Get Ready Now for Your Season w/ Greg Godfrey

Hey everyone, welcome to episode 180 of the Antler Up Podcast!

On this week's episode I was joined by Tethrd’s own Greg Godfrey!! Over the last 6+ years of diving down the YouTube rabbit hole of hunting videos, there was one that I personally followed because of some great DIY videos.  The individual that was putting out these great videos was none other than Greg Godfrey on his G2 outdoors channel.  From spray painting your sticks to building the ultimate truck camping experience Greg had a video for it.  Greg is also the Co-Ownder of Tethrd.  I have spent a good deal of time with Greg and have learned a lot and continue to learn from him.  This episode we get into some really great information when it comes to preparing for your season RIGHT NOW! So, if you are gearing up for your out of state trip currently you will want to listen in to hear the good, the bad and ugly from Greg!

Kicking this episode off, Greg shares how effort really plays a role in his everyday life.  I asked him an unorthodox first question and I couldn’t agree more with his answer and I believe a lot of you will relate to it.  From here we get into the real good stuff about planning right now for the upcoming season.  What this looks like and how you can avoid making some simple mistakes before you leave and while on your hunt.  We discussed some hunting stories and how it is not always about the kill on the hunt, but rather the individuals you share camp with that make the trip.  We get into tactics when you are on these trips that will help you be ready for the opportunity and we wrap up the last few minutes of this episode with sharing the new products that Tethrd just released like the LockDown saddle, Fold & Go and the Scorpion.  Check it out and let us know what you think!  Enjoy this fun episode and see you next week! 

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

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

Jeremy Dinsmore: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Antler Podcast, brought to you by Tethered Nation, the world's best saddle hunting equipment, and we have a great show for you all today.

What's up everybody? Welcome back to this week's episode of the Antler Podcast. We're on episode 181, and on this week's episode, I was joined by Tethered Zone Great Godfrey, over to the last six plus years of diving down in the YouTube rabbit hole of hunting videos. There was one that I personally followed because of some awesome, great, do-it-yourself videos.

The individual that was putting out these great videos was none other than great Godfrey on his G2 Outdoors channel. From Spray painting your sticks to building the ultimate truck hunt camping experience. Greg had a video for [00:01:00] it. Greg is also the co-owner of Tethered and I have spent a good deal of time with Greg and have learned a lot and continue to learn from him, uh, as I continue to work for Tethered.

And this episode, we get into some really great information when it comes to preparing for your season right now. So if you're gearing up for your out-of-state hunt or your trip currently, you will want to listen to this episode and hear the good and the bad from Greg. So kicking off this episode, Greg shares how effort really plays a role in his everyday life.

I asked him an unorthodox question and I couldn't agree more with his answer, and I believe a lot of you will really relate to it. From here, we get into the real good stuff about planning right now for the upcoming season, what this looks like and how you can avoid making some simple mistakes before you leave.

And while you're on your hunt, we discuss some hunting stories, how really it is not always the kill. Of the hunt that, but rather the individuals you share camp with that make the trip. We get into tactics when you are on these [00:02:00] trips that we really, I think, will help you be ready for the opportunity. And we wrap up the last few minutes of this episode with sharing some new products from Tethered that they just released in, including the Lockdown saddle, the Fold Folding Go and the Scorpion.

Check it out and let us know what you think. Enjoy this fun episode and we'll see you next week with Greg Farrell from First Light. Really appreciate it everybody. Have a good week. Antler up. And if you like what you hear during this episode, go leave that five star review over on Spotify and iTunes. And as a thank you, towards the end of the month, I'm going to pick a random winner, and I'm gonna go over this next week, but I'm going to be giving away a half dozen, uh, uh, a set of arrows from Exodus outdoor gear of your choice, whether it be the MMT Arrow or their new NIS arrow.

So be on the lookout for that here in the next episode or two. I'll discuss that a little bit further or even on my Facebook and Instagram pages. So thanks again for everybody, for all the support. Have a great week. Antler Up[00:03:00]

Tethered is a team of saddle hunting fanatics with a passionate addiction to whitetail hunting, designing, and engineering products. To be a more efficient and confident hunter Tether produces the most mobile, stealthy and safest elevated hunting gear on the planet. Built by saddle hunters Ford, the saddle hunter.

Head over to tether nation.com to see for yourself what exactly I'm talking about.

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Today at America's best bow strings.com, any special code is made for our listeners. Of the Antler Up podcast for America's best bow strings, use code antler up and you'll save $10 off your [00:04:00] order. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the show. This week I'm joined by a good friend of mine that I've learned a ton from even before I've had a chance to meet him.

And I continue to learn from him every day that we either we chat or when we're together at an event. And that is none other than co-owner of Tethered. We have Greg Godfrey. Greg, welcome to the show, man.

Greg Godfrey: Thanks, Jeremy. Yeah, it's, uh, it's always fun to catch up with an old pal and especially here right before, right before hunting season as we record this and early July.

I'm, uh, I got family vacation coming up next week and then as soon as I get back from that, it's like tractor beam focused on, on the hunting season. So I'm excited. This is like the best time of year, July and August when I'm, well, not the best, but getting ready for the Hunts hunting season and, you know, kind of planning everything and.

Getting details and like buying new gear and getting stuff pre. I just love it. It's

Jeremy Dinsmore: the best. I'm with you [00:05:00] on that. Usually once the 4th of July ends for me, that's when things kick up that next, uh, like, like bar, right? That's when I get a little bit more giddy. So I guess when, like you said, after that vacation, a little bit sprinkled now a little bit it seems like.

So it's in, like you said, this is one of my favorite time. I feel like in the years past the, like the last month and a half up until right now, the, I used to buy so many different pieces of equipment that I thought I would need or would like or I want to try, and then the next thing you know, and I'm either flipping it or keeping it, that was like the, the whole with the whole gear side of things.

Greg Godfrey: I'm the same way. I, I used to, I used to buy and sell so much gear. I don't do it anymore. I find myself turning into a bit of a hoarder. Yeah. I just have all kind of stuff that I don't even use anymore, but it is what

Jeremy Dinsmore: it is. Yeah. So the kind of kick things off, Greg, I want you to think about a memory or an instance that you could, that maybe you think back on a lot that [00:06:00] kind of help you get to where you are today.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be in the hunting world, you know, it could be in the business world, it could be in your mi like former military world. Like what's a moment or a memory that kind of really shaped you where you are today?

Greg Godfrey: That's a great question. And, uh, interesting way to start off The hunting podcast.

Uh, man, I think effort. I, I think about, I think about effort a lot and, you know, and a lot of. Books that I've read and conversations that I've had, and relationships with mentors who have helped guide me through the years. I'm 42 years old, so um, not an old guy, but I'm not a young guy. I'm right there in the middle.

Right. Yeah. Where I've learned a little bit about life and made a lot of mistakes and gotten a lot smarter and a lot wiser, but I'm also not done, you know, either kind of thing. So I, I, I think a lot about [00:07:00] effort and, um, Man, it's like the one thing you can control. There are so many things that you just can't control.

Like we think about like starting a business or shooting a big deer, there's so much that you can't control. You can't control the wind, you can't control the weather, you can't control the food. The acorn crop, you can't control the hunting pressure unless you own all your ground. And even then you gotta wor worry about poachers.

Like, like, there's so much you can't control, but you can control the amount of effort you're willing to put in. And I, I have found in my life that, uh, no matter what it is, if it's being a, a hunter or a good dad or building a business, that if you, you know, it all revolves around effort. And, and the harder you work at something and the more you care about it, the more effort you put into it.

It's just you're bound to succeed and whatever. Whatever success looks like for you. Um, you can get [00:08:00] there if you just bust your ass and put in a lot of effort. So, no, I don't, I don't know if that's necessarily a memory, but I think about that a lot. Yeah. And, um, it's something that it comes back to me over and over and over again and it, it's almost like a mantra that I kind of have in my life.

Like, you know what? I can, I'm not the best looking guy. I'm not the smartest guy, I'm not the most talented guy, but I can outwork a lot of people. So I think, uh, I think effort is, uh, is, is a big deal, means a lot to me.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yeah. No, anyway, I, I, I agree with you. That's some, that is one aspect that I think as a teacher, that I've, you know, really.

Push and harp on with a lot of my students, especially my seniors. I've talked about it before on the podcast where, when it ends, when the season or the year wraps up with them as a senior group. I teach a personal training fitness class, and they're only seniors. They're, they take like these pre-req courses throughout their four years where I teach, and then myself and [00:09:00] two other professors or teachers, uh, Teach kind of like the same course.

They have one, uh, her name's Dr. Re. She teaches basically the main content side of things. They, she, they have her all year. Phenomenal individual, great teacher as well. And then they go to another colleague of mine and he teaches them. The health, or I'm sorry, the, they get a health credit, but it's the nutrition side of things.

And then they come to me for the inside the, the gym, uh, in the weight room. And I kind of go over personal training skills, uh, proper technique, all that type of stuff. And every end of the year, I give them the life speech. Like I take off my teacher cap and I give, like I put on like the dad hat, the also the teacher, the coach, the human being who's made a ton of mistakes.

Learn from them and kind of send that same message home to them. Like what you put into life is what you'll get. You're going to make hundreds of mistakes. And that is okay. Like the one aspect that I always tell them, the wall at the walls around [00:10:00] you are going to feel like they are closing in like none other, but no, every.

Dark night, there's a bright day after that no matter what, that sun's coming up. So to kind of push forth that effort, and my parents were divorced. I live with my grandparents. A lot of things were kind of against me, quote unquote, I guess you could say because of your upbringing. My upbringing. But at the same time, I had sports.

I tried hard, I put in a lot of effort. Uh, same thing with what I do now as a teacher, as running antler up outdoors in the podcast and my hunting and, you know, even working for you, that's the one aspect that I, I work my, my tail off and try to give you the best, uh, that of me as well. So I appreciate that.

I love that you said effort and uh, I do believe no matter what you put in, and the more, as, as the hunting side of things go, the more individuals that I talk to that put in a lot of time and effort, not necessarily always the effort putting boots on the ground, that is one of the skills, but. [00:11:00] Getting out there and putting a lot of effort into it, those individuals really reaped those rewards.

Greg Godfrey: Yeah. I couldn't agree more. And it's, uh, you know, talent, talent matters and if you have talent, you know, you've got a leg up on the competition. But even if you're not the most talented individual like me, you know, just some idiot. But if you're willing to work hard and, and learn, you can, you can, you can do what you want to do, no matter what it is, you know?

Yep. Um, Jason, big Bucks, or like you said, doing all the other stuff that makes a, a well-rounded human being. I mean, it all, it all revolves around effort and attitude, so I like that. Uh, remember that. Yep. Listeners, as you're chasing the Boer this year, bust your butt, keep a good attitude. And even if you don't get 'em, you'll be a better hunter

Jeremy Dinsmore: for it.

No, no. I, I've learned more in the hunting woods of from failure than probably success. Yeah.

Greg Godfrey: No doubt about it. I think that's fair. Yeah. I, I think that's fair. Um, [00:12:00] You know, those are the hard lessons, but they seem to be the ones that stick with you. Yep. No

Jeremy Dinsmore: doubt about it. So what we just talked about earlier on, right now we're in July.

It is that fun time. We're, we're chipping away. Like you don't want summer to to end because of the weather and how nice it is. But you know, it's so close to that deer season. Anytime I go on a run and I see deer or a drive, you know, I always say I have that like weird x-ray vision where I'm like, deer and it's like 700 yards away and my wife, you know, just is like, I don't know how you see all that stuff.

Things start to get a little bit more fun and closing in on the hunting season. So with that, Greg, what are you doing now to prepare for this upcoming season? Or are you about to do, if that makes sense?

Greg Godfrey: So right now it's all about prep for, for for travel. So I'm a little different because I, you know, I have a job, a full-time gig in the hunting industry and a lot of what I do, uh, a lot of my job revolves around.

Creating content [00:13:00] for hunting. So I, it's, it's not, it's not really fair for me to, you know, be like, what am I doing? Cuz my world is a little different now than it used to be. But I mean, right now, pre tethered, I would've been planning my one big trip that I got to do. You know, I I, I, you know, when I was in the Army and I was active duty or even before that, I, uh, you know, I, I, I basically got one hunting trip per year, more or less, cuz that was about all the time I could get off that I didn't all, all didn't have to commit to family, right?

So, you know, my wife typically I got, I got one trip, so me and my brother or me and my dad or whoever, we'd be planning that, that one thing, where are we going? We're going to Indiana and we're gonna stay with a buddy and we're gonna hunt his farm or we're going to Illinois and me and Bobby were gonna go rent a hotel or a Airbnb or sleep in our truck or whatever it is.

It was all about getting to know that area. So, For forums, [00:14:00] uh, making phone calls to wildlife biologists, doing prec scouting with OnX, uh, to, to kind of plan where I'm going and do that stuff. That's the stuff that I, and getting my gear kind of all lined out now, you know, fast forward 20 years and I pretty much know how to do all that stuff, and I'm, I'm, I'm, yeah, I guess at this point I'm an expert.

I've done it so much, and I've been to so many states and I've hunted so many different places that I, I, I pretty much can do it blindfolded at this point. So now it's more, now I focus more this time of year kind of unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it. It, it's more work for me now.

Now it's more about planning for all the people that I am responsible for and the content and all that stuff. That's really, and then, I get to tag along. Yeah. So like for instance, we're doing some stuff in North Dakota this year, um, for the kickoff. So I do kind of handle a lot of the [00:15:00] planning and stuff for that.

And then I'm like, okay, well I'll just show up and hunt. Yeah. You know, it's a lot easier for me in that regard. Um, and, you know, not to sound like a jerk, but now I've got access to gear and stuff like that, so I, I don't really have to worry about that stuff anymore. I, I know. Sorry. I know, but it is what it is.

But hey, when

Jeremy Dinsmore: you work hard and put in that effort, good things happen. Yeah. And

Greg Godfrey: then it's like you get, you know, one of our partners at Tethered is, is Vortex, and they're, you know, a great partner and, but I don't have to worry about glass anymore because Vortex is, they're so awesome. They're like, what do you need, Greg?

And I'm like, oh, I need this. And they're like, okay. They send it to me. So it's, it's really cool. Um, But you know, that took a lot of work to get there. But yeah, so point is is I, I, I don't focus a lot on myself anymore for hunting. I really focus on our team and what we're doing, and then I just kind of insert myself, I cherry pick the best spots.

Uh, and, and I do that. So, man, everybody's [00:16:00] gonna hate me after this because I'm going, I'm going to North Dakota, I'm going to Illinois in October. I'm going to, uh, back to North Dakota for rifle season. And then I'm going on another trip somewhere in the Midwest, I don't know where. Nice. Um, and for the first part of November, so I've got four, four big whitetail hunts planned this year.

Um, yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. I

Jeremy Dinsmore: like that, Greg. Now what's, what are you, what

Greg Godfrey: are you planning this

Jeremy Dinsmore: fall? So this fall will be obviously Pennsylvania. I'll, I have, uh, Ohio, which is where I'll be, uh, Actually when this episode drops, I'll be getting ready, right for that trip. So I'll be going out a couple days ago, put some cameras, get some boots on the ground, that type of stuff.

Uh, I'm going close to an area where I killed that Turkey here, uh, in Ohio. So, uh, kind of got a little bit of, of the ground underneath me a little bit, but it, I was not necessarily focused on whitetail at that point in time. So I'll be going to [00:17:00] Ohio for sure. I know Bobby and I are still planning on doing that early November hunt together, so maybe we will be in that same region together during that timeframe.

So, uh, that I think we're still planning Missouri, so I, for that beginning of, of November. So that's where, uh, I, I plan on hopefully kind of taking things and if I am successful early in pa maybe during gun season New York, it will be an option, which would be pretty freaking awesome.

Greg Godfrey: Yeah, I, I, I really. I really miss that, that part about hunting season.

Yeah, that's one of the downsides about getting a, you know, being a full-time guy in the outdoor world, you know, it's uh, you know, there's pros and cons to everything, right? Yeah. There's good and bad. You know, the pro is you get to think about what you're passionate about 365 days a year and turn that into a way you make a living.

But [00:18:00] then the flip side of that is it turns it into, you gotta make a living, living. So with the hunting season, you know, I, that sounds great that I get to focus on hunting all the time, but in reality it kind of screws me up a little bit because I don't get to just get excited about it like I used to as much, you know, cuz it turns into work.

But the flip side is like Turkey season. We're not a Turkey company. So when it's Turkey season, I can just be. Greg and focus on Turkey. So that has turned into something that I really enjoy. Like last year I went on, uh, uh, I went on two trips with my brother. We went to Missouri and then we went and one with my brother and one with my dad.

And my dad and I went to, to shot in Osceola down near Lake Okeechobee in Florida. And then, uh, me and Bobby went and shot in Eastern in Missouri. Yeah. And those were just no filming? No. Well we did film, but it was all like self film stuff. Yeah. You know, it's not like content. I'm not [00:19:00] bringing camera guy.

Like it was easy. Uh, and man, that is, that is the best. One day I'll get back to that in the deer hunting world where I can just focus on planning my one or two trips a year and just go with all my buddies and, and do it that way. Cuz you do, you do lose that. Well, I, I guess I should speak for myself. I, I have lost that a little bit in, in.

That, that fun aspect of it, when you turn it into a gig, you get you, you lose a li you lose a little bit of that and it's, uh, you know, so it's not all, it's not all rainbows and unicorns when you, when you work in the hunting industry 24 7. But at the same time, it still beats, uh, sitting in a cubi cubicle writing

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Use code au 12 to save 12% off your tailored arrow order@exodusoutdoorgear.com. Yeah, well, I see I have to go back. I have to rebuttal you a little bit and that is not okay with Tether being a, a, uh, Turkey company, which I agree. But man, this thing right behind me, right here, that sucker. Man. I love it, dude.

I, I mean, I know there's so much more we could use it for other than Turkey season. So I, I get, it's a, to me it's like a Swiss Army knife for hunting, scouting, fishing, Turkey hunting, you name it. So I get what you're saying, but as far as, I, I used to be a, a big Turkey vest guy, and then I got away from it.

How could I be the min minimalist as possible? But this year it combined that Turkey vest and feeling minimalist as [00:21:00] possible in one, because I, I said it in some of the video clips that you really don't, unless you have it really packed down, you didn't really notice it on you. So it wasn't like cumbersome, like, man, this vest, this is whatever it was.

I mean, Carl crushes everything that Carl does. And, and, but at the same time, uh, that that thing is pretty freaking slick.

Greg Godfrey: I agree. It's a home run. Yeah. You, you totally forget that it's there. The way Carl designed it and you know, the boys over at T H P had a lot to do it. Yep. Put into how this thing worked.

So between, you know, the guys that tethered, that understand ultralight gear manufacturing and then thp with their Turkey chops and the way that they know what matters to a Turkey hunter man, I, I really feel like it's a home run. I love that vest. I used it all over the country for two seasons. The prototype last, well, two seasons ago and then the production version this year and yeah, I'm with you.

It's awesome. There's a thousand ways [00:22:00] you can do it. The Swiss Army knife is a great, is a great analogy, cuz it, it truly can do, I mean, from shed season, you know, you got the, the, the, the bird bag, right. Which, Which doubles great. As a, as a dump pack for your, for sheds. Yeah. And then, you know, water, it, it just does everything.

Yeah. It, it really does. So I'm excited to try it out this year, uh, deer hunting and see how it, how it goes for some stuff. Like, I've got a couple of things planned where I might be doing some ground attack stuff. Yep. And I think it's gonna be a home run for stuff like that. So, I don't know. We'll see how it shakes out.

But yeah, the M two is pretty awesome. I

Jeremy Dinsmore: like that. Now, now we'll kind of Okay. There was my squirrel moment. There was. That's where I just like go, just go. Total squirrel. So we were talking about what you're doing now and, and in the month of, of the summer months, July. And you've been doing it for a long time, like you mentioned.

And I remember going back, watching your G2 videos and just seeing some of the things that you were doing to prep [00:23:00] your, your gear and your truck and all that stuff. Like, I, again, I, when I seriously say I learned a lot from you prior to meeting you and, and, and collaborating and doing things before you. I, I truly mean that.

And I know you provided, uh, also like an, a newer article written on Tether Nation on the blog for, you know, your, your, you, you're hunting multiple states or you're hunting out, going out of state. Like here's some things, and I know you created like a checklist, which I find very helpful because that's how my brain works, and obviously that's how your brain works as well, you know, what are maybe some other little overlooked tasks that hunters seem to forget when they're doing this?

Like, I, I mean, you could go just, what do you think basically with that? So, o overlooked tasks that hunters seem to forget when they're planning these trips or getting ready to go.

Greg Godfrey: There's a couple that come to mind on my, I have an awesome checklist that I have been using for five seasons now. And [00:24:00] when you look at it, it's a Google, it's a Google spreadsheet, you know, Excel spreadsheet, essentially.

And I, and I just, every, every new hunt, I just take a, I have a base tab, you know, the very first tab when you open it up is kind of everything, all my gear. And then for each one, I, I just duplicate that tab, make a new tab, and then delete out the stuff that I want and rename it. So like this year I will make a new tab for North Dakota.

Nice. And then it'll say North Dakota 2023. And it's all right there. So, but a couple of things that I've learned, kind of things that a lot of people wouldn't think about. A, I learned this on Elk Hunt in Colorado, always have, um, Extra, uh, extra stuff that you just leave in your truck. So I have an, I have a whole tab that's, that's literally labeled, or a whole column that's literally labeled leave in truck.

Okay. And it's stuff like changes of clothes, cash, um, extra, extra, um, uh, [00:25:00] life, uh, uh, ice chest. Mm-hmm. Uh, I can't remember. I don't have it in front of me, but there's four or five things that is like leaving your truck. That's just for emergency cases. This would be like a backpack hunt or somewhere where you're away from the truck, something like that.

For whitetail. One of the things that I added to, to my checklist was to find a taxidermist because. You know, law laws have changed in the last 10 years and you can't trans transport, you know, if you kill a gagger, you're not able to transport that stuff legally over a lot of state lines because of CWD and whatnot.

So part of my checklist is every area that I go to, I find a local taxidermist that I can leave my stuff with, or at least put it in a freezer until I figure out, you know, what the next step is. Because, you know, you can always skull cap it and leave the, leave the skull and the, the spine and everything in that state, and then you're able to trans transport it.

But if I don't wanna skull cap, but if I want to [00:26:00] take, you know, maybe I'm in a situation where I don't feel like it's a really big buck and I don't feel comfortable, you know, caping it out. For whatever reason, you know, I want to take the whole head. So, uh, that's part of the checklist. Part of the things that goes on my checklist is to find a local taxidermist and then at least make a call and explain what I'm going on and be like, dude, if I get one down, you know, do you have a freezer kind of thing like that.

That's

Jeremy Dinsmore: actually a really great tip and something that I'm sure a lot of people either already, you know, are, are doing, but also maybe overlooked. So that is a great tip, and Greg, I appreciate you sharing that one. Now, when you were talking about, you know, now things a lot has changed over the years as far as your setup and everything like that, especially when traveling.

Wh what, what did, and I, I remember seeing some of the posts last year, how sometimes you guys had like a little minivan as you're going into a couple spots like in Nebraska and stuff like that. Where, like, what does that camp life now look, look like for you? It, it really has anything changed or is it still like, [00:27:00] whatever, whatever's available for me to, to camp or stay somewhere.

That's what's, uh, what I'll be doing.

Greg Godfrey: Yeah, it's whatever. So I've done it all, man. I've stayed at friends' houses, I've rented cabins, I've stayed in tents, I've slept in my truck. It just kind of depends on what, what the world throws at you. So like this year, let's just talk about this year. So this year I'll go to, I'll go to North Dakota and I'll sleep outta my truck or a tent.

I'll probably have both. Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll, I have a, I built a whole sweet little DIY rig for the back of my truck that, um, That I slept in many, many nights and, uh, I'll either sleep in that in North Dakota or I'll bring a couple of tents and, and sleep at sleep at a campground. Then, uh, when I go on a rifle hunt in North Dakota, I'll, we, we rented a house.

Yep. I'm not sleeping in, in North Dakota outside. It'll be zero degrees. It could literally be zero. Yeah. Like last, the last time I hunted in rifle season in North Dakota, it was zero and there was, you know, foot [00:28:00] and a half snow on the ground. So now I got a house for that. Yeah. Um, then when I go to, me and a bunch of buddies go to Kentucky, we, we, we've been going for the past three or four years.

We do a big Airbnb and we all sleep on couches. I bring an air mattress cuz I'm usually the last one there so all the beds get taken. So I bring an air mattress and throw it in the wherever I can find room. So you just do what you do, you know, two, two years ago. I went to Kansas, uh, public land, Kansas hunt, and I hunted, I hunted near this lake, so we rented a little cabin that was on the lake and I brought my boat so I was, could hunt by boat.

Yeah, you just do whatever you gotta do. I mean, a lot of times it's dictated by finances and, you know, sleep in your truck and build. I think I did a d i y video on my G2 Outdoors YouTube channel. I think it cost me like 150 bucks to build a, a camper set up in the back. Yeah. And it's awesome. Yeah, like, it's totally awesome.

You can always find friends. The biggest buck [00:29:00] that I ever killed in my life was in Indiana and I just crashed on a buddy's couch. So there's, there's no right or wrong way to do it. I mean, it's just whatever your checkbook allows really. And then what also how, how the hunt works. I mean, sometimes you gotta cover a lot of miles and so it would make way more sense to sleep in your truck.

Sometimes you got a ton of property that's really close to a central campground, and so it makes sense to kind of home base and go out from there. It just depends. Like Carl and Caden, they, they went on a Turkey hunt this spring and they were hunting, really spread out properties, so they just slept in their truck.

Like they check this property this day and then drive to the next spot and sleep and then, you know, just kind of move. Which, that makes a ton of sense. Yeah. I've never done it that way. I've always done the home base. Even if I was sleeping in my truck, I would come back to the campground. Um, but that's a great [00:30:00] way to do it too.

And you don't have to spend a lot of money. Yeah. You can do it for essentially free, you know. Right.

Jeremy Dinsmore: What has been, uh, when you think back to all your out-of-state hunts, what state or which hunt seems to be like one that you just love, like that is like a, such a favorite hunt of yours?

Greg Godfrey: It definitely revolves around people.

Yeah. I mean, I've been in camps where I didn't loose an arrow and they were awesome. And then I've been in camps where, you know, like you don't really, they're not your people. Like maybe you're a guest or something and or you're going with other folks and you don't really know 'em. And that was, you know, kind of eh, kind of.

Okay. Yeah. But then the, the, the best camps that I've been a part of have nothing to do with the lodging. They have nothing to do with whether or not I killed a Boer or not. Cuz I've never killed a Boer ever. Um, but it has more to do with the people. And when you're in camp with, with like-minded fellas, that, and the food's good [00:31:00] and, you know, the weather cooperates, those tend to be the best camps.

Even, even when, like I said, you don't kill anything, man. When the, when the temperatures are right and it's cold and it feels like deer and everybody's, you know, talking shit back and forth one another at night. Yeah. That's the best. That's what it's all about. Yeah. And um, there's been several camps now.

I've been lucky to be in several camps like that. And it seems like nowadays more and more I get to do that, you know, once or twice a year, which is just awesome. So, I don't know. Some guys are different. Some guys like to be on their own. Yeah. And it's more up to them. It's more about the kill. Um, you know, they're like really honed in on killing a big mature deer, which is totally fine.

Um, I found for me that over the years, that has become less important to me. And, uh, [00:32:00] but there was a time in my life where it was, mm-hmm. There was a time in my life where like the only, I wouldn't go and camp with other people like me and my brother. We would go somewhere and our purpose was killing a big deer.

Now we didn't always do that, but that's what we really cared about. I've kind of changed, I guess maybe I've gotten soft as I've gotten older, and I don't care as much about that anymore. Like I want to kill a big deer, but I'd really rather just be in camp with people I enjoy hanging out with and, you know, have fun.

Yeah, that's, uh, it's gotten more about that to me, so, no, that's

Jeremy Dinsmore: a great answer. What's so funny is yesterday I went on this run and I, as I was running through this trail near back by my house, as I was coming up, the one little hill I could see in the timber, this, this dough. And I'm, I'm like, man, she's just staring at me like, when's she gonna go?

And as I'm getting closer and closer and she did not move, and I got like maybe seven, seven yards from her as I pass her. And she just stayed there staring at me. And the reason why I'm telling you this is as I'm [00:33:00] running, I'm thinking about our, this conversation and how the direction I wanted to go and I started thinking, About that specific question that I asked you, and it's remarkable that you said that because same thing for you.

I have some hunts coming up. Like I mentioned, I'm going on the scouting trip here, uh, to Ohio with two good friends of mine, one of them I went to, uh, Utah with a couple years ago. The other one I went, did a early season hunt in Delaware with. And I just think back to those memories. I didn't kill anything.

One of them I drew back on, on a mule deer. Uh, I, I did not release the arrow, but just being in those presents and, and, and camp and everything like that, I, that's what I was thinking about too. And it's funny, you were like, am I getting soft? And man, It, it's about those relationships, right? Those memories you're creating.

And one of them comes to mind that you, that you mentioned and then you said earlier you're going to be doing it again this year. Is that North Dakota? I remember Greg watching that. You killed a a, a [00:34:00] great buck. Carl killed one with his trad bow. I remember watching those couple videos and being so like in a positive way, jealous of that because of just seeing how awesome that camp really was with the people in there.

And I'm like, man, I wanna experience that. Not only like the hunting thing, it wasn't even about the hunt. It was like just the experience of that camp of how bad I wanted to be. A part of that in the sense of like, With friends and, and good people, and just, you could see how much fun you guys really had.

Um, and then once I had a chance to get to know you guys and work events and, and I would bring that up and talk to you, and it just like solidified just how much fun that stuff is. And that's like, man, that's, that's good stuff. Can you go with me this year? I I would. I I would. It's

Greg Godfrey: right in the middle of school season.

Hey, well, it's in, it's in September. You can go with me again. We're going to a different place, but, uh, you're welcome to, you're welcome to join us, man. It'll be fun now that specific camp. So, so listen to this. That [00:35:00] was, that was me, Carl, Jared. Yep. The Ginger Ninja. Yep. Who is a killer. Yep. Shane, um, who works at Tethered.

We had Garrett Raul. Yeah. The DIY sportsman was there. We had Shane Simpson. Mm-hmm. Who is a killer. Uh, and we had Troy, uh, the, uh, ranch Ferry. Yep. He, him and his son drove up from Texas to join us on that hunt and that, and then there was some other guys there that, um, just made that camp so much fun. And we were, we were sleeping in our trucks and we had a, you know, we had a campground, but, you know, we slept in our trucks or tents or whatever.

And the weather was great. The people were great. I killed a great buck. I mean, it was super, super fun. That is a, that is a very, very fun memory of a camp that goes up there at the top of the list. Honestly, that, that was a fun camp. There's a funny story there. Uh, I was asleep in my truck. Um, it was like 1130 at night, [00:36:00] midnight or so.

And this, this dude, this dude with like a big 40 foot, you know, like a bus travel trailer bus. He pulls into the campsite next to us and he woke up our whole camp, you know, they were being loud and, and it was just, I get it, you get there late, you know, you were driving all day, you get there late. You get to camp when you get to camp.

Like, I get it. But they were, they were being really loud and like, they were just weren't being very respectful to the other people in the campground. And I'm asleep in my truck, like right next to his, to his, to where he pulled up. I'm, I'm talking like 10 feet. Like he, my truck's parked in the spot here and he's like the next guy.

He's right there. And, uh, so we all kind of woke up and a couple of guys were out of, out of the tent, like Jared and, and Carl I think were, were out of the, out of their tents and, and whatever. And there was a picnic table. Right behind my truck. So I had like backed into my truck and the picnic table was, you know, like a big concrete [00:37:00] picnic table that you can't move.

It's just, it's there. And so some of my stuff and like my gear and whatnot was on the picnic table and, you know, whatever. Well, I guess that was their picnic table is really hard to know because the, the parking spot from my campsite that I had paid for was literally right directly behind it. In front of it, right?

Yeah. So like, if you put my tailgate down, like that was the picnic table. It was right there in the same line. So I guess that was their picnic table. We didn't know that it was, there's like a hundred picnic tables. It's like big deal. Right? Use the one on the other side of your camper. Who cares? Well, this dude gets out, it's like midnight.

I'm asleep. He's waking everybody up and then he starts bitching about the camp, the, the picnic table. He's like, He's like, this guy's g, he's, he's, he's like being really loud talk, complaining to his wife. Like, these took over our picnic table. So he kept going on. Finally, I get out and I'm pissed at this point and I'm like, dude, [00:38:00] what are you doing?

It's midnight. Are you gonna have a picnic? Like, what does it matter? Well clean it in the morning. Like, big deal. Like we almost came to blows. I was pissed. I I typically don't lose my temper, but I was very angry that night. Yeah. And, uh, we exchanged some words. I, I may or may not have said some things that I probably shouldn't have said, and I think Carl had to step in and get in between.

I'm, I'm not a, you know, I'm not a very angry guy typically, but that dude, he pissed me off. Yeah. And I, I was ready to go to blows with him. Um, Anyway. That's a good one. But those kind of things make a great hunting. You almost get in a fight. I can pretty much guarantee you it's gonna be a good hunting kick.

Yep, yep. Some people just, they, you know, they think, they think they're the main character Yep. In the story and everybody else is supporting cast. And you just have to remember that. And you're not the main character. There are other people out there and you know, that guy, he could have handled that situation completely.

There is, first of all, there's no need to bitch about a, a picnic table literally at midnight. Midnight. Yeah. Like, what are you [00:39:00] gonna do? Are you gonna break out peanut butter and jelly and have a picnic at night? Like you're not doing it. So throw a rager. You know, why? Why cause a fight. Just wait till the morning.

Yeah. Like it's, it wasn't a big deal. And then coming in, being all rude and shining your lights and being loud and it's just obnoxious and unnecessary. Just, just be respectful. I know.

Jeremy Dinsmore: So here's a question. When you get to these huns, You know, maybe you've had the opportunity, like, like North Dakota, yes.

You've been there in years past, but now this is going to be a new spot that you're going to, maybe you have some prior knowledge from friends or whatever like that. Um, when you get to a spot new, totally out of your, um, you know, obviously you're, you've maybe looked on OnX and you looked at on the map of ESC scouting and everything like that.

But what are maybe some things that you are really keen on taking precaution or aggressive with? Like meaning your entry route, your exit route? Like are, do you go full board just because you're only here for a [00:40:00] cer certain amount of time and don't necessarily care because hey, if I'm gonna make it happen, I have to find the, the sign, the location of the deer, all that stuff.

Like what, anything like that that you really pay attention to, if that makes sense.

Greg Godfrey: Yeah, I do get really aggressive on these out-of-state hunts. Um, every now and again, You know, if you get lucky, you can, you can bide your time on a short out state, you know, call it a one week hunt cuz that's what most guys get.

Mm-hmm. You know, they get their ru their cation for a week in November and that's mo what most guys get to do. Sometimes you get lucky and you can find a spot, you know, that needs a west wind and you get a west wind, you know, on day two or something. But normally you gotta just take what you get. And so I do get pretty aggressive, like the first, I like to show up and spend at least a full day scouting.

And what that includes typically is I'll have, you know, a dozen [00:41:00] OnX, uh, places marked on the map and, you know, typically I'll go and check those out. I like to check out access, I like to see, you know, the parking lots. Um, I like to kind of look for, uh, I like to look for weird access. Mm-hmm. So one of the, one of.

The story I like to tell that I've used in several articles and on a lot of podcasts is I found this spot, um, one time that, that there was a bridge, like an overpass on the interstate, and then there was a parking lot close to that bridge. And, but nobody would go and park in the park. That everybody would like park and then go, let's just say north.

I'm just saying it. Mm-hmm. But if you went to the south, what you would've found is this weird underpass and you could have gone under the river and accessed a little piece of property that was. Hard to get to from any other way. So creative access, uh, most people just didn't think about doing that. They didn't think about walking down the, the cut over through the interstate and [00:42:00] then walking under the bridge, you know?

So stuff like that, look for, look for creative ways, or if you can knock on a door and maybe get permission to a backside of public land, that's really hard to access from public access. You know, maybe it's four or five miles to get back there if you had to walk, but you could knock on one door and maybe just get access to use their land for, you know, walking only, not even hunting, just say, Hey, can I walk through your backyard and get here?

You know? Yeah. A lot of times if you're persistent, you can get that access. So that's what I do a lot of in the beginning is I'm scouting access and then looking for just looking for creative things to, to maybe put myself in a situation that other guys wouldn't think of. So that I've had really good success doing that.

And I don't like to necessarily go deep, deep into scouting. Mm-hmm. Um, I like to scout the edges and I like to [00:43:00] scout places where it would be, you know, it wouldn't necessarily, uh, ruin my chances or maybe places that deer probably are used to humans being. And so I, I'm not screwing anything up. I typically don't like to like, dive off deep down into there.

Uh, it just depends on the situation, but I typically don't like doing that. I like to hunt. I like to, you know, scout my way in and then kind of set up fresh. But it, it also just depends on, it depends on the spot, right? Like, there's just no script that you can stick to a hundred percent

Jeremy Dinsmore: of the time. Yeah.

Now this is a question that I've heard a lot either on, on my podcast or other others and videos even. You know, when you find that, That little new fresh sign. Right. You find what you're looking for. Like what is your deciding factor when you're deciding that tree? Like is it the cover, is it the shooting distance too, that X amount of sign or that trail?

Because that's the beauty obviously of saddle hunting. Like you, you're not hunting a tree anymore. Right? So like when you find that good [00:44:00] area, that good spot, like what does then when you look around and you're like, that is the tree I need to be in. Like what does that necessarily have to have for you?

Greg Godfrey: So first of all, you gotta, you gotta take into consideration the wind. Mm-hmm. Now, if there's a hot dough, and you know, if you're in the stage of the rut where they're chasing hard mm-hmm. I sometimes wind doesn't freaking matter. I mean, if you're in the right spot at the right time, I mean, every hunter has this story where the wind should have been blowing right to that deer and they didn't even care.

Yeah. They just, uh, so it. That can happen, but I'm never planning for that. I'm always planning for, okay, what happens if if he comes in, how's he gonna win me? Um, that's number one. Second is access. If I have to go through, you know, good, good, uh, habitat where I think I have a high potential of spooking deer, I'm gonna avoid that.

So I'm looking for an, an [00:45:00] advantage with the wind. And with access, a lot of times I like to use water, you know, creek bottoms or even dry creek drainages. Something that shields you from shield your access to where you can get in and out bulletproof, which it's hard to find. Yeah. Uh, you know, in a week.

Yeah. That's typically things that you find, you know, in your home area where you're hunting a, a, a specific area kind of year after year and you see how deer use the area and you can slowly over time kind of pinpoint the right areas and, and then. You know, but in a week that's difficult, you know? So I tend to just try to get really aggressive on, on, on spots when I'm there for a short amount of time.

And you know, a lot of times if it's throw caution to the wind, like if I find really fresh sign and yeah, I think he's gonna win me, and I try to get that, you know, maybe the slight advantage, like maybe I can find a tree where I think the wind's gonna quarter [00:46:00] me away just a little bit where I can maybe get away with it, I'll risk it.

Yeah. Um, I shot a great buck in can Kentucky, uh, several years ago that I ended up not finding which that buck, it still haunts me to this day. I, best I can tell is I got a single lung and there was blood everywhere. I, I, I still don't know how we didn't find that deer. We found blood everywhere. A ton of blood.

Didn't find the deer. But anyway, that was a situation where my access was bulletproof because I could come through a field to get there. But the wind was very iffy. Very iffy. It was in a, in a bowl, so it swirled. Mm-hmm. And I had the wind blowing. I, I waited for a wind that kind of was blowing from the, from the bottom, kind of up the hill.

So the idea was that it was kind of gonna blow up the hill and then swirl behind me, and it was just off enough to where [00:47:00] he came in and didn't win me. And that was like perfect. I, I, it was perfect. Yeah. Um, it worked. A lot of times that doesn't work, but it worked this particular time in Kentucky and I just screwed up the shot.

Which man, that bothers me. I still don't know how I, uh, man, it's giving me, it's giving me ptsd just thinking about it. Yeah. I, that, that year should have been dead. And I, I, uh, I really regret that one. That was probably my, Probably my second biggest Bob Buck ever. And, uh, you

Jeremy Dinsmore: even have that, that you guys posted

Greg Godfrey: that too.

Yeah. Yeah. I got it on video. Yeah. And, and I thought, I thought I did everything right. You know, I did do everything right up until squeezing the trigger, but that deer was really, really tense. Like when he came in, in hindsight I found some really big sign in this particular little drainage, like rubs like as big around as your thigh.

Mm-hmm. Like really big sign. And they were shredded and it was fresh, fresh scrapes. I could smell the [00:48:00] deer. I knew there was a big buck in this area. So, uh, I actually found that the first day the wind was completely wrong. Like it was blowing up the drainage and so I needed it to switch a little bit or else I felt like I had no chance.

Um, so anyway, the next day it switched and I went in there. Even though it wasn't perfect, it was more of a crosswind. It, it. I, I decided to risk it and I knew there was a really big buck in the area. Well, I ra this is like November 5th, sixth, right? They should be, these, these bucks should be cranking. So I did some rattling, some grunting, and this buck came in.

I'm gonna say he was 140 inches, a hundred and a hundred mid forties. Um, you know, I don't really score my deer, but it's, it's helpful to give that number so up. Mm-hmm. So listeners understand what kind mm-hmm. You know, it wasn't 110 inch Florida deer like I'm used to shooting. This was a big deer, right?

Yep. Um, however, in hindsight, looking [00:49:00] at the way that Buck reacted, uh, he came right to a big scrape and a cedar tree that was shredded. And this cedar tree was, you know, as big around as your thigh. It was a big tree and it was shredded. And he came to that sign very tentatively. It, it all happened quickly in the moment.

I didn't register. But going back and watching the footage and thinking it through, that was not the buck that made that sign. That was a subordinate buck. And he came in to see what's happening, who was rattling in there. Yeah. And to see if, you know, one of his little buddies had just gotten their butt whooped by the big dog.

So he came in and he was sniffing that, that rub and sniffing the scrape. And he was very tense. So I think he was not scared of a hunter. I think he was scared of getting his butt kicked by that big buck. So in hindsight, you know, I should have noticed that and aimed low, um, even though it was only like an 18 yard shot.

So I don't know, but I, I ended up hitting a little [00:50:00] bit higher than I would've liked. And I think because the way he turned and ducked, I think I only got one lung. The, the, I think I missed the far side lung and I only got the near side lung. Um, that's the best I could tell based on the track. But, Yeah.

But it, but that was interesting that this was a big giant buck to me. And you know, in Georgia where I live, that would've been the dominant big boy. Oh yeah. Yeah. But I think in that area, he was like a three year old subordinate buck, and he was very, very nervous about, oh, big daddy that was in there.

Yeah. Uh, so anyway, um, that was, that was interesting. The way that hunt worked out is, is kind of an example of how just getting really aggressive sometimes it might not be, stuff might not be in your favor. I mean, the wind was definitely not perfect. It, I, he could have spelled me just as easily as he didn't.

I just got lucky that, you know, when he came in, the wind wasn't really blowing and if it had swirled, he probably would've winded me. Yeah. So I, it just kind of [00:51:00] got lucky. Now, he could have come from a diff, if he had come from a different direction, I probably would've been okay. But, you know, it's just on a week long hunt.

Yep. You don't really have the option of sitting and waiting until everything's perfect. I

Jeremy Dinsmore: love that. Spartan Forge stands at the nexus of machine learning and white-tailed deer hunting to deliver truly intuitive and science space products that saves the hundred times spent scouting, planning and executing their hunts.

You have deer prediction, journaling, and the best maps on any hunting app platform there is Use code antler up to save 20% off your Spartan Forge membership@spartanforge.ai, not sitting and waiting. And so now here's, here's another question to build on that, and that is something that we talked about earlier is where we said, you know, I've learned more from my failures in in life, but obviously especially hunting, you know, what was a, maybe something that you really took away from that?

Like when you obviously pulled out of that parking lot left Kentucky, what was something that you're like, [00:52:00] okay, this is something that either I know I need to do or not do next time. I

Greg Godfrey: think for me it was a major confidence boost. It was a major confidence boost, like trust your gut. Mm-hmm. Um, there have been times where I would've, you know, tiptoed around that area and waited and waited and there, there, there were years where I would've not even hunted that spot because the wind wasn't right.

Right. I would've said, oh, you know, I don't wanna screw it up. But I, I learned after that hunt, you know, trust your gut and get aggressive. Like if there's a big buck in there and you know that, that he's there recently because of the sign that you're seeing, like, don't discount fresh sign if there is fresh, big sign and you know, enough of it to make you think that it wasn't just a one-time deal.

Like sometimes you go and you find a, you know, a scrape on a, on a. On a, you know, one, one scrape on a ridge top that, well, that could [00:53:00] be, he just was chasing a dough and, you know, that could be a one off, but mm-hmm. If you find a spot that is, you know, tore up with sign and it looks like it's, there's historical signs.

So it's, it's a spot that you think that they're in now hunting? Yeah. Like, maybe not if it's, if if everything is totally wrong, you know, maybe don't hunt it that day. Or maybe you do if it's right. That's another thing. Like, that's part of the reason why I love hunting with ultra light gear. Cuz I can carry that stuff in with me and if I find it right now, like I can hunt it right now.

Yeah. Um, I don't have to come back and prep tree and. Do a bunch of trimming to get my big tree stand in there. Or maybe there's a spot where a climber won't, cuz the trees are gnarly and a bunch of branches. Like you can't even get a climber in there. That's part of the reason why I like saddle hunting so much is, um, I can just dip back to the truck if I don't have it with me and just throw it on and go.

Like, sometimes hunting it right now is the best. Um, but if it's totally wrong, you know, [00:54:00] trust your gut if you think the wind is gonna really screw you and, you know, come back and hunt it later. Yeah, I like that. And, and I'll pivot to that, back to that North Dakota hunt. Yeah, it was public land where I, where I killed that really nice buck on public land, first time I'd ever been to this area.

Um, another thing that I learned on that hunt is don't overthink stuff. Okay. So in that particular hunt, I, I had planned on, Carl was filming me, and you can watch both of these hunts on the tethered channel, by the way. Yep, absolutely. It was North Dakota hunt and the Kentucky Hunt. You can watch 'em both and see how it all played out if you want, but that North Dakota hunt, Carl had already tagged out.

He had shot a buck like the first day, first or second day. So Carl was actually filming for me and we had picked a spot that was about a mile back on this piece of public. We were gonna cross a river and it looked really good. It looked, it was hard to access. It looked like, you know, there's a lot of thick betting cover.

It looked really, really good on a map. We'd never been there before. So [00:55:00] that was our plan to scout our way back. And we had a couple of pins right there that we were gonna set up in. Well, we get there and we park. This is another thing about that creative access. Mm-hmm. So I parked in a spot that wasn't associated with the, the public land.

I didn't park in one of the, the parking spots. I parked in an area that had. A weird access through a piece of private land that was not marked as no hunting. So in North Dakota, you're allowed to access that land. So that's what I did. I parked in a weird spot that nobody else would park. And then I, I went through the pri, the farmer's lane, you know, I didn't go through his crops or anything, but I walked down his lane and it wasn't his house, it was just a, you know, farming, farming field.

So I walked the edge and, and when I got to the, the border of the public and the private. It was literally this giant silage pile of corn. It was on private land and I, I was not hunting it. I think that [00:56:00] might even be legal in North Dakota. I can't remember. But it wasn't on the public land. It was on the private land.

And it was just where the, he had been dumping all his, his grain and sil silage piles, what it was. And, and it was just covered up with deer. There was like beds in the corn and there was poop in the corn. And so me and Carl, we walked past, we were like, oh, that's interesting. There's a lot of deer in this area.

So we walked past it and, and then we went, I think I stopped and I was like, Carl, I know this is like, you can see the truck. It's like right there. I said, but should we just hunt right here? Like right on the public land? And he was like, oh, maybe we should, cause there was rubs and deer that was like, dear heaven.

Yeah. Where they were just coming and eating on the edge of this field. I was like, man, This seems stupid, but you know, so anyway, don't overthink it. Right. So we scrapped our plans. We walked 30 yards into the public and found a tree. We climbed the [00:57:00] tree. I could see my truck, uh, from, I was probably 75 yards from my truck.

It was stupid. Like, it doesn't make sense. But we had this, all this food that just made sense. Yep. So we hunted right there. We saw seven different bucks that came out. We saw three bucks that were big, like, you know, three year old bucks and bigger. And one of 'em the biggest one. Finally, he came and gave me a great shot.

I shot him right in the throat. Yep. He was, he was kind of like quartering hard to, to me. Yep. Yep. He was quartering really hard to me. Which I have killed four bucks with that shot. Uh, that, that hardcore

Jeremy Dinsmore: Kansas one, Kansas was like that too.

Greg Godfrey: Right. I shot one in Kansas. Yeah, I shot one in Missouri. I shot one in, uh, Indiana, and I shot that one in North Dakota facing straight on essentially.

And I just put it right here. And those deer don't run more than 30 yards. [00:58:00] They are dead quick. But anyway, that was an example of don't overthink it. I mean, we found all this food, all this fresh sign, and instead of sticking to our plan, we called an audible and hunted 30 yards from the truck. But it was the right call based on that sign.

So, you know, get aggressive, but also don't overthink it, man. If you see sign and it looks fresh and hot, get on it, get it, get on it. And you know, don't go in there and screw it all up and walk around and just get to the first tree that gives you a good shooting opportunity that breaks up your outline. I mean, don't overthink it.

Uh, a lot of times I think that we give, we give these deer too much credit and, uh, we think they're smarter than they are. Um, So, there you go. There's, there's two examples for me on public land. You know, don't overthink it and

Jeremy Dinsmore: get aggressive. I love that. Now, that's a perfect transition to kind of towards the end of this podcast where I want to discuss some things because, you know, it is July we are getting ready for hunting season.

You and I were both, you know, I could [00:59:00] probably say we're, we're gear nerds, right? We love that type of stuff. You know, tether just released not only one product, not two products, but three, three new products this past, uh, July 1st, and that is obviously the lockdown saddle, the king, uh, c for, and then the folding go as well as the scrap or the Scorpion grappling hook.

You know, those are three new products that you have coming, you know, or are out right now. I guess talk a little bit about, you know, who, who is this lockdown saddle designed for? Because I mean, you have your, the Phantom, right? The, the Phantom, I believe is, I remember when I first saw the lockdown, I was like, man, I.

I, I just love my phantom, right? Like, that is, that is such a, a great fricking saddle. And then knowing my style of hunting, I do sit more than I lean and I just like being close to the tree. I just like the way I could pivot around using my knees and just the way I, my personal setup. And then I got in the [01:00:00] lockdown and I was like, oh shit.

In a good way. You know, like, this is, dang, this sucker is so comfortable. And just the way, seeing how that yolk system goes, and I, I'm, I'm stealing the thunder here, but who is this lockdown saddle really designed for, or, uh, go to go with for that?

Greg Godfrey: Man, it's, it's a really good saddle. It's very, very comfortable.

I had the same experience, you know, two years ago when we had the first prototype, when Carl brought out the first prototype. It was quite a bit different than it is now. But the, you know, the nuts and bolts were the same, the, the, the o you know, when we first sat and I was like, man, this is really comfortable.

I'm personally, I never found the phantom to be uncomfortable, right? I have hunted for years out of the phantom from, I've done several daylight to dark sits, a lot of six hour sits, you know, a lot of 5:00 AM to noons. So a lot of long sits [01:01:00] and I was never uncomfortable. So this idea of it being a more comfortable saddle It is, it is.

Um, Uh, but I just go, I go, I just go back and forth because at heart I'm a minimalist. Yeah. I like to take the, the, the least amount of stuff in as possible. And, uh, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's a bigger bulkier, um, not that it's bulky, but compared to the phantom, which was like slim and super minimalist, like it pretty much, everything's bulkier than that.

Right? Yeah. So it, it's a, it's a bulkier, um, larger, more feature pack saddle. So for the guy that, like that, that yolk system, it's, it is another thing. I never had a problem with the phantom coming off my, off my waist. Never. And I've hunted in a thousand states with, oh, that's a lie. I've hunted in a lot of places, in a lot of different temperature [01:02:00] ranges with the saddle, with the phantom.

And I never had an issue with it coming off, but a lot of guys do. A lot of people say that it doesn't, it likes to ride down. So, you know, we came out with the yoke system, which solves that problem. My favorite thing about the lockdown is the pockets. Okay? Those pockets with the I f S, uh, Carl called it the internal frame structure, the ifs, that is awesome.

And to me, that's worth upgrading to the, to the, to the lockdown just because of that. Uh, you can really get in and out of those pockets with one hand. So like with the phantom, like with our traditional cis haulers are the pockets that go on the outside, on your hips, on the phantom saddle, it takes two hands, right?

So you gotta kind of contort and reach over and get, not a big deal. I've done it for years, but, The, the lockdown does make it easier. Yeah. So you can just get in and out of those with one, one hand. And I like the zippers, the quiet. They work well. There's a ton of [01:03:00] storage, I think for a lot of early and mid-season hunts.

I don't even think, I don't even think you'd need a pack, like if you're not self filming. So if you're not carrying a bulky camera with a camera arm and stuff like that, I think that 90% of guys can ditch the pack altogether with the way that we design those pockets with how much volume there is. Um, and I think even some minimalists with small cameras and small like stuff that they're doing at Fourth Arrow with their really small, like their satellite arm that fits in one of the pockets on the lockdown.

So I think for an early season guy that where you're not having to carry bulky layers, I think you can ditch a pack altogether. Yeah. Um, which is really cool. So, And it's comfortable, man, I, you just, you just can't deny that it's really, really comfortable. So if you are not a minimalist and you don't mind carrying a little bit more weight, I mean, it's still not [01:04:00] anywhere close to a tree stand.

I mean, the lockdown is like three and a half pounds, I think, all in. Um, so if you don't mind carrying a little bit more weight and bulk, um, as far as saddle hunting goes, uh, it's still the most minimalist thing ever. Um, it's not any bulkier than a, than a safety harness for your tree stand, right. Um, if you, if you don't mind that, get the lockdown, it's awesome.

It's so comfortable. The pockets are amazing. Um, the yoke is awesome. Everything that we did in that thing is just a home run. If you're more of a mi minimalist, you don't do a lot of long sits. You know, most, let's say most of your sits are, you know, four hours or under, um, And you don't like to carry a lot of stuff, get the phantom.

Yep. That's, that's what I would say. It's, it's very, the phantom is the, the biggest selling saddle of halt of all time in history. No saddle is sold more than the phantom, and there's a reason for that because [01:05:00] it's just awesome. So there you go. Yeah. I hope I made that as clear as much to you. More than anything.

Get the lockdown. It is way, way, way comfortable. If, uh, if, if, if minimalism and lightweight matters more than anything, get the phantom.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yeah. That's kind of like what I've been telling my friends. I, I said, you know, I'd, could I go without having a lockdown? 100%, but knowing my style and like later on and that I agree with you.

I've never been uncomfortable in my fantom. So like that was also like the hard part. It's like I've never been uncomfortable, so it's not like I need to do that. I'm with you though. I like the, the pocket sides and there are times where I know I. I take my camera, but then there are times when a season hits, I'm like, I'm not taking my camera today.

And you know what I mean? So there's, there's, there's pros and there's cons of why for sure. And don't get me wrong, I know I'll end up having one, you know, like I'll, I'll for sure be end up using one. Uh, no doubt about it. But I think for someone that is also maybe [01:06:00] trying saddle hunting for the first time, I think if, like you said, comfort, uh, you know, stability, just all that different types of things.

I think the lockdown offers a lot more than the Phantom does to that person. Maybe a little bit too, like, like you said, the yolk system, and I know obviously you could use our suspenders and all that type of stuff. Um, but that's the beauty of it. Like what's a one stop shop? So you could pick whatever that individual really wants.

There's an option for you. So yeah, so I think it's always being innovative, pushing the needle a little bit. And I think, uh, you guys continue to, to do that.

Greg Godfrey: Thanks, man. Um, I, I, uh, yeah. Well, and you're part of it, so, you know, we're all in this together. Yep. But I, I almost get a little upset at, at, I, I guess I'm upset with myself because I'm in charge of the marketing and sales, and I'm the one that coined it, the king of comfort.

But it, it irritates me a little bit because it almost likes it, it almost says that that means that the Phantom was uncomfortable. Right. And I know we just kind of both hit on [01:07:00] this, that it's, that's not true. The Phantom is incredibly comfortable. I've, again, I've been hunting with the Phantom since 2018, or no, 2019.

Yeah. Um, 2019 was the first prototype year of the, of the Phantom. So I switched out of the mantis in 2019. So I've been hunting 19, 20, 21, 22, 4. Well, last year, I, I messed around with prototypes of the, uh, lockdown. Lockdown. So for three years I hunt in from the Phantom, never had issues with comfort. Right.

Matter of fact, I like telling this story too. So the first very first hunt I ever hunted with the Phantom was a prototype in 2019. And, uh, it was a, I sat from daylight to dark in Montana on a water hole trying to shoot a bow, trying to be the first guy to shoot an elk with a bow. So very first hunt out of fandom, daylight to dark, no issues, right?

I mean, that's a long hunt in the long summer, days of September. I guess technically maybe that's [01:08:00] fall, but still days are long and I sat there all day with no issues. I mean, yeah, sure, you have to rotate positions and. Every hour or so, I would stand up and, you know, turn around on the platform and put my back against the tree to just give my body a little break.

But you gotta do that in a tree stand too, I mean, yep. You can't, you can't sit in a tree stand all day without moving. Like you've gotta move around to, same thing on the

Jeremy Dinsmore: ground. If you're hunting from the ground on the ground, yeah.

Greg Godfrey: You, you have to move. Yeah. I mean, when I'm Turkey hunting, I can only sit there for about 45 minutes or so, an hour before I've gotta shift around cuz I started getting really uncomfortable.

So, uh, yeah. Anyway, uh, not to beat a dead horse, but the phantom is not uncomfortable, it's just that the lockdown takes it. To the next level, to the desk level. Yeah. And it, it is just like a lazyboy up in the

Jeremy Dinsmore: tree. It's very, very comfortable. And then, uh, the folding goal, which is I think a really cool bow arm.

Ha uh, I mean just a, I don't wanna say bow arm or bow hanger because it's really just any [01:09:00] equipment hanger. I mean, you could hang anything off of it. I'm excited. What I'm really excited for and something that I found really helpful is with my, his strap is during rifle season, whether I'm on like a, if I'm a posted postman during, uh, frigging if, if people are doing a drive towards me, I put my, his strap up around cuz it gets my gear off the ground one, but then two, having some sort.

And now the folding goes if my, if my gun is hanging up. I could just boom, fold it right over, and if it needs to go to the other side, I'm able to do that. It offers a little bit more stability than just pressing it up against a tree. Me personally, that's what I found. Um, y you know, and obviously last year I didn't run one as a prototype or anything like that, so I was using a different style bow hanger and I had two different ones on each side.

But now having that option of both of them folding the way they're designed, uh, I don't know. It's a really cool piece. Again, I, I've, I transitioned to the quick [01:10:00] draw for, for archery season. I think that it's so hard. Um, but I still might have my folding go on me just for the sole fact of I'm going to toy around with where I want my backpack, right?

Like where I, where will I have it normally. That's the beauty of our, his strap too. I know this is going to sound like a big gear thing, but this is me walking through my complete system. But when that long tag comes out on my, his strap, There's a loop on like, what are, what are, what is it every inch that we have?

One is, is that how far apart are? Yeah, it inch and a half I think. Yeah. So an inch and a half. There's not a section where you cannot not hang something from, right. It doesn't matter. You're not limited. So having that long tag in, that's usually where I would have my backpack. But now if it's up where the top part is, it's going to, I think I'm gonna mess around with, I, I think, uh, I'm going to like that a little bit better rather than, than it being closer to my knees, uh, the lower part.

So I'm gonna mess around with that. But the folding goes is a really cool piece. It's quiet and you have, [01:11:00] still have the option to put Stella Strip onto it, uh, to begin with. So I, I'm really excited about having that new little piece of gear in the toolbox.

Greg Godfrey: Yeah, the folding goes sweet man. And I'm gonna echo what you said about rifle season.

I think. I think what I'm gonna do this year is any rifle hunts. I'm gonna take two. Mm-hmm. Uh, two folding goes. One on the left and one on the right. So that way I can also use it as a right rifle rest. Yep. Cause you can, you can put that his strap on at the right height. Height, yep. To where you can lay your rifle right across that his strap and have a nice little mount and put one on both sides.

That way you're, you're good no matter what now, uh, and here's another, here's another benefit of the lockdown. Those pockets are so big and you can put so much gear in there. The folding goes really lightweight. So you could just throw one in your, in your, uh, pocket lockdown hauler and you have it. And if you want it, use it.

And if not, don't you know that's a. Yeah. You know, you're not gonna carry, you're not gonna pay a big [01:12:00] weight penalty for that. Now the, his strap, in my opinion, is one of the best things we've ever made. Yeah, I think that is the best gear hanger on the planet.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Um, I'm doing a shameless plug right now, Greg.

Go, go to the Antler Pod podcast. Uh, YouTube. But that was, uh, my latest video is the, the most underrated piece of hunting gear that you could own. And it doesn't matter if you're a saddle hunter, tree stand hunter, a ground hunter, no matter if you are just a hunter, this piece of gear you

Greg Godfrey: should own. I completely agree.

Completely agree, man, in that tail, like you were talking about with your pack, this is a tip that might help you. So, uh, whenever you've got that thing locked down and you've got that tail, So one of the tricks that I use is I'll take that tail and I'll run it to wherever I want to put my pack, and then I'll run it through from the top down on one of the loops in the exact location.

So I can easily move my pack. Like if I want my pack to be on the back side of the tree, but I don't want it up high, I want it down low. [01:13:00] I'll run that that long, six foot tail that's left over and drop it down through one of the loops on the backside of the tree. And then I can still manage the height as well.

The other thing that I've done with that, his strap is in certain trees. I've done it where I've taken that tail. I've locked it on, so my bow's hanging, you know, on the his app and maybe my grunt tube or whatever's in front of me, or my binos or whatever. Then I'll take that tail and I'll run it to another limb or another trunk and wrap it around and lock it off so I can move my pack to a different tree trunk altogether.

You can use that tail. Because typically you're gonna have, you know, six, six to eight foot of tail left on that thing. And you can do that. You can, you can do a hundred different things with that tail. And I've done it a lot. I think the, I think the, his strap, I'm gonna completely agree with you and say that is a very underrated piece of gear.

And when you marry that with the, uh, quick draw bow hook, I know I sell it and I know that like it is kind of my [01:14:00] design, so I'm partial to it, but I don't think I'll stick to saddle hunting because you're facing the tree. Little different for tree stands cuz you wouldn't want your bow behind you. But if you're a saddle hunter, I don't think there is a better bow hanging gear hanging system on the planet than that.

That little quick draw hook that drops right down into one of the his strap slots. And it's easy, it's bulletproof. It's no nonsense. You can't screw it up. It's just, it's, it lives on your bow so you don't have to find it. It just, Perfect. It just, I, I can't really think of a way that could be improved upon that,

Jeremy Dinsmore: honestly.

Yeah, I, I agree. And then obviously just no, anyway. Yeah, yeah. Shameless

Greg Godfrey: plug for tethered gear and antler up.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yeah. YouTube channel and then the Scorpion. Uh, just kind of that little grappling hook. I, it's really cool to hear and see people how fired up they are about this little thing. Like, I remember when I first saw it, I'm thinking to myself, man, yeah, I remember when I dropped this, and that would've been really cool.

But just [01:15:00] hearing different people's stories and seeing, they're like, man, if I would've had this, and it's crazy. So that's another really cool, innovative, uh, small, innovative design that, that we thought we didn't need. We knew we wanted something, but we didn't know we needed it. One of the things

Greg Godfrey: that I like about the Scorpion, again, we do everything we do, we think about weight and pack ability.

So, you know, it folds flat, which is really cool for a, for a trouble hook, style gear, or grappling hook. You know, most of the times they're big. Yeah. But this one folds flat and it fits. It's weighs like an ounce and a half. Like there's nothing to it. No. Uh, one of my favorite ways to use it is I, I keep it in my pack at all times.

Doesn't mean I use it on every hunt, but every now and again, before the scorpion last year was the first year I had the Scorpion hook, the prototype. I would sometimes avoid trees. Climbing trees that had a lot of limbs because I knew that back up. The way I hauled my bow up was [01:16:00] I, I leave it on the ground and I attach it to my hip, and then when I get up, I fish.

I just pull it up. Well, if you're going over and around limbs now you're screwed. You can't get your bow your bow up. So in situations like that, I will just, you know, pick my tree or pick my spot where I'm gonna be on the tree. Leave the bow right under that spot. Then once you're up there, you drop the scorpion hook and just fish it up saying, Carl taught me that.

Um, so again, it just, it can live in your pack and you never know what you might need it for. You drop your drop, I mean, who hasn't dropped the glove? Yep, yep. When you take it off to do something with your phone and you drop it, or you drop your hat, or you drop your grunt call, everybody's done it. Now you can fish that thing up without having to climb back down and, and I don't know how many times I've needed an extra.

Two feet to get to a limb that I couldn't reach. And now you can just toss that grappling hook over the limb, pull it down, tie it, you know, tie [01:17:00] it around, or bend it behind another branch to make yourself a shooting lane. Like there's a thousand things you could do with that scorpion hook that don't have to do with gear.

Yeah. You know, so it's, uh, it's a great, it's a great little thing. It doesn't weigh anything. It can just live in your pack or on your, on your hip and, you know, it's like better to need and not have, or, or, or than, or better to have it have and not need than the need and not have. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So you, you get that thing and it just lives in your pack.

And, and then when you need it, you need it. And if you don't, you know, you're not carrying an extra five pounds of weight, you're just carrying an ounce or so more. So it's, uh, it's a pretty

Jeremy Dinsmore: cool deal. That is really cool. Deal. So now North Dakota is one of the first things coming up. What is your, what is your saddle set up?

Are you going your phantom still or are you going lockdown? So, I don't

Greg Godfrey: know. For that hunt. I'm not taking a camera guy, I'm gonna sell film everything. So I will, I might use the Phantom on that one. Um, [01:18:00] I'll have both with me in, in North Dakota, so I might just switch 'em out. Uh, I'm fortunate, I know a guy that can get me all the stuff that I need for saddle hunting, so, uh, I can take multiple setups with me.

So I, I might have both, but, um, probably the phantom, probably the phantom I'll use in North Dakota. And then in Illinois I'll probably take the lockdown cuz that's gonna be longer sits. Those will probably be either all day sits or at least till noon. Yeah, like lunchtime sits. So I'll probably bring the lockdown for that one.

And then, uh, Yeah. And then I'll just probably flip back and forth. Plus we've got another saddle that we're prototyping this fall. Um, yeah, which is pretty exciting. So I'll be sitting in that one some this year too. Getting, getting the final, uh, getting the final feels. Maybe you should sit in it too in September when you come with me in

Jeremy Dinsmore: North Dakota.

Dakota. I like it. Well, that's a, that's a perfect way to, to end out Greg, man, I appreciate your time. I appreciate everything that you [01:19:00] have ever done for me and, uh, continue to do for the hunting community as well. It, it's just, it's awesome. Like I said, it, it dates prior to us even meeting and I've learned a crap ton from you.

So it's an honor to have you on and, and friendship and stuff like that. So where could people, uh, obviously tether nation.com, it's plugged on every single one of my episodes. But as far as maybe other things from old videos from you or anything along those lines, where could people find that and, and learn more about what, you know, all the things that you've done.

Greg Godfrey: I always like to point people to my YouTube channel, G2 Outdoors. I don't post on it anymore. Um, it's been dormant for a few years, but I have a ton of content, tons, ton content from way back in the day from when I was, you know, we're talking almost 10 years ago from when I was doing, you know, building these saddles in my garage and kind of DIY and equipment.

Um, but there's still a lot of really good, relevant stuff on there, even if you, not a DIY guy, if you like to, you know, just [01:20:00] buy off the shelf stuff. There's some really cool little tips and tricks, just stuff I learned over the years from figuring this stuff out. You can watch a lot of hunts, a lot of these out-of-state hunts.

Um, you can watch a lot. Like I, I think I, yeah, I think the most watched video on my channel is that, uh, DIY truck build, uh, bed. Yep. Truck build. Yep. Yeah, so I, I, I catalog that, so if you wanna see a quick, easy way to build a. A a, a camper set up for the back of your truck bed. Go watch that. I got a lot of f just a lot of stuff, you know.

Yeah. From so, so G two outdoors for like kind of d i y hunting stuff. And then if you want, uh, if you want the saddle hunting gear, you know, tethered wherever, uh, pretty much tethered nation everywhere. You nailed that one. So yeah, man, that's, uh, that's, uh, that's where all my stuff lives. Thanks for having me on.

It's always awesome to spend some time chatting with you, Jeremy, and I don't know when the next time I see you face to face. I don't think it'll [01:21:00] be until North Dakota, first week of September. Yeah.

Jeremy Dinsmore: I like it, Greg. It's a pleasure. Thanks again everybody for tuning in. Go check out G2 Outdoors and obviously what Tethered Nation's all doing.

Thanks again everybody. We'll see you next week, aunt Loup.

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