, with this camp little mini series I'm doing, I have, I'm talking to buddies that I know for, for a fact, how much hunting and what camp means to them. And then I was like, man, I know Josh has that camp. Like he has been doing it for a long time up in Michigan and, just having another, obviously a friend and coworker, but someone that I could actually hear from what your tradition and what, you know, Michigan means to you as far as deer hunting camp goes.
So I'm, I'm, can't wait to hear some of your awesome stories, man. So welcome to the show.
Josh Hillyard (04:52.124)
Thanks man, appreciate you having me. Excited to be here and talk about deer camp a little bit.
Antler Up Podcast (04:57.475)
Absolutely, man. So right off the rip, dude, congratulations on that hammer of a buck, dude.
Josh Hillyard (05:06.29)
Thanks Ben. Iowa was good to me. Very fortunate. I don't know if we got a lag or something. think I can hear myself talking.
Antler Up Podcast (05:06.368)
The DECA? Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (05:15.678)
As long as if there, yeah, if there's a lag, you could, as long as you're talking, it will record locally. So like you could just, you could still fire from the hip and just keep rolling. And then if, if you miss something from me, just ask me to repeat it. It's all good.
Josh Hillyard (05:27.138)
Okay, cool.
Josh Hillyard (05:35.696)
Okay, cool.
Antler Up Podcast (05:36.758)
So yes, so you killed a good one out in Iowa, man. That's awesome.
Josh Hillyard (05:40.434)
Yeah. Yeah. I killed a good one Iowa and, and, gosh, like speaking of camp kind of had like a mini camp out there. I've got a couple of buddies that live out there and it's always fun to get out there every, every handful of years and get to get to share a little bit of a different deer camp with them. And it's a little bit more hunting focused than maybe, some of the other stuff, know, from Northern Michigan deer camp stuff, but, you know, you don't spend a whole lot of time at camp out in Iowa. You're in a tree all day, but.
Antler Up Podcast (06:01.183)
you
Josh Hillyard (06:09.394)
That was a great time. Killed it, killed a good one, killed my personal best to date. And it's always fun to be able to celebrate with buddies out there and have a few adult beverages and just take it all in. It was a great time.
Antler Up Podcast (06:11.446)
Bye bye.
Antler Up Podcast (06:23.761)
Heck yeah, man. So like you just said, growing up, going to deer camp up in the UP, what were some of your earliest hunting traditions you remember growing up and who influenced those traditions the most for you?
Josh Hillyard (06:38.545)
Yeah, well, I actually, I didn't grow up hunting. So I didn't get into it until just out of college. I went a few times, I went a few times in high school. You know, hunted a little bit, but never really considered myself like a hunter in high school. I went and sat in a bucket with a buddy with a shotgun during gun season, you know, like I think I did that like one or two seasons in high school and never really had like any opportunities, but.
Antler Up Podcast (07:00.906)
You
Josh Hillyard (07:06.643)
Once I got out of college, kind of really got into it. you know, so our, camp I go to, is in the Northern lower peninsula, like Northwest Michigan. And, very, it's like very similar to some of the stuff in the UP, you know, not as harsh of winners, not, you're not dealing with the predation like you do in the UP with wolves and stuff like that. but, you know, big, you know, cedar swamp, big wood stuff.
which is similar to, to UP landscape. but yeah, man, it's a, it's a blast going up there. It's, know, you go out there and not expecting a lot of deer encounters. You go up there expecting a good time and just, it, so our, gun season here in Michigan always falls on November 15th. you know, right after you've just been going at it real hard with the bow, you know, 15 days of first 15 days of November.
The gun season for me always felt like a chance to almost like relax a little bit, right? Like not as high pressure. Like you're just going up to have a good time. If you see some deer, great. If not, you know, go sit a couple hours in morning, go back, have some coffee and breakfast at camp and just, just relax for the afternoon. It's almost just like a, it feels like a vacation from hunting a little bit, even though.
Antler Up Podcast (08:09.739)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (08:26.356)
Yeah. Who who brought you to that your first camp?
Josh Hillyard (08:30.929)
Yes, I go to my buddy Mark's camp. So Mark Kenyon, he's had a family camp forever and he's going up there since he was a little guy. And it had always been a family camp. Just, just family. And I got the invite up there. Gosh. We were just talking, we were trying to figure out the first year that I went up there and we couldn't we couldn't quite put our finger on. I think I've been going up there close to 12 years now.
So, you know, people came and went and kind of some spots opened up at camp and it was like, Hey, if you, if you want to come up, we'd love to have you, we'd love to have you come up type deal. And I've been going up every year. think I've missed maybe one or two years, just with like some weird scheduling stuff. but then going to last at least 12 years, the same spot.
Antler Up Podcast (09:24.138)
That's pretty awesome, man. So like, obviously you see that his family side of things and you get a chance to see the social side of things of probably what you call your family, even though they're probably non-blood related side of it, you know, with the friends, you know, when you think about it, is it more of like a family event? Is it more of that social tradition, like with the friends of mix of both? you know, and how does like that dynamic really shape your overall experience with that deer camp?
Josh Hillyard (09:53.075)
Yeah. Yeah. So it's essentially all family except me. So it's, it's, you know, me and then Mark, his dad, his uncle are kind of like the stalwarts of like his dad and uncle are kind of like the, you know, the, what's the right word? The, the head honchos there at camp, kind of, they kind of run the show and then, Mark's been doing a lot more. you know, they've been doing a lot of habitat work up there and, trying to, trying to make it better. Like it's not, it's not a great,
Antler Up Podcast (10:08.234)
to head honchos.
Josh Hillyard (10:23.862)
It's not great habitat for deer, but they've been doing a lot to try to make it better. And then like this year, his cousin came up. There's a handful of friends that will, some of his uncle Steve's friends will, like think there was a guy that came for a couple of years there, but just kind of like a of people come, a couple of people go, but that's kind of like the core of it. It's usually like the four of us. And then the last, since the last couple of years, we've been starting to take our boys up.
So Mark brought his two boys and I brought my oldest this year. So it's, a lot of fun being out there with kids.
Antler Up Podcast (10:51.851)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (10:58.494)
Heck yeah, man. So I want you to save that aspect of it for this, maybe next question for the back end of it. But when you think about going there to last 12 years and obviously the things that the really amazing things that Mark's been able to do in his career within this world of hunting and everything along those lines, some traditions I'm sure have evolved now. Like you were saying, he's been doing a lot more habitat things.
So like what are maybe some of those evolving hunting traditions that have changed over the years? and obviously then elaborate on some of the new ones that you guys are hoping to incorporate.
Josh Hillyard (11:37.375)
Sure, yeah, I I'll speak to like, kind of my experience up there. know like, it's like his grandpa, his grandpa, who's passed on now, a number of years ago, he passed away before I started going out, but like, he was kind of the head honcho before. And like, I just, hear so many cool stories about, you know.
what it used to be like and how the landscape up there was totally different. And out in front of camp, used to just be open fields. Now it's all grown up with cedar trees and just like all these different stories sitting in camp and they'd see deer running through the yard. One of my favorite things about camp is the wall of the fireplace. It's just all mounts of all the deer that have been killed up there over the years. And that's probably like my favorite thing about camp.
You go in and you just see the wall of the old school velvet skull cap mounts. It's just this little one room log cabin. But yeah, from a tradition standpoint, is always like, all right, go hunt your one semi-permanent blind we've got set up here and go sit there until you're ready to come in.
Antler Up Podcast (12:52.255)
I'm
Josh Hillyard (12:58.449)
And, you know, they still got a handful of those permanent blinds, but they've really changed. Like something that's changed is like paying, like, I always remember Mark saying like his grandpa, like for all the things that he learned from his grandpa, like one of the things his grandpa never talked about was like hunting the wind, right? Like they just went and sat their spots, didn't matter. So I think regardless, right? So like, I think that's something that's really changed the way people have hunted up there is getting people to think about that.
Antler Up Podcast (13:16.062)
Regardless.
Antler Up Podcast (13:24.47)
getting people to think about that.
Josh Hillyard (13:27.029)
And like, like I know his dad pays attention to that. Now it's always fun kind of listening to hear like, know, when it's going to be coming out of the South, I'm to go sit on the side of the food plot or I'm going to go sit here. Cause I don't think those conversations were happening, you know, 15, 20 years ago. And then his uncle like is a big still hunter. So he just loves walking. You he's, he's not a guy that could sit down. So we always kind of like it when he's up there. Cause he's always kind of pushing some deer around.
Antler Up Podcast (13:41.421)
Hahaha.
Antler Up Podcast (13:48.148)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (13:54.228)
Yep.
Josh Hillyard (13:55.061)
So it's always nice having him kind of walking around, but yeah, man, like, the, tradition, the traditions for, me, like the things, some of the things I enjoy is like not getting out there, you know, half hour, hour before daylight. It's like, kind of push it, you know, getting in there maybe a little bit before gray light, maybe right at gray light. it's just, you know, I think for me, like the biggest thing is just the, it's a much more relaxed. Feel and it's,
Antler Up Podcast (14:11.658)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (14:17.63)
Yeah.
Josh Hillyard (14:24.009)
That's one of my favorite things about it is just getting up there and kicking back and, you know, hunting, but not having the pressure to, to, you know, really get after it too hard.
Antler Up Podcast (14:32.724)
Yeah, dude. Well, and you talk about, I'm sure once, maybe it will be a couple of years from now that you actually bring the boys up and, the kids up for actual participating in, in deer campsite of things. But, you know, I'm sure you guys have, have. Experience of bringing them already. Like you just said, of bringing them up there. And, I'm sure the two of you guys are just thrilled for one day being like, man, just wait till we're the old guys. And these two are, you know, these kids are just running circles all around us and everything. And
Josh Hillyard (14:58.517)
It'll be here before we know it.
Antler Up Podcast (15:03.973)
man, it goes quick. They'll be telling you guys how to hunt the, the, the spots.
Josh Hillyard (15:06.357)
Exactly. Exactly. Well, his oldest, think his oldest Mark's oldest goes with, Mark's dad with his grandpa. And, we always joke like, yeah, you know, everyone will tell you, everyone will tell you when a deer is coming, what you need to do. And, know, he, he's got it all figured out. He's a, he's quite the little hunter. but yeah, man, it's, just like, there's some, they've got some great neighbors up there, some great relationships with the neighbors. One of the guys like makes his own moonshine. so.
bring that over after a long day in the woods. Not so much the last couple of years with the kids around. We've kind of shied away from that side of it, it's not that it was ever too rowdy, but it's definitely toned back a little bit. We're all in bed a little bit earlier these days, these last couple of years with the kids up there.
Antler Up Podcast (15:54.068)
Nice. What's it? So I know you mentioned you love going up there and you see in the, the, the skull caps and seeing the old velvet skull cap things other than like that side of things. What can you think of like a favorite memory? Like you're maybe your, your first year up there or someone else doing something or it could even be non hunting related. Like what, when you think of trying to maybe explain somebody,
you're in a grocery store, wearing, you're still wearing an orange vest for whatever reason. And someone's just like, man, why deer hunting camp? And you got to think of that favorite memory. What is that?
Josh Hillyard (16:26.655)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, we can get into this in a minute, but like probably my new favorite memory is just from this past weekend. We can hit on that in a minute. I don't even know if you know what happened this past weekend, but one of the things we always joke about, well, my first year up there, this is just kind of a funny story. My first year up there, was still relatively new hunter and you know,
first kind of gun season, like I'd hunted down home a little bit, like during gun season, but never really had like a great spot to go and just wander around some public land during gun season. So I go up there and I had a, at the time I brought a muzzleloader with me. That's what I had. That's what I was going to hunt with and go and just, you know, shoot it, make sure everything was good and kind of find out like the breach plug is all like followed up, like not firing. So Mark and I like drive 40 minutes into town.
I buy like a scoped combo from the sporting goods store, like off the rack, buy it, go back, it in. I was hunting with it that afternoon. That's still the gun I use today. I've done some work to it. But it's just like, that's just like one of those like young and dumb moments where you don't sight your gun until you get up there. So that's like one funny story I always think about is how much time we spent messing around, getting that gun. That first year I went up and.
But I think like my favorite thing to do up there is they got these like old leather chairs, like right by the fireplace. And I love, and I have these like big oversized, like old school, like field and stream coffee cups. My favorite thing is getting up in the morning, got the radio going. They got the propane lights gone and just sipping coffee in one of those little leather chairs sitting by the window in the fireplace gone. It's dark and it's quiet. It just like, it's just perfect.
Antler Up Podcast (18:18.91)
Mm-hmm.
You can hear the sounds.
Josh Hillyard (18:21.633)
That's my favorite part of it. Just the wood crackling in the fireplace and just talking about what's going to happen today. man, that's what I look forward to getting up there, just sipping some coffee before the morning hunt and just shooting the shit with the guys.
Antler Up Podcast (18:41.526)
I love that man. Do you guys have any like rituals that you all do? You know, I know that kind of sounds like a little weird question, but like, is it like a certain meal, anything along those lines that you guys do or anything?
Josh Hillyard (18:55.065)
not really. I wouldn't say we really have anything like that. Like we used to play a lot of poker. stay up late playing poker, that kind of stuff. like, as far as like a meal, I don't like, we usually kind of split meals, right? Like, Hey, you do breakfast, you do lunch, we'll do dinner. know, always some venison, always some sort of venison meal we'll have. and then there's like a local bar we go to at least once every time we're up there. it's fun just to go visit a local establishment.
Antler Up Podcast (19:24.626)
That's awesome. So you had the generational impact, obviously from, from, from Mark's grandfather, from his dad and bringing you got bringing you in and introducing like your kids into it now and all that stuff. You know, like what it, you know, what would, you know, you and Mark and, or even if you started your own camp, like you, you, you build another little, little shed right on top of that same land or next door or something along those lines. Like what traditions are you guys really hoping to pass down to the next?
Josh Hillyard (19:43.737)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Josh Hillyard (19:55.703)
Yeah, I mean, as far as like specific things, I don't know. Like I would just want, I would want my kids to enjoy it to the point where I have. and like, think like the biggest thing I would love to see is like for them to pass that onto their kids. If they were having kids, right? Like just kind of keep that, that trend going. can't think of like any, like one specific thing, like I'd want like, no, wear this pair of socks or, know, any like superstitious things like that or like.
Antler Up Podcast (20:21.856)
Yeah.
Josh Hillyard (20:23.865)
I just like want, I want them to have like the passion and the love for it like I do. And however that gets across to them, I don't know. But like that's what I would want. Like I would want them to think about going out there all year long. And like that's when that, when that day comes to go up there, like you can hardly hold your excitement in, you know? So.
Antler Up Podcast (20:41.142)
Yeah. Amen.
Antler Up Podcast (20:47.786)
Yeah, I love that. Dude, that's the perfect answer too for that. That's kind of been the theme so far amongst the guests with that is just passing it on, having that joy, that love. I haven't said this aspect of it from in the first two interviews with this, Josh, but I don't know if you saw years ago, man. I mean, I was probably in middle school at the time. I'm 37. So there was an MTV show that was like,
It was like, live for the beach or I live for the New Jersey beach, Ocean City or something like that. And it was this Guido dude that he worked construction and he, his like one famous line was like, I work Monday through Friday to go to the beach. Right? Like that was like his thing. And he would go on the weekends and live it up and drink and go out and all that stuff. And I've never had a camp feel like I would go to my, to my dad's, would, we would do
Josh Hillyard (21:28.06)
Thank
Josh Hillyard (21:33.936)
Hahaha
Antler Up Podcast (21:45.186)
like this same thing as far as getting prepared for a rifle season, but I would stay at his house. Like we didn't have a cab and we didn't have, we had our own private land mountain that we would hunt, but we didn't have a camp. And this year, me and my buddies, we, we have something now. And like the first couple of times when I hunted archery there this past year, it was like, would work Monday through Friday. And when I knew I was heading out Friday after work, dude, I was like feening. like, I'm just working the can't wait to go to. And I was like,
Josh Hillyard (22:11.33)
Not either.
Antler Up Podcast (22:14.452)
I came across that clip for whatever reason. was like, OMG. was like, this is literally how I feel. Like this guy from back in the day watching this MTV show when I was a kid. so it's kind of funny though, but like, you know, how that, how that is. And, it's just the love and the passion, but going along with that is I did say this last time, like my daughter has yet to go up there, but like, she can't wait and it doesn't necessarily mean to hunt. Actually, it's just, she just wants to go up there and experience.
Like that aspect of camp basically and I'm excited for
Josh Hillyard (22:48.797)
Yeah, no, it's the best man. so like last year was the first year I brought Wade's my oldest first year I brought him up. And so like we were, I pulled him out of school Friday, 15th was a Friday and picked him up from school Thursday. And the original plan was to go straight from school. Just like have the truck pack and packed and go. Well, there's a little bit of, you know how it is with kids, right? Like one of them might be sick. So like we're gonna.
Antler Up Podcast (23:06.742)
you
Josh Hillyard (23:16.425)
We're going to hold off a night and like, just make sure everything's good. like we, I, when I picked the weight up, go, Hey buddy, like change of plans. We're going to go up tomorrow morning. And it was just like waterworks, man. Like he just like lost it. He was so disappointed that we weren't going to go. And even though it was only like one night difference, he just, he, could, he could, he couldn't hold it in. He was so sad. so like, I think we're, I think we're on the right track.
Antler Up Podcast (23:29.828)
Aww.
Josh Hillyard (23:43.526)
I think for right now, it's just because he's so excited to get out there and play with his friends, right? Like play with the Marks two boys and do all that. like, think he knows it's like, it's different. It's a special place to be.
Antler Up Podcast (23:47.69)
Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Heck yeah. So I want you to maybe see if you could elaborate on Josh, like how you're saying there's, don't have that pressure on you. You're, you're, you know what I mean? You're going out great light. You're enjoying coffee. I guess like maybe talk about like that impact on you, for just like having that.
brush, you know, that fresh breath of fresh air basically, and really enjoying the moment and like what that really means to you,
Josh Hillyard (24:22.654)
Yeah. Yeah. So I think like, you know, here in Michigan, you know, it's, it's, you know, we, we are, our bow season opens up October 1st and, and, you know, gun season is November 15th. So like that first 45 days of the season, it just feels like a real grind because, know, you get it in Pennsylvania too, right? Like there's so many hunters here. Like there's so much pressure on these deer. Like your best opportunity to kill a good buck is, you know, before, before gun season.
So like there, whether you, whether you know it or not, I think you're just like putting pressure on yourself to like get it done, you know, in October, early November. And, you know, when it happens, great. When it doesn't, it's just like that much harder, you know, once the guns start cracking and, and, you know, for me, it's like where we hunt, in Northern Michigan, there's just, there's just not a lot of deer, like we're at specific, it's just like low deer densities, big woods.
Antler Up Podcast (25:08.06)
You
Antler Up Podcast (25:16.288)
Mm-hmm.
Josh Hillyard (25:21.948)
So it was always like, well, there's a chance we might see deer. We probably won't, but like there's a chance we could see something, but we're not going to like kill ourselves trying to get out there, you know, hour and a half before daylight and going three miles back in whatever like that you might do for, for both seasons. so it's just kind of like a, it's almost feels like a reset, right? Like kind of like you're coming off the route where you're doing a bunch of all day sits and just day after day after day or.
Antler Up Podcast (25:42.965)
Hmm.
Josh Hillyard (25:49.767)
I'll come back from some out of state trips or whatever it is. It's just like the pace of the game just slows down. you know, think part of it's having like a gun in your hand, right? Like a little bit of an equalizer, like you don't have to be in the exact right spot. You can be in like the right zone. but then also just like, you know, going up there for 12 years or whatever, think I can count on one hand, how many legal bucks I know I can count on one hand, how many legal bucks I've seen in that time spent too.
Antler Up Podcast (26:05.022)
Yep.
Antler Up Podcast (26:17.96)
Yeah.
Josh Hillyard (26:20.873)
So it's just like the likelihood of like catching up with one is, you know, has been slim now it's getting better. but I think just the, there's not that pressure like, okay, you know, I gotta, gotta get it done today. I gotta get it done today or whatever. So I think it just kind of like, it's a nice reset. Go up there for a few days, long weekend, whatever it is, however much time you have and kind of go home then and, and, reset for like the last part of the season, right? Kind of get, get it.
Antler Up Podcast (26:37.042)
I think it's kind like a nice reset. out there for a few days, we've done whatever it is, time we have, kind of go home and then it's a reset for like the last...
Josh Hillyard (26:49.312)
bow back in your hand at some point or shift to kind of, you know, if you need to fill some dough tags, maybe that's when they do it. It's just like, I don't know, after gun season, it just gets really tough here. So just a kind of a shift in mindset, I guess.
Antler Up Podcast (26:49.632)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (27:04.808)
I like that man. I love it. Now, what about this past weekend?
Josh Hillyard (27:10.593)
Yeah. So went up, like I said, went up to camp, got up there. We're actually driving up opening morning just cause making sure kids weren't sick. Everyone is in the clear. Everyone's doing good. so we ended up, you know, delaying getting up there for a day. So we're driving up opening morning, find out that one of the big deer in the area gets killed by the neighbors. It's like, man, you know, it was a good, it was a big one. and so it was kind of like a bummer.
Antler Up Podcast (27:20.758)
You
Josh Hillyard (27:39.904)
Right? But at the same time, like you're going up there with like three kids and the likelihood that they're going to be quiet enough for a, you know, big deer to come strolling through on one of them is in a blind. It's probably unlikely. so we find that out, get up there, let the kids, the kids are running around being crazy. Like the thing, the thing about the cabin where it's at is it's like right by like all the hunting is done within a few hundred yards of the cabin. Right? So like,
Antler Up Podcast (27:40.34)
Yeah, yeah.
Josh Hillyard (28:09.154)
We try to be somewhat quiet, not too rowdy, but having a seven and a five and a four year old, there's no such thing. You get them together, they go nuts. I don't think, we didn't see anything. We didn't see anything. No one saw anything Friday night. Go back in Saturday morning and sitting in a good spot. This is the one area that I've sat over the years that I've actually seen some deer.
Antler Up Podcast (28:18.581)
No.
Josh Hillyard (28:38.049)
Saw a real nice eight pointer there a handful of years ago. And it's just like a good, there's like a, there's like a old pipeline that kind of runs through there. So there's, there's a couple of different spots where there's a change in cover, some good edge in the spot. And then they've done some habitat work in this like big stand to hemlocks. So it's just, it was like a good spot. I hadn't been in there in a few years since they've done some of the work. And so we're sitting there Saturday morning and you know, we've been in there for a couple hours.
think we've gone through all of our snacks by now. So he's on the ground, you know, playing around and drawing a notepad or something. don't even know what he was doing. And I turned, I looked down and it's like, don't know, 830, 845, something like that. Hey buddy, he's like, shh, calm down a bit. just be quiet. Like he's, he like, he loved wearing his like, ear protection the whole time. So of course, like when he's talking, right, he's like talking way too loud because he can't hear himself. and I was like, Hey buddy, like bring it down a little bit.
Antler Up Podcast (29:27.689)
Yep.
Antler Up Podcast (29:31.893)
I'm
Josh Hillyard (29:36.223)
And I turn around and there's this buck just looking at us like 40 yards away. He kind of snuck in through some, through some brush and he's just like looking at us. And I think at this point, like, so Wade is like behind me and I think he stood up to be able to see, I think Wade stood up to be able to see in that buck. Just like, you know, you know how they do it. Just like the head bob and he's like, man, something's up. So he took off and it, cause I like, I have my gun on my rest, like on my little shooting stick and
Antler Up Podcast (29:49.654)
think he stood up to be able to see, think Wade stood up to be able to see and have a look, just like, you know how they do it. The head bob and he's like, man, this is up. So he took off.
Josh Hillyard (30:04.288)
but it's not like I don't have a shoulder during anything. So I'm just like frozen and he moves. got one little hole like further down. So I tried to get positioned as soon as he leads and he went right through that little shooting hole and it didn't have a chance. But he was heading towards the like the general direction of Mark's dad and Mark's little son were sitting in a blind down on a couple hundred yards from us and he's had that way. So I'm just like waiting, I go, right, they're gonna get a, they're gonna get a shot at him and.
I keep watching out there just like see if anything's going on. That buck ended up circling back and now he's like walking back along the edge of the swamp and these hemlocks. And I was able to get him stopped and Wade is watching and put it right on his shoulder and shot him. And he ran maybe 20, 30 yards and piled up in the swamp. And dude, it was wild. he's not like a big deer. He's like a seven point, like probably two and a half year old buck.
Antler Up Podcast (30:55.136)
That's awesome.
Josh Hillyard (31:02.115)
But it was just like, it's the one I'll remember forever. Cause you know, you had your, your, your boy in the blind and kind of went up there saying like, I'm going to shoot any legal buck. Like I don't care. I'm going to, if I get the opportunity to fill a tag with Wade in the blind, like I'm doing it. you know, it ended up being a nice little buck. Like we, we call it the top row buck for the, for the mounts. Like it'll, it'll be, it's big enough to go on the top row, right? Like all the, the, the, get bigger as you go up. he was a top row buck and like little.
Antler Up Podcast (31:03.03)
like is the one I'll remember forever.
Antler Up Podcast (31:17.214)
Yep. Nice. There you go. Yep.
Josh Hillyard (31:31.511)
would be an eight pointer, but didn't have much of a brow time on one side. So, yeah, man, first time shooting my gun at a deer, you know, up at, up at deer camp, you know, been going for 10, 12 years, whatever it's been. And first opportunity at a deer is pretty, pretty awesome. no better feeling than getting that thing back to camp and hanging it up on the pole and standing around looking at it and talking with them, drinking a beer, looking at, know, that's just the, there's.
Antler Up Podcast (31:52.83)
No.
Josh Hillyard (32:00.613)
There's no better feeling in the world. So got the deer camp monkey off my back. Finally got one up there.
Antler Up Podcast (32:03.08)
Heck yeah, man, dude, I'm
Antler Up Podcast (32:09.959)
That's unbelievable that it took like, like you said, obviously the deer numbers are not there. but like that long that to cherish that moment. it took, you know, just thinking like that first year when you were there to when this actually happened, you had your boy in there with you, do like, that is so cool. You know I mean?
Josh Hillyard (32:27.7)
I know all the years that could have happened. Yeah. All the years it couldn't happen. I ended up, I killed a Turkey with him in the blind the spring and I'll buck this fall. I just needed to start carting him around wherever I go. You know, a little good luck charm, but yeah, it was fun. Like, you know, every, you know, we sat there for a while because we're, like I said, we weren't too far from, other guys in the group punting. So we just want to make sure we didn't screw. So, but every two minutes like, okay, can we go back?
Antler Up Podcast (32:35.914)
take them with it. Yeah, I like it.
Antler Up Podcast (32:53.675)
Yeah.
Josh Hillyard (32:53.786)
dad, can we go back? we tell uncle Mark, can we tell Everett, can we tell Colt, like, let's go, let's go, let's go. And just like trying to get him to calm down. And we let the boys kind of track the deer. Like we kind of went and pre-checked it out. Just kind of had an idea. We never found any blood. Never found any blood. just like, luckily didn't go far. Just like little body search and found them. But we let the boys walk ahead of us and like, know, there it is. guys, you guys see it over there? It's like.
Antler Up Podcast (33:10.131)
Really.
Antler Up Podcast (33:20.064)
Yeah.
Josh Hillyard (33:21.35)
So they found it, right? The boys found it. And then it was an argument for the rest of the camp of who actually found it. But they all found it together. So it was fun and got a little lesson in all the fun stuff that comes after pulling the trigger too. So was a good experience for all of them.
Antler Up Podcast (33:41.152)
Dude, that is awesome to hear, man. Congratulations on that. dude, what a year, like you said, spring with him in there and then shooting that buck in Iowa and then getting that one up at camp. Nothing can get any better than that, dude. So congratulations.
Josh Hillyard (33:42.922)
Thanks buddy, appreciate it.
Josh Hillyard (33:54.371)
Yeah, yeah, dude. It's been a, it's been a whirlwind of a, of a season, like from not hunting much. got a, you know, three and a half month old at home. So I was a two month old when, when the season started, like, I think I've been out three or four times, just a couple of quick afternoon hunts before, before my Iowa trip. And I was like, you know, this, might be one of those years, right? Like Iowa might have him for me, but, it might just be one of those years. just kind of.
Antler Up Podcast (34:10.699)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (34:15.371)
Yep.
Josh Hillyard (34:21.625)
get out when it can and if something happens, it happens. then, you know, within a matter of like six or seven days, build two buck tags and you're riding on cloud nine and whatever happens the rest of your, you know, it's all gravy from here.
Antler Up Podcast (34:35.882)
Yeah, dude. Dude, I love that you just said that because it makes me feel good about my situation. Just because for me, I was just talking to a buddy through text message. I was like, you know what? I really want to go through and see how many days I actually did hunt this year. And for me, the state of Pennsylvania, I had seven sits. That's it. And I was like, I put a lot of, like you said, you went to Iowa, you you wanted to get, get that opportunity for me. It was my Ohio trip and I was, I was successful there on that trip. So that was like,
That was my big, put a lot of time and effort. Like that was one of my main goals was to kill an Ohio buck this year since I got my, it came home with my tail between my legs last year and stuff like that. And, you know, was, I was able to get that done. And now I'm like you, I'm excited for what the gun see, I haven't been this excited for gun season in a very long time. And I can't, I can't stress how excited I am. And that means I'm going to be like you said, shoot a dough. If I get a, for me, I'm hoping to.
Josh Hillyard (35:22.97)
Ha ha ha.
Antler Up Podcast (35:35.126)
Yeah, what am I kidding? I'll probably shoot any legal buck at this point. But no.
Josh Hillyard (35:38.81)
Yeah. Yeah, because you guys have antler point restrictions there in PA, right?
Antler Up Podcast (35:44.33)
Yeah. I mean, I'll shoot. I won't say I won't. I'll shoot a six or better. That's my goal. I won't just shoot like a little five point or something like that. I'll try to shoot a six or better. but yeah, man, dude, I appreciate your time talking about camp, your, your traditions that you've started doing with Mark and his family. And, what a cool perspective. And, I greatly appreciate your time. I value you, man. So thanks for coming on, dude.
Josh Hillyard (35:53.798)
There you go.
Josh Hillyard (36:05.923)
Yeah.
Hey, appreciate it. It's always fun to get to talk about deer camp. I feel very fortunate to have gotten that invite all those years ago and I hope I keep getting it because it's one of my favorite places to go.
Antler Up Podcast (36:21.302)
Heck yeah, man, I'd love to hear that. Well, thanks again, everybody, for tuning in. We'll see you next week, everybody. Antler up.
