Make 2023 Your Okayest Whitetail Season Yet

Deer season is finally here! Time to talks serious whitetail strategy and tactics, right? Right?! Meh... maybe next week. 

In this episode of the Wisconsin Sportsman, Josh and Pierce talk with Eric Clark and Greg Tubbs of the Okayest Hunter about the Okayest ethos and '23 whitetail plans. The Okayest Hunter guys have done a great job of bringing deer hunting, and a whole host of other outdoors pursuits, back to what makes them so darn special. This one was an absolute riot! Enjoy!

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[00:00:00] What is going on everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Wisconsin Sportsman Podcast, which is brought to you by Tacti Cam. This is your home for all things outdoors in the Badger State. I'm your host, Josh Raley. And with me, I've got my co host, Mr. Pierce Dulles. Pierce, how you doing? I'm doing well, man.

I'm feeling a little silly because we waited. Until after opening weekend to record this because we were really feeling like we were gonna have tags punched and be high fiving through the camera here, but No dice. Dude, I didn't even go. I didn't even go. I know. I didn't even go. All of our plans just fell apart.

They did. You were gonna go out on Thursday and Yeah We talk a big game at the end of this episode, but yeah, dude, to be fair, I didn't go to bed till two, [00:01:00] so I had to do the math and just be like, okay, so I'm going to get up. It's an hour to my hunting spot. So I'm like, all right, I'm going to go to bed at two.

I'm going to get up at three 45, right? Drive an hour hunt. Come back home, pick up kids from school, be dad until, 7, 7. 30, whenever they go to bed. And then work that night and have to stay up late again until who knows what hour. Then get up Friday morning at 345 to go to a consult that I had on Friday morning.

Cause I worked Friday, Saturday, 10 hour days out on a property. Doing habitat work, planting food plots, hanging stands, all that good stuff. And I did that Friday, Saturday, all without mechanical assistance. Oh, yeah. Without mechanical assistance. So this was not like, Hey, throw the bag of seed in the spreader on the tractor and go drive around.

This was like by [00:02:00] hand because we're in the, the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia, so this is not. Like fancy food plotting at all So man, I just had to do the math and be like look I can't physically do everything I need to do if I go hunting in the morning because there wasn't gonna be time to sleep Right not to mention then you got a punch tag You got to take care of a deer and get that Squared away and in the freezer and all that and that takes half a day at least dude if I had gone hunting and killed the deer I would have just had to cancel something.

I would have just had to call Dan and be like, Hey buddy, look, the network's not gonna get any new episodes tomorrow. It's just, none of them are getting uploaded until next week, so sorry. It just would have been He's an Iowa man, he understands though. That's right, he would get it, he would get it, he would get it.

Anyway, Pierce, how did your opening weekend go? It did not go quite as planned. I was telling you a little earlier. I [00:03:00] made the mistake of, so I hunted up at my folks place on their property, and I made the mistake of setting all my stuff out on the porch, to air out and all that, like I always do, and then I had my bow inside because I was sharpening broadheads and I set it near the back door without realizing that on the other side of the back door behind this little table we've got with some shed antlers and whatnot there was a little plug in air freshener sitting back there and so when I got All situated up in the stand and whatnot the wind shifted, drifted in towards my face, and I smelled nothing but apple, cinnamon, fall scented air freshener, and immediately it was just like, dude, I'm screwed.

I might as well just get down now, but I've got a bowl of potpourri with me in the deer stand. Exactly. I was like, I guess we're really going to see what kind of thermals we have down in this down in [00:04:00] this little soil here, but was it one of those air fresheners that sprays every now and then?

I don't know that it's sprayed, but dude, it may as well have, cause my bow reeked. Like it was bad. But I did see some deer saw a nice, young, probably two and a half year old nine pointer. He caught wind of me, as did the other does, except for two of them that went right down beneath my stand once the sun came up and thermals started rising.

And then I got more fired up at the seven toms that I thought might just barely sneak into range that I might be able to throw an arrow at, but, wasn't so fortunate there either. Soft and full stuff, but no dice. No deer. You said though, the nine, you wouldn't have shot the nine anyway. No.

So he was going to get a pass. So it's not, I feel like I'm less heartbroken about that. If that was one that you were like, Hey, I'm going to shoot that guy. Or like even a borderline buck that you're like, Ah, if he comes over here, I'm going to have to think about it. That would have been way more heartbreaking.

I was more bummed that I couldn't get a picture of him than [00:05:00] throw an arrow at him. That's alright, man. At least you at least you got into the woods. I did hang in, actually I was in several tree stands this weekend it was just because I was hanging them. I hung one, I finished some handrails on some really nice Shadowhunter blinds.

Yeah, so I was out and about, I hung 12 trail cameras this weekend. We got 6 cell cameras out and 6 SD card cameras out. We saw deer. all over the place, dude. It was just, it was wild. The acorns are just raining right now. Absolutely raining. We cut in hunter access trails through the back door of a couple of food plots.

We're going to be able to come right up the backside, sneak into a blind and there could be deer in the food plot and they'd never know. It's just not going to happen. There is a man, there's a set that I'm really excited about. I'm not going to get to hunt it, but How big is that property? It's a hundred and forty plus acres.

[00:06:00] Okay, sure. So it's a good chunk of land. It's a goodern and it's got a lot of topography to it. I mean it's a lot of up and down. We're talking Blue Ridge Mountains sure. Up and down. There's one spot where you go up this ridge, it's real steep. But when you get to the very top of the ridge there is a there's a tree right there, a red oak.

Okay, we put the stand in that red oak, it shoots out across this little valley kind of thing, this little ditch I guess you could call it to the opposite side ridge which is very narrow. That opposite side ridge has a travel corridor that we cut in, there was already a deer trail there, but we made it even better.

So it doesn't matter in the evenings if your thermals are pulling to each, whichever side of the ridge doesn't matter. They're most likely going to pull back down behind you, even if there's a little bit of a wind that pulls them down in front of you. You're still good because it pulls them down and away, and we've got a perfect shot on this travel corridor.

22 and [00:07:00] 27 yards or something like that, 22 and 25. Oh, nice. Just up this hill, we've got bedding, a bedding area that we cut in this past year that's so thick you can't even... You can't, you, there's nothing you can do with it. It's so thick, but we've got a couple of little trails that we cut in, snaked around, cut out a couple of holes where they can bed in.

And at the very bottom and at the very top of this ridge are now brand new food plots that did not exist there before. And so this spot's going to be lights out, man. That sounds like it. So you hung the stand in that red oak? Yep. The stand is in that red oak. It is dropping a little bit. It's not.

Dropping majorly right now, but there's not a lot of timber in there. All of this was harvested probably eight, nine years ago. So it's just thick. And they left a couple of oaks around, but this spot's going to be dynamite, man, we hung a mock scrape down at the bottom a couple of weeks ago.

And the bottom food plot and we, it's already getting hit. And yeah, [00:08:00] it's this. This landowner's gonna kill a buck out of this stand. Like I, I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna go ahead and call it. And was that all natural traffic on that mock scrape or did you use any synthetics or all natural or, oh, awesome.

All natural. Didn't better. I didn't even pee in it, man. I didn't even, I didn't even use God's attractant to to get that thing fired up. It should be good. Both those plots are planted now. I think we're gonna strengthen that movement along that ridge line, because. That ridge that we can shoot to runs all the way down to that bottom food plot and leads all the way up to the Back end of the upper food plot.

So it should just be dynamite. Oh, yeah Anyway, huh? We'll see man. That sounds like a heck of a setup, man That design was incredible Like when I first designed it and handed it all over to the landowner He was like that looks too good to be true. And I was like, I know it doesn't it?

He's like you really think we can do that. I was like Let's see, and finally completed it this weekend. We've put [00:09:00] weekend after weekend of work into this spot and it's it's dialed in, it's ready to go. There were deer all over the place up there, lots of sign, lots of acorns all over the place.

So yeah, it should be getting wild here pretty soon, but man, I did not get out. This weekend, unfortunately, as far as hunting goes this morning, felt like hunting season here. And there's not a dadgum thing I can do about it. My wife goes out of town tomorrow and we'll be out of town all week long. I will be here by myself with three children, bringing them to and from school, so zero chance that I get out.

Yeah. Over the next week in the forecast. Yep. And there's a, that persimmon tree that I was telling you about, right? It's loaded down with persimmons at the end of my neighborhood. Watching it to see, okay, what are their persimmons going to do? At the hunting camp about what five, four or five days ago, I told you they're starting to drop that drove past it this morning to drop the kids off at school.

There's not a persimmon left in the tree. Oh, [00:10:00] no, they're gone. They are gone. They all typically do that at once. Or is it just will there be different pockets of it in different areas? Yeah, there will be different pockets of it in different areas. The persimmons at my lease, I don't know their status right now, but if they're lined up well with the status of this one, they go, there's nothing left.

But I've got a week, at best I've got a week until I can get out again. So sure it is what it is, man. But anyway, enough of my whining and complaining, we've got some housekeeping that we need to do a couple of different things. Number one, we've got a new Instagram page. I had somebody actually message me on, I guess it was Saturday and it was like was the Wisconsin sportsman not following me already?

Or is this something that I need to know about? And I was like, Hey, nope, it's all good. New new page coming out. Pierce, why don't we do a new page? We've got some transitions occurring over at the sportsman's [00:11:00] empire network. And that you're a proud Georgia resident and you're about what, 15, 16 hours from Wisconsin.

Yep. 15. Yeah. Yeah. A good hike. And since, since this change and some other reshuffling in the network you've now taken over yet another podcast, your hands are a little full now amidst all the family obligations and trying to find some time to get out in the woods.

And so you are now the proud host of the Southern Way hunting podcast. I am. I am indeed. You should listen to it too. It's good. I know that's my plan for this afternoon. I got a lot of road time. It's been caught up there. It's pretty good. But so big reason that we wanted to swap up the Instagram pages rather than just handing it off.

I've got a lot of folks who are. One, they're Southern folks. They know who I am just because of years of me living down here who've been following along. And I've got a lot of family and personal friends that have followed me on that Wisconsin Sportsman page. So the original Wisconsin Sportsman page will become [00:12:00] the Southern Way Hunting Podcast page.

This new Wisconsin Sportsman page is going to be managed mostly by you. I'll be on there. We'll be back and forth. We'll be doing our thing on there. But it's still a good way to reach out to us, but if you're on the Wisconsin sportsman page, the current one, please do go follow this new page, the Wisconsin sportsman pod, the Wisconsin sportsman pod.

And yeah, go follow that. That way you can keep up with what we're doing that way. When the transition happens, you're not just wait, what happened to the Wisconsin sportsman? Where did that go? It'll be popping up in your feed now, sometime in the next week or two as the Southern way.

Don't let that freak you out. Also don't miss out on your opportunity to to go follow it, man. Cause there's still gonna be cool stuff coming and Pierce is going to be able to do a lot more cool stuff in Wisconsin than I am because that whole 15 hours thing,

much shorter commute. Yeah, much shorter commute. We've got another little bit of housekeeping before we jump into this week's episode. We've got a new code. [00:13:00] We've got a code to share with our listeners, we can save folks a little bit of money. So why don't you tell us about the code?

Yeah. We're stoked to be rolling out with a new partner here. Revo sunglasses, R E V O. They make some just phenomenal eyewear and I've been on their program now for just over a year and, being a fly fishing guide and spend a lot of time on the water, a lot of time on the road.

What not, let me tell you, these glasses are freaking sweet and I mean their polarization and just lens quality is, it's the best I've found and I've, chopped around a number of different, large name, bigger brands, the Oakley's, the Smith's I've tried a couple of coasters and stuff here as well.

Revo is the best that I've found so far. And we are pumped to be able to offer you 30 percent off if you use code Wisconsin sportsman, 30. Awesome, man. So do you have a specific, model that you prefer. I'm a big fan of the crawlers. They've got a photochromic lens option and that so [00:14:00] basically it's almost like a transition lens.

Okay. And you know for fishing in early mornings and just as the days are getting shorter and if you get into some evening fishing and stuff used to always drive me nuts how it would it'd be Still light enough that, I could, I'd have some glare on the water, but it would be too dark for regular lenses to be, beneficial.

It'd be tough for me to see my fly and what was going on and stuff. I'm pretty pumped to be rolling out those today actually is the first time I'm going to be running with them. So I'm pumped to see how they work and just a good lens. Sweet man. Fit well. So our episode today, we've got a good one.

That's been a long time coming. Another, group of folks that we should have had on here a long time ago. We had a chance to catch up with the okayest hunter podcast boys. And it was a fun one. It was a really, it was a late night. There were. Some, yeah, there was some coffee being drank, drunk, however you say that.

I'm pretty sure it was coffee. I don't know what it was. Folks got silly though. And [00:15:00] there was something in there and we had a good time, had a good conversation. I know we talked about just the whole ethos around their brand. And then what those guys had planned for the fall. I can't remember outside that though.

What time, what are, what all we talked about? Dude, we talked about so much different stuff, like it was, I don't want to say it was a BS session because it was so much more than that, but dude, it was just, it was a riot, we got the background on and we had Eric and Greg on from their team, Derek wasn't able to make it, but we just covered so much as far as just, how the whole OK ist Hunter really brand came to be a lot of Eric's background and how Greg came into the scene and Just, we talked about that.

We talked about, what our plans are for the deer season, talk gear stuff a little bit. Like it was just an all around covered her bases. I think it was a great combo. We covered a lot of stuff and man, I talked a big game about how awesome it was going to be to get out hunting the next morning and then a day ago.

So you know what, just one of those things, but Pierce, man, anything else before we jump into this [00:16:00] week's episode. I had a couple cancellations in my schedule so anybody looking to do some driftless trout fishing here towards the, we're in the last month here, the season closes October 15th I had some openings come up and would love to get some folks out if you're thinking about fly fishing, if you've never done it before, if it's something you want to try, or maybe you've done it for quite a while and you just Want to go out with a guide and try something new.

I'd be happy to have you. You can find all info regarding that good chance fly fishing. com or reach out to me on Instagram at good chance fly fishing, right? Everybody give Pierce a call, go catch some fish, man. The hunting is a so so to okay right now. And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Book your trips, get out, do some fishing before the really good stuff happens that second half of October. And we know you're going to be wanting to chase whitetails. And Pierce isn't going to want to be guiding you that time of year anyway. I'm just going to be honest with you. Exactly. There's a reason I don't do the steelhead game.

That's right. Number one is that I don't know how to do [00:17:00] it. Number two is that I'd rather be hunting. So if folks call you though, let's say somebody calls and says, Hey Pierce. I want you to take me out November 4th and 5th. The trout season's closed. Oh, that's right. And we could go over to Iowa.

However, I'm probably gonna be busy November 4th and 5th. Unless I've got a punch tag, but we'll see. Yeah, that's right. That's right. It's worth reaching out though. I forgot that the season closes, dude. That shows you where my mind is though, that time of year. Like I'm not even, I'm not even thinking about it until, May of the following year.

It's just just where I'm at. So anyway awesome Pierce. Good talking with you as always folks. I hope you enjoy the show. Get ready to share your hunt this season with the Tacticam 6. 0 point of view camera featuring a built in one inch LCD touchscreen, one touch operation. Weatherproof housing and mounts to fit any style of hunting.

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Now through September 21st, you can get a 6. 0 camera, a stabilizer mount, a clamp mount, and a bottle of scrape fix for just 355. 99. To learn more or pick up your 6. 0 today, head over to tacticam. com. If you want to create more memories and fill your freezer while you're doing it, the Onyx Hunt app is a must have tool in your arsenal.

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You can try the Onyx hunt app for free for seven days. Just go find them on the app store of your choice, [00:19:00] or you can go to onyxmaps. com to learn more. The archery opener is right around the corner and you can hunt in comfort this season with camo from Huntworth. They make high quality technical camo at a fraction of the price of other brands.

My personal favorites for the early season include the Durham lightweight pants, which are rugged and durable, but also lightweight and breathable with just the right amount of stretch where it counts and the Gadsden quarter zip hoodie, which is made to be breathable and moisture wicking to make building out your kit simpler, the hunt worth website now features their new system builder.

This tool will help you grab the right camo, no matter what season or species you're hunting. To check out their full camo line, head over to huntworthgear. com. Now let's get into this week's show. All right. Joining me for this week's episode of the Wisconsin sportsman podcast. I have got my co host Pierce Nellis.

I have got Greg Tubbs from the OKS Hunter podcast and Eric Clark from the OKS Hunter podcast. Guys, what's going on? What's shaking. [00:20:00] Not much, I'm happy to not be driving, so I'm gonna have a drink. I would anyways. One of my favorite things to do it's actually not my favorite thing, but I always do it when I have a bunch of different guests on, if I've got three or four different people, is to just throw out the random questions of how's everybody doing tonight, and nobody wants to answer because it's like, wait, who goes? I don't know who goes. Pierce, how are you doing? Mr. Good man. I'm extremely guilty of that. I feel like he just called me out, but I'm doing well, getting ready for the opener. Heck yeah, man. Just a few more days for you guys. That's that's quite a buck. You got back behind you there guy. Oh, that one.

Yeah, that's the old 2020 gun, but the old 2020 gun buck. Did you never scored him, right? No, I never did. I haven't scored any of my deer. Dang it. I'm gonna, I'm just gonna show up at your house one day and score all of your deer. I'm just gonna walk in, there'll be tape all over the place. Yeah, I'm just gonna score them all and just, I'm gonna write the score on the skull.

Just be [00:21:00] like, deal with it. I probably would have gotten a lot more interested in math class if they would have started scoring antlers in grade school. That would have been a good way to get into it. So there's something applicable. I don't care how many apples he has. I'm hungry now. Damn it. Do you guys, Eric, do you like to score your deer?

No, I don't give a shit about that. And actually Greg and Derek, because I was like, I'm not doing this. A, I don't know how to do it. B, I don't know what I'm doing. I barely even know what the tines are called. Like I'm still confused when people say like G1, G2. I don't, I'm like, what? Anything technical, I just, I'm like, I'm checking out.

Anything technical. Including scoring. So no, Greg and Derek did some math on the buck behind me. And what was like 134 and a quarter or something? Yeah, it was just under 135 inches. Nice. I was like, cool, but I just rough scoring. It wasn't, we weren't, I don't think 100 percent accurate, but we were close enough, I have At that point, call at 140, right? If we're rounding up to the nearest 25, then he's a one 50, right? You don't want to round down to one 25, that'd be lame. So you really got to round up to [00:22:00] one 50, but so I've started, I've asked people a lot about deer and what they score mostly because it's a podcast format and we've got to figure out like some kind of way to tell the listeners, what is this animal? Especially if the point is this is his biggest buck ever or something like that. What's the size of the animal? But then I realized something. Nobody out there knows what a 135 inch deer looks like. Like very few people are able to just look at a rack and be like, that's 135.

Or that's 140. Or that's 150. Because it's really tough to do. It's not because people aren't intelligent. It's because it's really hard to do given rat configuration and, mask and throw things off if it's a really massive deer and he gets a lot of his points from mass. So yeah, it can just be really tough, but okay.

As hunter guys, I want to kick things off here by hearing a little bit of your background and how you got to where you are today. I feel like this has been a long time coming. Being that you guys are in Wisconsin. I was in Wisconsin for a long time. Now I'm not anymore. I have [00:23:00] been banished to the outer darkness of the deep South again.

But I've tasted glory and I've seen the promised land and it is Southern Wisconsin. And yeah, guys, why don't you tell me a bit about who you are, where the podcast came from? I remember the where to hunt podcast, I'm fascinated by how you got to where you are today. Yeah, I can back up as far as you want and I can, then I'll introduce Greg and all that.

It actually, it was the Wildernet podcast at one point. That was a buddy Shane and it was like, he's a technical nerd. And I was this outdoor guy. And then we got drunk one night camping and we came up with the Wildernet. And we thought that was great. So we did that for a bit. And then I was like, yeah, I was building this app, the where to hunt app.

And I wanted to market it. And I had this Facebook page. I like grew to 10, 000, which felt like overnight. And I was like, wow, people really want to know where they should hunt. We have this app, we have this Facebook page. I think a podcast would be a great way to build a community. So after I had some experience doing the Wildernet, [00:24:00] I was like okay, I think I know how to do this.

So I had my buddy Shane help me out in getting that created. And it was terrible. The Weird Hunt podcast the way it started was I think I started with Jared Scheffler out of the gate. First episode one, it's on YouTube. It's now no longer on podcast land because I think it got deprecated or archived because it's been around for so long.

2013. And I just would do it whenever and I didn't, I wasn't consistent. I would flow. I dropped two episodes a week, then none for a month. It didn't make any sense. And then one, somewhere along the way when I moved in the house, I'm in now in 2019. I told my wife, I'm like, let's just, I'm gonna do this every day for a year and see what happens.

Or every week for a year and see what happens. And I, we picked a Tuesday. So then she had a good expectation. What I was doing my Tuesday nights. I wasn't just dropping bombs on her, like on a podcast, all of a sudden, out of nowhere. I'm going to produce out of nowhere. Like she didn't, it didn't make any sense.

I could learn from you. Yeah. So we just try to make it consistent and see what happened somewhere along the way [00:25:00] earlier in the word of hunt days in 2016 or 17, somewhere there. Greg was a listener called and shared a story about his dad shooting a deer. That was when I was still doing calling, but at that point I had I would borrow my wife's cell phone, I'd post her phone number to the internet.

That's not a good idea. I used Skype to it or something. I had a Bluetooth speaker aimed at my microphone to pick up the caller. And then I would like, because I was really obsessed with creating a radio show. And so it was jerry rigged to the nines. It was such a trash way to do it. I freaking love that though.

I love that. I love that. And so I started doing these live when Facebook Live came out. I got to get on that immediately. And our lives used to have 400 listeners at a pop. Really? Because when Facebook launched live they would just pump listeners into it because it was like their new thing. It was their baby.

So I've learned with anything social, any time something new comes out, ride the wave quick. You'll get some extra bonus points. Anyway I just was like, I want to really do this calling thing. And so Greg called in at one [00:26:00] point and I was like, I remember he was really, the nomenclature he used, the isms that he had, I was like, that guy tells a very colorful story.

Noted. And then we had a mutual friend Jeff Ganke, who is doing some work with Dan Infault. Him and Dan had a falling out of sorts, and I'd had Dan on the show once or twice, once in my house, in person, once just virtually. In person was way better, because Dan virtually was really hard to get to talk, but in person it was fine.

And Jeff came along and then they had their falling out and Jeff's Hey, Greg, Eric, we should meet up for wings and some beer and chat. So we did at this place called the show to clubhouse. We go there, have wings and beer. And Jeff's just Hey, I really enjoyed doing what I did for Dan. I don't want to stop doing the podcast stuff, the social media stuff.

I really liked that. Do you guys have any thoughts? And I was like, I got two ideas. I got this one called okay. It's Hunter. So that was a domain hoarder. And they're like, nah, I don't really get it. I was like, alright, I got another one called Huntland, H N T [00:27:00] L N D. And I have an idea for it already.

I want to do 15 minute episodes tailored after this podcast called Grammar Girl. Who would do 5, 10, 15 minute episodes and she would just pick your versus your, or whatever, weird shit. And I just love that it was very short. I could listen to six episodes and it may have taken like a half hour.

And I was like, this is really cool. Like I'm getting the meat off the bone right out of the gate. So then we did, we started Huntland. We got a handful of episodes in. They were super great. It was growing like a rocket ship. And there's just some things there that we didn't realize that there was a non compete that was signed.

We weren't aware of it. And so that got dissolved immediately. Because we're not trying to, we're not here to piss anyone off. And we're here to have fun. It started getting not fun after that and we're like whatever. So I was like hey, I'm doing Where to Hunt, Greg. Do you want to just come on board with that with me?

Because I really enjoyed talking with you a bunch. I think you have a lot of value to bring. So you showed up at my house. When was that 20, it would have been 2019. This was before COVID and I lost my voice. It was the 100th episode of the Weird Hunt podcast. He came over the table, built the table in my room.[00:28:00]

And the first episode, all the IT technology broke. Everything broke. Couldn't hear callers. They couldn't hear us. I couldn't, I literally couldn't speak. I don't think that episode lives on the internet anymore. I think something happened. I think even the internet broke that episode. And so I was like, wow, Greg, welcome to the shit show.

Your first episode ever, and it went terrible. I don't know, and then at one point, I think I cut my hand open with a screwdriver because my You did. You ended up stabbing yourself in the finger with a tiny screwdriver. I don't know, like a maniac, like a so we've had all the problems that you could possibly imagine and ones you would never realize could be a thing.

So That was where to hunt. And then we just got on the we spun up me and Tyler the, my business partner spun up. Okay. Center. Cause he thought that was a good idea. He was a listener, met him for coffee, pitched him the okay center idea. He's yeah, I totally get it. We'd love to help. So I was like, let's just do it.

I can't do it by myself. I need help. I'll bring you on. Let's go. So he started soft launching that in 2019. Gained a bunch of traction 2020 in June. We codified it, got an LLC off the ground. June one, we launched it. And I was like, at this point, dude, this is stupid. I shouldn't be doing [00:29:00] another podcast.

And doing this other thing, let's just merge that because it makes more sense. We were saying like the OKHunter podcast studio, we're the OKHunter podcast in the Midwest all under the Where to Hunt name. So I was like, we're halfway there. Let's just jump in. So we made the decision to completely switch over.

It felt really weird at first because we were really in the stream of talking about mature buck hunting, how to hunt mature bucks, talking to all the killers, doing that whole song and dance. And I think a lot of people do, and I think that's all fine and dandy, but I want to do something different. Not better.

And so I think I just didn't plug my camera. No, we're good. Yeah. Anyway, I want to do something different not better and That was it So then we just we've been rolling with the ok as hunter podcast since and in that short time we went from a bedroom in my room my house To building a studio in quotation marks, in the basement, and then somewhere along the way we had Derek come on board He was in here I think one of his first episodes on the OKS Hunter is like an official co [00:30:00] host ish Was we just got drywall up in this room if you go back in our live on our YouTube like we're in a drywall basement and that was it and here we are So we just keep going and having fun doing it and that's a long that's a long short of it And that's incredible so I found the Where to hunt podcast because I was searching for the wired to hunt podcast and this is a thing Yeah, this was when I was in, Louisiana like I lived in, Louisiana so that's when I found it and then ended up in Wisconsin, but Yeah, anyway crazy story, but Greg, you stuck around even after this man stabbed himself in the hand with a tiny screwdriver.

I felt sorry for him, because here he is poking himself with kind of semi blunt objects, trying to murder his fingers, and I thought, yeah, he needs some help. Yeah, so you thought if you don't stick around, he won't live. through this. Yeah, he might not. Yeah. So it I stuck with him still here today and having fun, [00:31:00] started another podcast under the network with with our, with our good friend, Matt Strime doing okay as Fisher.

Yeah, that guy, let me tell you about that guy is a teddy bear. Most, that's the most humble guy you'll ever meet. Super awesome. Loves to see people succeed. I think that is definitely one of the reasons we get along so well. We just like to go out and watch people have fun and help them learn if they're struggling.

Yeah. I really like him, man. He was one of our earlier guests that we had on. On the show with Weatherdove's game calls and talking about turkey calls and all that good stuff. And then this past year, when I was up in Wisconsin, we had made a point. We were like, okay, we're going to hunt together while I'm here this time.

Okay. That we're going to, this is going to happen. And so I went out opening morning, didn't think anything of it. I go out again that afternoon. I think he said he could film me on like Thursday or Friday. I can't remember which day it was, but I felt so bad. I had to call him later that day. I was like Hey dude, I just shot a turkey.

We're not going to be able to hunt. I'm so sorry. I will tell you, I will tell you as a side note, he [00:32:00] did call me in major disappointment that he did not get to come to film you. Dude, he was I could tell and I just. He was like, congrats, man, but I'm bummed or something like, I can't remember exactly what he said, but I was like, dang I just crushed this guy.

Yeah, you did. But a week later, a week or two later, we got him to come. He was excited as heck. He came with for Eric's hunt for his first bird, right? Maybe it might be his only bird. Cause maybe he might not hunt again next year. He didn't seem too enthused about hunting turkeys, but we did get some pretty killer film of it.

I got to see it from a distance. And if I would have sat and hunted with them, we probably would have doubled up because three gobblers came right in and it would have been easy pickings for two birds to die. Yeah, that was a beautiful, so that, I think I saw that hunt, y'all were on the edge of a big field, right?

Sunlit, birds coming in, beautiful videos. But yeah, I remember You caught some crap for not being excited enough, man. What happened?[00:33:00] It's a turkey. I don't know. That's all I have

to say. is it really, did it not get you fired up? Yeah, it did. It was fine. It just doesn't have the gravity of a deer hunt to me. Like the weight. And I will tell you why I will explain to you why, but because it was a guided hunt. You did nothing other than walk over there. I handed you The eight 70, but mind you can point itself at its bird and kill it on its own

It doesn't need the okay guy behind it. Most heard from Call of Duty. That's right. It knows how to kill turkeys all on its own. Once they started running into me, that's when it hit. I had the usual that you'd expect, like the heart going. I got excited and Jack, so at that point I gotta put.

I just, the romanticism of everything else about it is where I'm not, that's where I, that's where I'm lacking there. So it's, I think the scouting and finding and doing all that I could get there. That's fine. Shooting it. [00:34:00] Definitely excited. The aftermath when I walked up to him it's a fricking bird.

It's a Turkey . So just what do I grab that point on that? I was like, this isn't a deer. What do I do with my hands? I got the fan in the studio now and I'm, I think that's pretty cool. I got the legs in the garage and my wife stumbled upon them and scared the shit out of herself. That was pretty great.

Nice. Nice. But no I think it was cool. I'm excited to watch the footage. I, when it comes out, I was just being silly because Keegan Kettle was there filming us and I was sitting in this corner and I was like I'm 37. I got three kids. So I'm, I get to do dad jokes now and I'm really good at it because I tell terrible jokes and they're not funny at all, but I think they're funny.

That's why it's great. So I was like telling dad jokes and every time I would finish the punchline, the turkey go, I was like, dude, this is great. I'm out here. They're laughing at my jokes. Let's just keep going. And meanwhile, Matt's back there going, be quiet. [00:35:00] They're coming. Love it. I love it, man. I have firmly settled on man, I just, I get weird with turkey hunting, but I have firmly settled on the fact I would rather shoot a deer any day.

Then shoot a Turkey, but I think I would rather Turkey hunt than deer hunt. Just because I feel like the hunt, the pursuit of them, the running gun is just objectively more fun than sitting in a tree stand. At the same time, again, you get done and you walk over and it is a. It's a 20 pound bird. It's not a white tail, but my son is convinced my seven year old, he's dad I like turkey hunting way more than deer hunting.

I'm like, why? But he's you get way more stuff. Like you can have the feet, you can get the spurs, you can get the beard, you can get the fan. He's you get way more stuff. And I'm like, but you don't get to eat it. He's who cares about that? You get way more stuff to put in your room. And I'm like, Okay, I guess I can, I guess I can get down with that, but Eric, I think you should have just missed that [00:36:00] bird and you would like turkey hunting a lot more.

Yeah. Yeah. Then I wouldn't have had the aftermath situation. I'm like yeah, that was really exciting. And without the was that your first turkey hunt? My second turkey hunt, officially the most successful one to date. I've purchased turkey tags for gun deer season because I thought I've seen them before in the woods.

I thought if I see them, maybe I'll shoot it. Keep in mind, I, at that point, I would not have known what to do with it. I didn't know, I did not know what to do with the one that I got. I thank God Greg and Matt were there because I was like, Greg was probably just, when someone's got a controller and playing a game, you're like, they're doing everything terribly.

Just give me the controller, you're doing it all wrong. These poor guys are trying to teach me and I'm like, guys I'm happy to get taught, but this is gonna take years for me to learn. Multiple birds, and right now I'm feeling really guilty that I'm wasting this meat, like just, can you just take the knife and just, I'll watch, show me what to do, but I'm gonna need to do ten more of these before I actually understand what the hell's going on.

Which means you're gonna have to continue to hunt for that. Dumb turkey, at least another 10 [00:37:00] years. It literally has a bird brain. It literally has a bird brain. It, it does. It does. It does until you got a shotgun in your hand. That's right. Then all of a sudden it was Robocop. And it is. Robocop. Greg man, what was that like for you?

Seeing your buddy out there on his first turkey hunt. And maybe not really knowing what to think of it. It was fun. It was just fun to sit back and watch. And like he had Keegan and he had Matt with him. And I went off to a different corner of the field because I knew birds were coming to this other corner as well.

So I got some footage from afar, but not nearly to the quality of what Keegan got. But Matt and I were like texting back and forth. They're fired up. Yeah, I can hear him. Where do you think they are? And, so Matt and I are having a dialogue back and forth via text, and Eric's telling dad jokes and making the turkeys laugh, and Keegan's just like getting awesome shots of, water dripping off [00:38:00] of, the dew dripping off of the grass, and Matt and all of the

northern fence line. And I messaged Matt, here they come, and sure enough, I watched them. Matt's they need to get here. I'm like, bro, it's still not even like 7 a. m. No. Fine. I was like, we got time. These turkeys can take another 45 minutes for all I care. This is a beautiful day. And so I was like, Matt was getting super anxious.

Man, I'm sorry they took so long. He was like apologizing to me. I was like... Yeah, it's totally fine. They took as long as they needed to. You've also heard Matt call, and Matt's an excellent caller, by the way. It helps that he's making calls, but he knows how to play that instrument very well.

And after we got Eric his bird, he called them in, they came right in, all three of them. Eric picked the It was great. And I saw the bird [00:39:00] fall and then I heard the echo of the gun come across the field, so it's yep that's awesome, dude, but I love that. Yeah. And I just work my way towards them because there was a couple of hens in front of me and then work my way off into the tall stuff and came up from behind into the fence line where they were stationed.

And there were still birds thundering off in the distance, on that property that we could try and catch up to. And they hung up on us, Matt and I went in there and Keegan and Eric just hung back in the moment for a little bit and we said we'll be about half an hour, 45 minutes and I don't even know if we were that long, but we had some birds working and they just, they hung up in one spot and then all of a sudden they got quiet.

And they weren't responding at all. And then they got further and further away and all of a sudden they started firing off again. But we just couldn't catch up to him. So I filled one of two tags last year, which I'm fine with. Yeah. I'm feeling like we might need to do a little Wisconsin sportsman.

Okay. As Hunter Turkey mashup [00:40:00] this year, man, because that'd be fun. That's one of those things you can just get how it doesn't matter how many people you have in the woods with you, like you can all just go flood the place together. And get after it for a little bit. I think that could be a blast.

Yeah, as long as everybody's pretty well hidden in to their surroundings and you're not making big movements, you can talk a little bit. As long as you're not doing jumping jacks in front of them they'll come hang out. Dude, especially first season, man. So I shot my turkey first season.

I always try to get that first season tag, but it's like, they're so dumb and so callable that time of year. They're very, so midwestern birds are just different than southern birds. They're just a different kind of, of creature. They respond to calling differently. I think they're, much more visual than southern birds.

Down here, you, they don't tend to decoy quite as well. They will come to a decoy, but not as well as they do in the Midwest. Like I've never seen a turkey down here. Just turn and sprint at a decoy. I've seen it on video, but I've never seen it in person. But anyway guys, let's let's chat a little bit.

Something big is [00:41:00] happening Saturday there in, in Wisconsin. What's going on? What's happened to Saturday. That would be opening day. Yeah. That would be opening day of the archery season. So what are the, what's the outlook? I know Eric has been over there, like sharpening his broad heads and like fine tuning his heavy arrow setup.

Not so much. Greg's doing it for me. Guided Hunt. Yeah, Guided Hunt, here we go. Yeah, got the guided arrow. I got a Greg on my team. That's what I tell people. They're like, how do you do it? I'm like, I got a Greg. You gotta get you a Greg. That's what you gotta do. You don't talk to mine, you can talk to your own Greg.

But, you reach out to him, you see what happens when you get Greg going on something. Oh, dude. I found out like all kinds of ways that I could get my broadhead sharp and I was eventually just like it's not gonna happen, buddy. I'm sorry. That's right, go ahead. I'm like, yeah, and I'm done. You've gone too far and now I've checked out and you know what?

You can just do it. You've proven that you're an expert. Let's just have you do it. I'm not [00:42:00] claiming to be an expert at anything. No, you haven't. You've not exclaimed it, but it's shown through in your behavior. Now, in all fairness, he was like, Bring them by I can get them hair popping sharp and I didn't do it I should have done it, but I'm just trying to help a brother out man.

I know dude It was I think that was that the Montex that I was it was yeah you were messing with the Montex Did you have a set of? Of the Method Heads, too. No, so those didn't come in time. That's right. I've got a set of the Method Heads. We were trying to, we were trying to track those down and we couldn't get them tracked down.

Cause I called you and I was like, hey, do you have yours yet? I think you had just gotten yours that day. I had just gotten them. Cam had like literally slipped in like a ninja and dropped them on my porch and ran. I didn't even, I didn't even see them. Mine got delivered on the day I shot my buck this year.

So like they were waiting for me here at home. And disappointment, but I was waiting on those. And I ended up shooting the Mon, [00:43:00] er, I ended up buying some Montechs. And they came out like butter knife sharp. Out of the box. Pierce, you had good luck with some. Yeah. Yeah, mine were, killing bucks.

It worked for me. I don't know if I, I don't know if I sharpened them. I wasn't hair popping sharp. I think I told you that when we were texting earlier today. But, they were... Sharp enough. Yeah, let's talk to Greg about sharp enough. Greg. Is there such a thing?

I Can tell you I've shot deer with dull broad heads three blade broad heads Not the Montech, but there's the replaceable blade version of the Montech. I think you know which one I'm talking about Yeah, and I killed a bunch of deer with those but I had some that weren't so sharp out of the package and I don't know maybe someone had a bad day at the lapping table I don't know, they just couldn't quite get enough lapping compound on their leather or something.

I'm not sure but I don't think you can never be not [00:44:00] You can never be too sharp right because the sharper they are the more damage they're going to do, right? I mean at the end of the day a dead deer is a dead deer, but could it be done more efficiently? How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go? I'm okay with sitting here chatting with you guys and just running this thing over a piece of leather.

Because the more I run it over the leather, the shinier the edge gets and the easier it is to rip through paper. I can slice this piece of paper better than I can with a with a Stanley utility knife right now. A brand new blade right out of the package. I can, it'll slice better. Man I Pierce, I knew something was a little off when I asked Greg for the very first time.

Look at this. Look at that guy. That's the test we were talking about earlier. Right through paper. And that's a lot harder to get to than you think, but I knew things weren't going to go my way. The first time I asked Greg about sharpening and he held out two different pills, a red pill and a blue pill.

And he asked me which one I wanted to take. And [00:45:00] I was like, no, this is not for me. This is not that day. I'm I'm out. Just want to take a quick minute to let you know that the Wisconsin Sportsman Podcast is brought to you by Tacticam. Makers of the best point of view cameras on the market for hunters and anglers.

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com and share your hunt with Tacticam. Eric, man, I want to jump into talking a little about kind of the vision behind OK ist Hunter. You guys struck something there. You struck a nerve with the everyday hunter and. It's been phenomenal. It's been huge. And not to mention your freaking social media stuff is hilarious.

It has me rolling pretty much every day. I'm sending them to my wife all the time. She's what? I don't get it. And I'm like, yeah, you don't hunt. Sorry. But so tell me a bit about how that, maybe how that brand idea came about and then just the evolution from there, because there's always the evolution from the idea to what it is today.

Yeah, there definitely was an evolution that didn't start with this. There, there was a vision and I don't know what happened out of the game. I've said this on some other shows. So it's not new information per se, but it's fun to talk about. I want new information on this [00:47:00] show.

This is special, man. This is, I feel like this is a big moment for me, so I need something new. I'll get there, but I think. The when we started posting content and doing our thing a number of people started sending us private messages or direct message DMs or whatever of their spike bucks or their basket racks of their smaller animals that they got, the smaller bucks.

And we're talking like dozens and dozens of them, like more than I could count sending them to us directly, not tagging us, not sending us a post that was already posted. These were private photos that have never been posted to the internet. Or to social platforms. And when I, they were, they all had a story.

Every one of them, it was like all heartfelt stuff. It was all like epic stories, heartfelt memories, big moments in life. And all came with big X, like explanations, not defend, not defensive ones, but just this is, I want to share this with you because I love what you're doing and I wanted to show you this and tell you the story behind this deer and this buck.[00:48:00]

And I was like, holy crap. And I would go to that person's Instagram or Facebook and I would scroll scroll. And I was like, man, where is this deer? They'd never posted this one. And then people start saying I've never posted this one because I was afraid of getting ridiculed for it, but it means this to me for those reasons and so forth.

I was like, holy shit. People aren't posting pictures of these deer because they think they're going to get crapped out on the internet, but they're important to them. They're important to them for reasons that are. Emotional, there's significance here. And once that started happening, it changed it.

There's like a paradigm shift. Like initially we're just like, ha. We want to relate to people and we suck at hunting Hannah, but we like to have a lot of fun. And it's all, and that was fine. Once that core got struck and it wasn't me I didn't go find this at the market told us this and the hunting community told us this by literally telling us.

And I was like, there's something more going on here. And, the way the idea had started when I told you I was a domain name hoarder I was, I don't like saying I was a victim of, that just sounds like I'm some nancy little [00:49:00] bitch. It's fine. I get it. The hunt, we give people shit. We can take shit, we can give shit, it's a two way street.

I'm fine with all that. Where I have a problem is when someone's being a genuine asshole. That's where I'm like, okay, that's not nice. And it's not, I don't care about myself too much. I care when it happens to other people, much you can pick on me all you want, but if you pick on Greg, I'll go beat your ass.

You know what I mean? It's that kind of mentality. And so I was like, starting to get defensive of the hunting community. When I would see someone post something and then they would get trash talked. And then it happened to children. I was like, Oh, we've got a problem. We've got a problem. It knows no bounds.

This thing is running rampant. Like people are dogging kids for shooting bucks. Damn it. That was my buck. You should be hunting on a youth hunt. You sally ass little kid. Like weather conditions don't need to be perfect. When I was my age, we didn't have youth hunts. You should be a man like he's eight.

Okay, and it's fine to get people into the sport earlier, calm down, Karen. And so I just, the evolution then became more about embodying what's [00:50:00] really important to us. Which, then I started to realize you might be a trophy hunter and that could be really important to you. You might be a meat hunter, that could be really important to you.

At this point, we're not shaming anybody. And somewhere along the way, it was like it's my tag. It's my hunt. I purchased it. I should be able to pursue this. So I want, because everyone has their own unique connection with mother nature and the spirituality that comes along with it.

All of it is uniquely your own thing. So in all of that, we just started like pumping this narrative out. And it just so happens to be that I'm obsessed with business and marketing and got to hang out with Gary Vee and his team for a day up in New York before COVID happened. And I was like, I'm going to do this let's give it a real run.

Let's actually see what happens if we post like Gary Vee says to all the platforms every day, multiple times a day, then see where it goes. And let's tie it to our mission. Let's create some like core values and let's see where it goes from there based on what the market's telling us. And I love it.

I love every bit of it. It's been going on for three years and I am [00:51:00] not fatigued whatsoever. I feel more energized now than I did when I started. Wow. Wow, man, that's awesome. So when I got guys like Greg and Derek and Matt, and then we got this network going on, like it's bigger than me. Like it's not Eric Clark, like the number of people that have helped and like taking things on as everybody.

Yeah. So Tyler and it's just, it's really cool and exciting. So for sure. Man it's interesting. You say that I was showing Pierce this the other day. This is. This is one of the bucks that I keep right here. It's on my desk all the time. It's just this little bitty spike buck. Now why is that special?

I shot this the year that I got married. And it was the first buck, I think, that I'd shot just picking my own place. Like I had abandoned the family property. I wasn't hunting with my dad anymore. I was off on my own and, there it is, this buck. Then this one. Another one that I keep right here.

Why do I keep them in arm's length? Cause they're incredibly important. This little one year old, but hugely important to me because of what they mean. I think that's [00:52:00] just phenomenal. I'm going to turn y'all here and I want to show you. So I shot a buck this past November.

You guys were some of the first ones to like comment on it on Instagram and be like, heck yeah, dude. Awesome buck. Love it. Blah, blah, blah. It was awesome. I get to the parking lot, and I get bug shamed for this thing. I have a guy, I have a guy, I'm gonna show you all here in just a second. That's rare though, that's rare, I've talked about this, I've said that it's rare.

Back in the old days when you would go to register a deer and you'd, go to your local whatever the hell it is, some like Ma and Pa gas station or whatever. And I never really experienced it there. I think it was happening because you almost would feel shame when you pulled in with a littler buck and the other guys got these big, huge bucks and you're like, wow.

Just you see the visual comparison and you actually would embody, you'd impose that on yourself. But I never had anyone like outwardly say it in person. It lives on the internet, run rampant because it's the internet. That's interesting. Tell me more [00:53:00] about what happened in person then. Yeah.

So this guy, so this. It's a good buck, man. I'm going to shoot this thing. I don't care if I'm in Iowa. I don't care where I'm at. This thing's getting shot all day, every day. But I get to the parking lot and then guys just Oh man, it's weird to see that one dead. Like why because I've been watching them, all year. I got a bunch of pictures of him and everything. I was like, Oh, were you hunting that deer? Oh no, I wasn't hunting that one. I'm just hunting another one. I'm on a bigger one. Like, all right, cool story like great man.

I'm real glad like I know which one you're talking about That's the bigger one out here because they were very close together And he is a giant and I'm gonna shoot him this year right out from under this guy but Weird to see him dead. Why do you know his name?

You guys talk I don't know what's going on here? Yeah, it was such a weird way to of buck shaming cuz I'm Like this isn't a passive aggressively, right? And it was like, you know what? At that point, like really what could make this person [00:54:00] happy? This deer came off of public ground.

He's four years old, scored one 40. What could. What could make that person happy at that point? So this is what's funny about me. And this is something that I probably haven't said before. I have... I'm a very extreme human. And I get very decisive and I can be very extreme. Like I could easily go one way or I could go the other way and the opposite in the spectrum.

And so oftentimes when that, what you're talking about happens, if that were me in my mind, I'm going, I'm either going to beat the shit out of this guy. Instantly, or I'm going to be as nice as humanly possible to him. There's no middle ground. And I have to tell myself I can't do the first thing because that's going to be a bad outcome.

Nobody wants to go to jail, but I'm, I, but I want to say is Oh, you think, Oh, you think it's weird. Else is weird. If you'd shut your fucking mouth. I feel like I want to get really violent and bad. Like I'm like. I immediately want to just go like off the freaking deep end. So I [00:55:00] apologize for swearing.

But I

didn't want to just smash a rock into his face. Why don't you just shut the hell up, man? But... So then I have those feelings. I have to... I have to channel that and convert that into being very kind, because I think representing the OKS Hunter is a pretty high honor. Because we need to be exemplars of never going down to their level.

Because that's bad. We don't need fire with fire. That's gonna be a bad outcome for the whole entire community. So I will always take the high ground, but just know that in the back of my mind, I want to beat the shit out of that person. Eric wants to punch you in the face right now. He won't. That's why I'm like, don't mistake my kindness for weakness. You know what I mean? I went 100 percent just like the dumb kid route. I was just like, cool, man. But look at him. Isn't he great? Isn't he awesome? Look how big he is, we exhibited at the Iowa Deer Classic this year and then the Wisconsin Open Seasons for us on the Dells.

We were in the Dells. It was morning, [00:56:00] no one, the stuff wasn't open yet, and so there's just probably other exhibitors walking around. There wasn't like consumers walking around, so some other exhibitor, I don't know where this guy was at, comes across our booth that Greg had built, by the way, it's beautiful.

Phenomenal. And this guy comes by and goes. So what are you guys like we the wokest Brandon hunting and I'm like Unsolicited not I'm like what's happened. What did you just visualize that's what you had to tell me, right? So just know the back of my mind is I'm gonna rap tackle this MF or in and it through the whole And just go to town like I was about to give him a verbal lashing cuz Cause I, you know, but instead I just played dumb and I was like yeah, you're, I'm not awake yet.

I haven't had any coffee. Woke. I'm not awake. Yeah, you're right. And just the guy walked on. It's not worth it. It's just not worth it. It's not worth expelling that negative energy. It's, you only get so many energy points in a day. If we had 50 of them, negative ones are going to take up more than your positive ones anyway.

So I'm going to [00:57:00] deplete all my energy, wasting my breath on some dick bag. That's a grind is his ax on my stuff get out of here, man. Yeah. I gotta keep my, I gotta keep my energy to give positivity to the world. I'm not gonna give you my negative stuff. And a dude like that's just going in primed anyways.

There's no winning that one. There's no you gain nothing even by laughing back at him. It's, yeah, I don't know what's right. Yeah. Sorry you were triggered, pal. Yeah. Dude I did a show recently here in in Perry, Georgia. For some of the land consulting stuff that we do with with Whitetail Partners.

And there was a t shirt and hat company next to me. And they had all these different hats with different sayings on them and all this kind of stuff. And the guy walked up with very similar comments to that. And just started going off on the person who's working the cash register. And it's not the owner of the company.

It's not... a designer for the company. It's just a guy who's there to work the cash register. And he walks up and just starts giving this guy crap about it. And I'm and so I'd gotten to know this guy. I got a booth right [00:58:00] next to him. We've been talking throughout the day and I'm like, dude, who are you?

Like, why do you like, this person has nothing to do with what any of these hats or shirts say. Like literally they're as far from the end product as they could possibly be. They just want to take your money. If you want to buy it, kind of thing. But like you said, this guy came in loaded, man.

He came in with an ax to grind. He came in looking for trouble. Just hoping to spread negativity and his garbage wherever most people need the most love most people, they genuinely do. And so I talk about stoicism a lot on our show and I'm sure Greg rolls his eyes nowadays and I talk about it, but it's like there's a place for everybody in this world.

And even the a holes have probably an important job to be doing to contribute to society. That's fine. And mosquitoes have a job. I don't know what it is, but they've got one somewhere. He'll say I know today I'm going to deal with some negative a hole some idiot, some incompetent f word, and because I know that's how I'm going to counter my day, it's bad on me if I get ro if I get roused by that so I already know [00:59:00] that's going to happen.

On any given day, I'm going to encounter these people. So if once it happens, if I go to their level, then I'm the idiot. I know that's going to happen. I've already calibrated my expectations accordingly. I've adjusted my sails for the wind that's going to be blowing in my face so I can cover up and deal with it.

And so when I deal with it, it's I already knew this was going to happen. I expected to run into you today. How are you doing, man? Are you okay? What's going on in your life? Why are you coming at me like that? Do you need a, do you need a hug, friend? What's up? I've been waiting for you. Yeah.

I knew you were coming. I've just been waiting. Yeah. Everyone's been nice today. Where's the a hole? It's gonna happen. Oh my gosh. I love that so much. Oh man, it was just a matter of time until you got here, and here you are, in all your glory. It looks like you're running a little late today, but hey, we're here for you.

That's right, Richard, let's do this. I'm not going to be able to sign this if you didn't know it, but I did. Oh, I love it. I love it. Listen, you guys have you did something this year that was [01:00:00] pretty incredible with the TV show. I want to hear a little bit more about that. What has that process been like?

Filming that show and what are you hoping to what are you hoping to accomplish with folks who are, okay est consumers? I don't know. What was your thought of that? I didn't realize anyone watched it. So I haven't watched them. I've heard about them though. I've seen the clips as well on on I guess it's on Instagram.

Some of the like highlight kind of clips. I don't know. That's fine. Greg, what do you think? Oh, it was fun. You came up with the idea, we've been trying to collectively film as much of our hunts as we can. And I'm not doing a great job of it. It's just we need to film. We need to film again.

And Eric's just no, you know how hard that is. I can't even kill a deer on my own, let alone try and do it with a camera. Okay, so we talked about it and Derek's been doing a pretty good job of filming and, picking up a lot of the slack on the YouTube channel stuff lately but he's got a pretty good setup and I got an alright setup and Eric's just [01:01:00] no, let's let's get somebody here to help us with that.

Okay I'm guessing we're going to have to pay somehow then. We'll figure it out. So all of a sudden here comes Jason Martinetto and he's filming us. So made it out with with me once Tyler once didn't make it out with Derek cause Derek ran off to parts unknown to go kill giant, giant bucks.

And and he got quite a bit of, quite a bit of footage of Eric having a good old time. So I thought it was great. It was fun. We're looking forward to doing it again this year. I'm definitely going to be doing much better job of filming more of what I'm doing and Hopefully I can meet up with a camera guy, but more than once anyway.

Yeah, it is it's a big pain It's a big pain to try and film. You've probably tried yeah, and it's like deer's here, am I going to reach over and press the record button or am I going to latch [01:02:00] onto my string with my release and pull back and kill this thing? I think I want to just kill this thing and get it, get it squared away.

Yeah, so you guys are gonna give it a round two. We're gonna do a round two. I mean I have grandiose plans for things, but we have no money. So like we're super limited. If I had it my way, we would be doing we'd have people following around the Upduck guys, the Okas Fisher guys. We would be doing a full bore on this.

And I think we'll get to that, where we have to snowball it carefully with our cashflow. We don't have, we don't like to take on debt, so we want to just cashflow it as much as we can. We do good on the podcast side, from a revenue standpoint, relatively speaking and on the merch side. But the merch side's costly, like it costs a lot of money to do business in that space.

So we top line out pretty great, but then the bottom line shakes out and we're like, how the, like what, that's what we made? Okay, we have this report and we don't have any way to pay ourselves. This is great. Let's just keep doing it. Cause the people like our stuff, but on the show side of things, again, different, not better, the mantra, [01:03:00] and I want to bring our camaraderie into it. I think what we've heard most from our social stuff is that it's relatable. People are like, to me, it's like the kind of nudging your buddy at the bar going, dude, that's us, I think if we can continue to just be ourselves 110 percent like I'm, we're not actors, we're not acting when the camera's rolling, you're getting the unfiltered, complete raw version of ourselves.

We are who we say we are, like nothing is faked at all. Nothing is scripted. And to that end. I was like, dude, we're not going to do a hunting show better than other people that have done hunting shows. We're not going to be white tailed. No one's going to, no one's adrenaline is going to be fired up watching us.

That's not what's going to happen. We're not, and I also want to bring our family into it. I'm a dad. I got three kids. Derek's a dad. Tyler's a dad. Greg is like the dad to all of our kids. He's like Uncle Greg. We have these lives that we live that are more than the hunts.

I wanted to capture some of the chaos. My garage is a total mess. Because it's, I can't get to it and I want to go hunting, so guess what's going to win? Hunting. Not my garage. And so my wife's I can't believe you're doing [01:04:00] this on film what is wrong with you? I'm embarrassed that this is what's being captured.

I'm like, no, but it's real life. And we don't live in a mansion. We're not from money. I grew up homeless I'm lucky to be a homeowner in my opinion. There's things like that I just want to capture. And I was like, dude, can we just do the office? Of deer hunting, can it be the office?

And Jace was like, dude, that's my favorite show, I got it. I got you, we're gonna do this. And then, so we just said, we'll see how it goes! And that's what we called season one, cause we didn't know A, how our hunting season would go, but B, how the hell this whole filming thing was gonna go. And we gave it a go, and it like, it kinda worked out.

According to Carbon TV, our numbers are outstanding. Are they really? I don't know what they count as a view, but it's crushing it over there, and YouTube, it's alright. Depth not width I don't want a million people watching our shit if they're not the people who watch our shit. If we get 30 people and they are like ride or dies and they're in it, that's great.

We got 600 views on episode 1, I think that's fantastic. [01:05:00] I, for a first time ever dipping our toe into this world and we've never ever done it, to think that some percentage of 600 people watched our stuff and invested their time, like I also want to do short episodes because I know attention is...

Bleeding these days. So like you're looking at an 8 to 15 minute show. I think that's pretty tolerable like You can get through that and it's semi entertaining. Like I think people laughed at us more than with us and I think that's fine. Season two because you mentioned the whitetail adrenaline thing, I think you guys have to call it whitetail winded and sweaty.

That's just gotta be, it's gotta be where you go. Nobody's nobody's adrenaline is pumping or anything like that, but you might be winded and you might be sweaty by the time you get there. Yeah. We're the fat guys bringing the deer up. The hill, I'm like, we take two steps and are like about to keel over and we realized we had a long way to go.

That is me. 100%. I I was doing a podcast before this with Jacob Sklinner. Do you guys know who that is? Yep. All right. So he's a good guy. Very good guy. If you want to talk serious tactics at a on an engineering kind of level, he's your guy. He's from [01:06:00] our area too.

Yeah, he is. He is. So he's a good dude, but we were talking. About, basically hunting and fitness and their relationship together. And I was like, dude, you don't realize how many decisions I make when it comes to hunting based on my fitness level based on, am I going to go over there for that Turkey?

It's nah, that Turkey's too far away. Or for that deer, it's nah, I'm going to stop here that I'm pretty sure he'll come through here if he's moving, cause I'm not going way over there. Yeah. So anyway all so we are coming up guys on Saturday morning, big opener. What are the plans?

Saturday morning. Probably going to be cooking breakfast. I'm not going to be headed out right away. Okay. That's because if I'm chasing a buck or even a doe for that matter the one piece of private that I have, it just lays out poorly for morning hunts. Like I'll be chasing deer back to their beds.

And the way the wind lays out there [01:07:00] predominantly, it's just, that's an evening, that's an evening hunt all day long. If I'm gonna go and try my luck at hunting a bedding area for a buck or any buck it's tough to get in there without them either following you or not, or being close by somewhere, hearing you crashing around in there.

And then, trying to find your tree in the dark. Unless you, you're doing your due diligence early, which too little, too late now it's difficult to get in there undetected, especially if it's going to be calm the way it is. Yeah. So you're holding off for the afternoon. Do you have a specific buck that you're after or are we opportunists this time of year?

Are we filling up the freezer? I don't have one held under lock and key anywhere. I have a couple of deer I would love to see, but I haven't seen them on camera and probably four weeks. But I'm going to, I haven't checked my cameras in two weeks. [01:08:00] So they're due to be checked. It might be a game time decision where I'm going to go scout, pull cards, see what's going on.

And if I have confidence in my ability to make a play on it, I will try, I'll throw a sit at it. Got it. If I don't, or if I just find some really good sign in there that I want to hunt, I'll throw a sit at it. I'm not going to solely base everything on what I find on the camera because, deer move around cameras all the time.

But if I find some killer rubs, they're taller rubs, I'll probably throw a sit at it. Otherwise, I'm gonna probably, after assessing that and not finding, say I don't find what I'm looking for, I'm gonna go for option B and try and kill a doe on that piece of private that needs to be managed. Got it.

Got it. Eric, you getting out? Nope. Not getting out. Not even gonna bother. I'm not even going to try to fool myself. Okay. I went on a hike with my kids [01:09:00] tonight and the temps were dropping real nice and we went to some like local park, hike and ground stuff and saw Doe, kicked her up and then I was like I got the Shiner in here in this van and the minivan.

Let's take the kids for a little ride around in the dark before we do this podcast. So found some bean fields and got the old spotlight out and we're shining for deer and seeding bucks. But. None of where I was shining was huntable. I just think I'd see deer and kids would like that. And, it, as much as I say, I'm not going to, I'm going to battle myself because of course I want to.

And something gets in, creeps in your bones this time of year that is inexplicable. Like I can't begin to articulate, comprehend. I can't even process what's happening. But ever since I was like 10, when fall comes around, that's what I need to do. I felt like I just need to be in the woods. I couldn't even hunt when I was 10, but I was like, I need to be out there.

And that hasn't changed. It's gotten worse over the years by compounded. Am I going to get out? No, because I have three kids that are two, four and six. September is birthday [01:10:00] month. And last year was rough on the fam going through all that. And I have to take. I have to take a step back and be dad and husband because my family needs me.

So I will hunt my hope and desires that I not even like doing the whole, I'm going to get all the brownie points, but like quite literally be a contributing helpful member to our household and family the most positive way possible to the tune of I hopefully my wife will recognize and say, you've been killing it here.

I know you need to be in the woods and you want to be in the woods. You can go. I got it. And I truly believe that will happen. I also truly believe I'll probably just break down fuck it. I got to go hunting. So I don't know. I'll take it as far as I can before that happens. One of the other. We just saw Eric at his best and his worst in a span of six seconds.

So that was pretty great, man. I love that. That's awesome. You hear me. So talk myself out of it in the actual same conversation, but all the deer I've got, all the two bucks I've gotten with my bow happened in November, the [01:11:00] first two weeks, November. So as far as I'm concerned, like that's my time to shine.

Anyways, I have nothing pattern. I'm not using trail cams. I have no business being in the woods in early season. I also hate mosquitoes. I loathe them. And it'll be a suffering. And I'm not going to have morning. Cause I don't know what proper him to go to. So I'm not trying to wait in the dark and figure out what I'm doing.

We did get our hands on some kayaks though, and so I'm pretty eager to get those deployed because water access is a bit of my jam. I enjoy the world adventure. The only hitch in that little plan though is we're in a drought and water. A lot of the access areas are extremely low. Very. Yeah, Brian Dombrowski, you guys may know he's up there in Wisconsin, was posting some stuff where he was he was scouting not too long ago.

And he's just literally walking down this waterway that's typically just water all the way through. You could kayak, canoe up it, whatever. And there was not a drop of water in it. That's a shame. Pierce! Man, I know you've got some bucks showing up. So what the heck are [01:12:00] you doing?

I've seen the, I have a question. I've seen the pictures for these guys. I've seen the pictures. Pierce . I know what's happening. I got a question first for these guys. Go for it. So I love just the whole. Ethos and the idea behind the okayest hunter, the inclusive hunting community, the supportive group being proud of each other's bucks or does whatever their kill is.

What is the mentality for each of you guys going into the season? Are you guys passing bucks at any point? Are you guys, Waiting for a specific one. Eric, you mentioned you're not running trail cams or anything. Is it just get out there, hunt to hunt and whatever comes by, or what's the mindset going into the season of life?

There's, I don't know that I'll ever have a target buck. I there's so many variables in nature that I'm like, man, who's really actually hunting a targeted buck. Some people, and I think that's got to be like point, it's a 10th of the percent of the hunting population at large can actually do that. Some might say they're doing it, but they're just [01:13:00] chasing pictures on a crow cam.

That being said, I was sitting, I'm shooting whatever gets my peahot. If it. If it happens to be a spike, it's a spike. My daughter also presses me really hard for me in the freezer. My wife is like placing bets for me to get a deer for as fast as humanly possible so I can come back home and not be hunting.

So she knows if I get a doe, I'm still going to go out for a buck. I have the tags for it. That's what I want to do. I think every year people think I got a 10 last, you're not gonna me get 12. I got a 12 now I gotta get a whatever. I got a 1 29 to get a one 30, I got a one 30, I gotta get a one 40.

I got a 1 49 and it just keeps going. I don't wanna play that arms race with my dear. I think if it's good enough. Like I, I don't, I think any two to four year old book that comes past me when I'm hunting public land that I've not done a good job scouting in off season. I've, over the years I've compounded knowledge.

But any two to four year old is going to get creamed by me if I get an opportunity. And that's... I don't think you're in the minority there. [01:14:00] And I'm happy to do it. Public land's hard. And I'm not even wearing that badge of honor like public land tough. Like I don't, that's just what I hunt because I don't, I'm not rich enough to buy private land.

I'm not leasing land. I, that's all I have access to and I make a good use of it. I'll bounce around. Hunt with Greg, hunt with Derek, hunt on my own. So far, all the hunts on my own are the ones where I've killed deer, so apparently I'm on to something. You need to get away from these guys. Apparently. Yeah, what are you doing, Greg?

Apparently not putting him in the right spot. I don't know, I've gotten him pretty close. I've gotten him in the general direction that he's seen deer, but it just didn't quite pan out. That's the way it goes. I get close and tells me I'm doing enough right. Just enough. That's right. And that's all you need.

Yep. Absolutely. What about you, Greg? What's your mindset going into the year? I'm always trying to do a little bit better. I've gone back and forth, I've passed bucks, and then it depends on what I've got in the freezer. I have the opportunity to shoot does, so I can afford to wait for a bigger buck.

Now, a bigger buck's [01:15:00] probably gonna be, a Pope and Young or better. We'll say Pope and Young to, I'm not turning down a one, one 35, one 40. If it comes walking through, but I'd probably be just as happy to shoot a one 25 or a one 30 because I haven't shot one in a while.

So a couple of years ago, I killed a nine pointer. I think that one might've been, we'll say 110 inches worth. I was happy to kill that deer because I really struggled. I had some close encounters with a four corn and another six pointer. On the ground. He had the four corn darn near sniffing the brush where I was hiding behind and he like, he knew something was up and I practiced drew on him.

Like I, I let him turn his head. I got into position, drew my bow. He walked around the brush and I just followed him and I leaned back and drew where I was drawn and just lined up the peep and got his vitals. And he just stopped and [01:16:00] he was looking forward and he was side eye on me and all of a sudden he was like, something's up here, you can tell he, he knew something was wrong.

And all of a sudden he turned and looked at me and I'm just sitting there and I chuckled at him. And then he turned and bounded about four steps and stopped. And I still had the bow drawn. I let down and I just watched him and he, I could have shot him multiple times. But it was a cool experience because it was eye level.

I was on my knees in the brush, just watching this deer at eye level. And, I could hear him breathing and everything. It was a great experience. I at least scared him real bad. Yeah. Not so bad that he didn't come back again. Just to look around, he came out of the cattails, looking around.

I'm like, really? You're going to do this again? Whatever. He never blew at me or anything. He just. He knew he wasn't supposed to be over there. Yeah. Yeah. Geez. I like it. Yeah. Awesome All right, pierce. We gotta know man. What are you doing? I'm going to be hunting some private, [01:17:00] I'll be at my folks place over in Blue Mounds.

And I have had some bucks showing up under these apple trees on our property for the last four mornings now, I think. Yesterday morning, we had a pretty decent one show up. However, literally right before we hopped on, my neighbor sent me a picture of one that's about twice that size from just across the road.

I'm thinking I'm probably just going to be on a meat mission this Saturday and I'm hoping for a nice fat dough, eating some apples and get some meat in the freezer and then save the buck tag for later on in the fall. All right, man. It's so where I'm at right now, it is 1125 and I don't know where my saddle is.

But I'm supposed to be hunting in the morning like tomorrow morning and I'm supposed to be leaving here in four and a half hours I don't know if... You're a beast, Josh. What's that? You're a beast, man. You can say that now. If I make it to the tree tomorrow, then you the saddle. You can sleep safely [01:18:00] in a sack called a knapsack.

You'll be alright. Oh, yeah. It'll be fine. I don't know, I don't know that I'm gonna make it out. But if I do, I will be in a tree tomorrow morning. Which... Dude, you are the early morning warrior, though. Like you get up earlier than anybody. I know that it'd be for turkeys or deer. That's the first time you and I hunted or going turkey hunting.

And you're like, why don't we meet here at quarter to four. I'm like, dude, what? You're insane. You were what, an hour? You were what, an hour from me? And I was like, oh no, that, I was over at my folks place. I was like five minutes from it. And I was still like, dude, no way. Yeah.

No, this season though, you're right. Yeah. Yeah, you did say that. I was an hour away and you were like, yeah, probably quarter to four. Maybe four so we can get in there and just get set up. I'm like dude not happening. Sorry. Yeah, i'm weird man. I like to get in there real early like I don't know I don't know.

You said somebody you got beat to the spot this year too. I got shunned off man at 3 45 I got shined off. I'm walking in. Oh [01:19:00] man, what? I'm walking in and there's a dude sitting there flashing me with his light. I'm like, dude, it's 345 and early enough. I don't know what I got nothing for ya. He just slept out there.

You just win. You're just better than me. You are simply a better man. Anyway, guys, man, we're going on going on about an hour here and I'm supposed to be hunting in the morning, so I'm going to go try to find my tree saddle. I'm going to go see if I know where my platform is.

Still don't know where that thing's at. You sound like you are one of us then. Man, I am an okayist hunter through and through. So I still remember I was I was hunting in Wisconsin. I think it was my first year hunting in Wisconsin. And I went all the way into this, super secluded bedding area. I climbed up in the tree.

A buck heard me climbing, so he got up and came in, check things out, turn around, went back in and not long after that, I dropped my dropped my grunt call down and down onto [01:20:00] the ground beside me. And I had an eight point come in and work a scrape like 55 yards away and I couldn't do anything. It was early season.

A little grunt would have been perfect. And I think I tagged y'all in the picture and was like This is an OKS Hunter moment. There's, this is literally the epitome of I think you actually text, you might even texted me that. I may have. I think you texted me the picture of the grunt tube laying down in the leaves or something.

Yeah. And he's yup, had an OKS Hunter moment this morning. Yeah. There's a buck 55 yards away, I'm going, oh man. Yeah, it was a rough one, dude. It was a... It was not a good one, but gentlemen, why don't you guys tell folks where they can find more from you? You've got social media stuff going, you got TV stuff going, you got podcast stuff going, my goodness.

I'd yeah. Go to okay. It's hundred. com and it's all there. You'll find all the stuff right there. Perfect. Awesome. Thank you guys so much for coming on the show. I appreciate you taking the time. I look [01:21:00] forward to keeping up with you again this year. And Hey, I'm going to be up in Wisconsin, November 1st through the 12th.

We should we should make plans that I can then hurry up and kill something and break the plans for that, like I did with Matt. Yeah, dude, that's how you get it done, then get it done. That's right. We'll make plans, I'll shoot something, we'll be done. Sounds good. Great. Alright, awesome guys, thanks for your time.

That's all for this week's episode as always. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you dig this show, be sure to subscribe to this podcast, wherever it is that you get your podcasts. While you're at it, if you could leave me a five star review, I would very much appreciate that. You can also follow along with my outdoor adventures on Instagram at the Wisconsin sportsman or at how to hunt deer.

That's also the best way to get ahold of me, suggest topics, guests, or questions that you'd like me to explore on the show. Big thanks to our partners, Tacticam, Huntworth and Onyx, please go support the brands that support this show. And if you're looking for more great outdoor content, check out the sportsmansempire.

[01:22:00] com where you'll find my other podcast, the how to hunt deer podcast, as well as a ton of other awesome outdoor podcasts. And until next time, make sure you make the time to get outside and enjoy the incredible natural resources that are ours as Wisconsin sportsmen.

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