Show Notes
On this episode of Huntavore, Nick calls up good friend Nate Roseveld of the Michigan Wild Podcast. Nate recently dug in deep to the new Michigan deer hunting regulations on one of his episodes, and Nick wanted to get a better understanding. From the looks of things, the DNR is in need of some meat hunters. Does are up, harvests are down, its time we fill those freezers once again, on this episode of Huntavore.
Nick and Nate Roosevelt discuss the upcoming hunting season in Michigan and the recent changes in legislation regarding deer hunting. They talk about the importance of shooting does to manage the deer population and the challenges of getting hunters to embrace doe harvest. They also touch on the concerns about the National Resources Commission making decisions that could impact the deer herd and the need for hunters to adapt to these changes. Overall, the conversation highlights the need for education, communication, and collaboration among hunters to ensure the sustainability of the deer population. In this conversation, Nate and Nick discuss the importance of shooting does in deer hunting. They emphasize the need to make killing does cool again and encourage young hunters to start with shooting does. They also discuss the challenges of managing the deer population, including the impact of CWD and the need for testing before donating deer meat. The conversation concludes with a discussion about their recent pig hunting trip and plans for cooking and sharing the wild pork.
Takeaways:
- Shooting does is important for managing the deer population and maintaining a healthy balance.
- There is a need for education and communication to encourage hunters to embrace doe harvest.
- The National Resources Commission has the power to make decisions that impact the deer herd, and hunters need to adapt to these changes.
- Collaboration among hunters is crucial for the sustainability of the deer population and the future of hunting. Encouraging young hunters to start with shooting does can help them learn and appreciate the importance of managing the deer population.
- Killing does is just as important and meaningful as shooting bucks, and it can contribute to the overall health of the deer herd.
- Testing for CWD and the challenges of donating deer meat can create obstacles in managing the deer population.
- Pig hunting can be a fun and effective way to control the pig population and provide a bounty of wild pork.
- Taking advantage of opportunities to hunt and harvest does can help address the overpopulation of deer in certain areas.
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Show Transcript
Nick Otto (00:00.098)
Well, hey folks, beautiful evening here in Michigan. Hey, we're in the dog days of July, at least at the time of this recording. When we hear this, it may be September. might be, it might even be getting really close to October here by the time we hear this episode, but it's all pertinent because if we're into October, there's going to be a lot of guys that are going to be hitting the woods.
Nate (00:23.593)
Yeah.
Nick Otto (00:29.226)
very soon with their archery equipment. This is kind of going to be an episode geared towards my kinfolk here in Michigan. We're going to be focusing a lot on what's going on in some of the legislation that we've probably heard about. Coming down the pipeline, I guess this is my way to address it. My buzzard brain, my waste not want not side is already come into play. But
Yeah, that was what we're going to be is kind of talking about some rulings that have been going on and how we need to adapt ourselves. And I thought of nobody better than friend of the show. In fact, I'm donning his cap right here. The podcaster from Michigan wild, Nate Roosevelt. Nate, thanks so much for taking time out of your evening. It's July. What have you been working on? What has been your tasks these past few weeks?
Nate (01:25.392)
Thank you.
Nate (01:29.35)
Dude, what's going on Nick? Thanks for having me on. Dude, I know it's, it's just, I'm just pumped. I'm ready for the season already. It's, know, like you said, we're in July. I've been really focusing on shoot my bow. I've done that. I usually do. I'm pretty good at shooting my bow. love I've the art of archery has always been something I've enjoyed since a little kid. So shoot my bow has always been an easy thing to do, but I actually did a 3d league this year for the first time ever. And it has been a lot of
It's really challenged me. So that's been good. It's kind of given me a little purpose to shoot the bow a little more. So I've been doing a lot of that. I did some spring plots earlier, so I'm just kind of waiting to start my fall plots, which those are going to be starting any day, like some of those micro plots. So yeah, doing that. And then also got some kitchen renovations going on. I did a new ceiling in the kitchen. We replaced some hardware on some of the cabinets, getting the, you know, getting the honey to do list stuff kind of checked off. So yeah.
Nick Otto (02:19.202)
Hey,
Nate (02:26.118)
Things have been going good. Just trying to get as much done every day all the weekend. You know, just hustling and doing that and then you know, still spend some time with the family too at the same time. So even efficient, I've actually been doing a lot of fishing this year. First time I've done that ever consistently since I was a kid. So it's been it's been a good summer so
Nick Otto (02:42.924)
That's good. That's good. Yeah. As, as the educator here, I'm already like, we're getting into those, it's into go time now. We still have a vacation under our belts here next week. We're heading up to the UP. but yeah, you're right. These are long days, but man, we got to chuck them full of everything. So excited to hear about your 3d league. biggest takeaway that you've been able to take away from that league. What do you think is the biggest aha moment or that biggest
You said you enjoyed it. said it's making you better, Archer. What is that piece? What is your finding like? I am now better at this.
Nate (03:21.552)
I've noticed that it's, so when you shoot 3D for fun, like with your buddies, you're just like focused on kill shots, right? We've all probably done that goal, the group buddies, you know, do this, but this is like the first time we ever kept score in archery. So being challenged in a way of like, there's a number to go with it. And I'm like, it was pretty easy for me to get competitive. It doesn't take much. So focusing on shootings for spots and you know, learning how to be better. as in
Learning where to aim on certain targets. learning how to pick that, you know, that, that center ring of the center, you know, not being like, like I love a 10, you know, like I'm at school, but I'm like trying to shoot 11. We do IBL. So it's like 11, 10, eight, five are your scoring system. So doing that's really focused on. You know, trying to pick those spots, but then, you know, week in week out, it's like, okay, why'd I struggle this week? Well, I didn't necessarily do a good job mentally to like go through my checklist. So I think it's going to translate really well.
the fall where I just have this like muscle memory of pick my spot, pull my bow back, execute a good shot to an extreme more so than just like flinging arrows in the backyard, you know? So that's been the biggest thing. And it's been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of cool people too. So like getting around like minded people, everyone I talked to, you know, for me, it's easy to say hi to someone and, know, chit chat and do that kind of thing. So I've met some great guys and shot with some people and yeah,
I would love to do this every summer. Like it's, it's a good time traveling around to other 3d courses in West Michigan and doing that. And it's dude, it's, it's a blast. And it's also, I can do it by myself too. So like being able just to go quick runner once run through a course for an hour and a half, just me, the woods and my bow. I've enjoyed that part of it
Nick Otto (05:08.942)
Good deal. Good deal. That, like you just mentioned, the weekly pickup or even the daily pickup of the bow is, it pays off. Like, yeah, again, you can just send reps down range in the backyard, which will help, but you've taken that a step further now and added that, that pressure where, you know what, it's not the exact same. You're, you're aiming, sometimes you're aiming a little off of where your kill zone wants to be, but it's in order to get those points. And like you said,
That takes away the distraction. So now when you do get in the woods and you're like, you're looking at the armpit of the deer, but you know, she's quartered or he's quartered. got to hold off and to have that focus. That's really good. I'm glad to see that skill development that you've been able to do. I've been, I've been in the backyard. haven't had the points, but we've gotten the long bow out. I did that just the other night. sent some arrows in, I picked the, it's a round target.
I got, it's one of the, I can't even remember the company name, but anyways, it's got a little string on it and you throw it. And essentially that wherever it lands, you don't range it again, because I'm going stick and string, you don't range it, but now you just have to hit it. And when you hit it, it also rolls the target. So now it, moves a little bit, moves your arrow out of the way, which is one good thing. But then the same time, now that exact yardage isn't going to be where it was at.
That was by my practice in the yard the other day. Granted, I don't think I had anything more than 20 yards, but it was definitely, there's a lot of dirt on those arrows right now. Just thinking of it. But that's, guess that's the stuff now is I want to miss now. I don't want to miss
Nate (06:49.144)
Absolutely. And I've always been a proponent for whatever keeps you engaged, right? Like if, if shooting your bow, you need to challenge yourself in a way to keep going out there and picking that ball up once a week or same thing. Like, are you engaged with getting outside because maybe you like fine sheds or you want to be more, you know, you want to just go scout and look new areas, whatever keeps you the fire lit, right? Like that's how I'm waiting. Some guys lose the fire and certain things and may go to another avenue, but.
I'm just a huge proponent. Whatever keeps you happy. And if you want to go out there and learn how to shoot a longbow or recurve to, you get the spark, maybe a guy's never used a compound before, only been crossbow or gun hunter, we'll go pick up a bow and shoot it. Maybe you'll be like, because the more people fired up for doing this and doing a thing that they love like me, the more we have involved doing it, the better it's going to be overall.
I mean, I guess to a point, right? You don't want to have like so many people hunting, you want me spots, but for the most part, I want to have guys like me who are passionate about hunting, passionate about the white tail, passionate about small game, you know, all those things, because we kind of leads us right into what just happened. You know, the NRC stuff going on, but for the most part, we have to kind of make conscious decisions and educate each other and do those kinds of things. So the more guys on board with that engage, get out there, get off the couch, you know, get your kids outside. I'm all for that. I love that
Nick Otto (08:13.538)
good deal and I got it Nate, stole my, my segue. You were talking about getting people together and you have, you know, create ideas and you work off of each other. And I'm like, just like what happened, just recently at the NRC, the national resources commission they met. And I haven't, I'm going to say, I'm, I'm going to be honest. I have not followed along with it very tight.
I know that this has been a thing brewing for quite a while. think guys in the coyote world can tell you we saw it coming a mile away. We saw changes being made there, whether you like them or not. That's not the purpose of this episode here is to get into that. But now we're seeing that with the whitetail seasons that we're starting to play with those and there's been some changes there.
You had, I don't, I don't forgot his last name, but you had Elliot on as someone who's been following these, these news stories, these happenings very tightly. And you had a wonderful episode. I ask everybody head over and listen to that episode. If you really want to get into some detail into the weeds a bit. Again, I think opinions definitely do fly on that episode, but I think what
really did say is like there's a lot happening right now in our whitetail regulations. What were some of your big takeaways Nate from talking with Elliot and seeing what's going on? What are some of the big things that are happening right now in our legislation?
Nate (10:00.44)
Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm similar to you, you know, like I'm just a dude that grew up that loves being outside and hunting and doing that politics are not my strong suit. I don't get too worked up about all politics, you know, like I, I, I've kind of taken the stance of like, have my opinions, but I'm not like a proponent to like, you know, bang on the door, you know, this is what we need to do. This is when you do an old, so it's like, I just don't have time for it. Kind of how I've always had the approach,
So talking to someone like Elliott Hubbard, it was a guy that I've seen from a distance that is very passionate about, about white tails and you know, wildlife and you know, not to give myself too much like credit on the podcast, but if you want, it's shooting does as a commitment was a title. And I asked him after we had talked for quite a while, it long episode, you know, there's a lot of opinions, but I asked him one simple thing, like, dude, if you had a magic wand, what would you do to improve the white tail herd in Michigan? He thought for
five seconds and then was like the UP boom boom boom boom boom boom. Lower peninsula boom boom boom boom boom. Like he went through like and I just was laughing. I was like dude if that doesn't show your passion for the whitetail herd, I don't know what does and you know so I I would have no idea. I would never would have came close to answering the question like he did and I consider myself you know a whitetail enthusiast you know and educate myself on her dynamics and trying my you know trying to learn more every every year every day kind of a
Nick Otto (11:07.381)
Absolutely.
Nate (11:23.268)
So credit should be where credit's due. Elliot taught me a lot on that episode and some things I've heard him say. So check out that episode. And then if you want to learn more about the DMI, which leads into the NRC meeting that we had, the deer hunter management initiative, you need to check out the podcast that Josh mapes has the overdrive outdoors podcasts, which Elliot Hubbard's wife Rochelle was actually a member of the DMI and someone, and I think Jordan Hoover was another guy. They break down the DMI. Awesome.
So, and they do in a way that there's other podcasts that talk about it, but they kind of were like uncuffed with how they broke down how that went. So anyone who wants to learn more about that stuff, we'll kind of let those two episodes be good ones to go listen to and break that down. But long story short, I think Michigan has an issue with white tail harvest, dough harvest. Like that has been something that we've been like getting pounded at us for a while, right?
And I was kind of in the fence where I was like, man, I don't, is this something that's like legitimately an issue or is this just something that the government's trying to make us do something or use it, justify the means for certain things. So as times went on, I talked to people like Elliot's like there are definitely issues. are too many does too many deer in certain parts of the state. And we, as the hunters do a very bad job at shooting enough does. and that comes from the, you know, the recording, you know, now you have the app, you have to record your harvest. You can go look on that.
The amount of bucks a does issue is just astronomical compared to other States. And it's, you know, you can see it with our habitat. You can see it with damage to crops. You can see all these things and we just do a bad job at it. Like shooting does isn't cool for a lot of people. Like we, we just don't, for some reason, there's just pockets of the state that have a lot of does and people are okay with seeing a hundred does and maybe they
I have my opinions of why we don't shoot does and we can get into that if you want, but for the most part, it's just like a lack of education. then that we don't do a good job of shooting dose. then the NRC comes through and just willy -nilly can essentially dictate policy and go against some things that were talked about or throw things out the window because they don't want to hear it essentially. And just say, is going to be the new rule for 2024. And it's like, wow, that's, that's a little scary because if they can just willy -nilly do
Nate (13:43.792)
They can just quick change the coyote season out of nowhere. Essentially. I'm afraid what they're going to do the white tail season because that just, I guess it's more of like, let's raise the raise the awareness here. Like, guys, you realize what's going on? It's not catastrophic yet, but it could get that way. What can we do to maybe not have that happen? So that's kind of my takeaway.
Nick Otto (14:06.306)
Gotcha. yeah, those from, what I've, what I've gathered, like, yeah, just same from you being educated on that. And as a listener to the, to that episode, I think I need to go and listen to the overdrive one as well. my, and this kind of boils down to just how I've always approached things too, especially when I'm handed news, good or bad is, well, how do I.
need to adapt to this? How do I continue to do what I want to do? But, you know, how do I do this now? You know, what now? And from what I was seeing, some of the biggest changes that were happening is they are going to have an antler point restriction up north, up in the upper peninsula, I think in a couple sections.
Doe harvest in a couple of those sections or antlerless is drastically reduced. They want to bring those down to again, boost population somehow. But then almost we have the almost in reverse in the lower peninsula. I'm looking at a super long season coming up. We're looking at the expansion of of muzzle loading. We're looking at the expansion of early antlerless and
late antlerless where I think in the late one, I, did I read this correctly? I'm reading the line right here. The new extended late antlerless season going from January 2nd to 12th. Five bucks. Five bucks. It's, it's a little Caesar's pizza, man. It's hot. It's ready. It's right there for the taking.
Nate (15:44.572)
Yep. $5.
Nate (15:51.938)
Yep.
Nate (15:55.416)
And like, know, if I want to break down some of those rules, I'm I mean, we got to more does right. So you can't have guys saying, my gosh, there's you can shoot whitetails for four months a year, you know, or you can shoot does into January. But, know, it's because we don't shoot enough does like that's the problem. So they're trying. So they are, guess, trying to move the needle in that way. Right. Hey, guys, you can shoot my, know,
You know us in the lower, we've been able to use a straight wall cartridge or any gun you want any legal gun until January 1st to shoot a doe, right? Like that is after December 16th ish. You can't shoot a buck with a gun anymore, but you can shoot a doe until the
Nick Otto (17:20.083)
Yep. that's, mean, as we've been looking at it, that's, where everything is going. And, you know, hearing about like just some of these opportunities as one who this, I mean, my, I've, I always want to go for the big buck. I it's in me to do that. But at the same time, like I'm not afraid to take doze. I'm not afraid to,
make sure that my freezer is full by, you know, moving off of, off of bucks. I've heard so many people say like, well, I yeah, it's one of those things where save the, save the young bucks so that they grow into the bigger bucks. sometimes at the earlier on, I didn't have an opportunity to deer, but now with numbers, the way they are, it's like, shoot, we should be able to have all these deer. I do find though that getting on top of one, or at least I heard of them.
It's tough to just pick out a single dough and there's that many
Nick Otto (18:31.33)
Well, I think I lost me.
Nick Otto (18:41.742)
We'll hold on for just a second. Maybe we can find
Nick Otto (19:45.826)
Here he comes. Here he comes.
Nate (19:49.835)
happened. Yeah, I'm here now, but I'm kind of like my camera kind of took a dump and then yeah, now I'm on the struggle stick to get back, but I think I'm back now. So here I am. Switch cameras, got had to reset some stuff, but I'm back.
Nick Otto (19:50.616)
we get you back?
Nick Otto (20:02.651)
good, good, good, good.
Nick Otto (20:10.218)
Excellent. Excellent. Well, we didn't get far without you. I was just saying basically like, yeah, we've been given these, these new parameters. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm both excited at the same time. I given where I'm at now, it's going to be a micro chasm again, like the given the properties that I hunt, the amount of deer is not a problem. We're not seeing areas eaten
Crop damage is always a thing, but at the same time, there's enough vegetation around in these larger wooded lots to hold a lot of deer without a lot of overgrazing. I mean, kind of one of the things I go along with, or saying that I like to live by is that the best way to preserve venison is to keep it on the hoof. Take what I need and...
you know, let the rest continue to be out there. But now we're looking at a thing where they're asking like, hey, we need you to take more. We need this. We need you to really capitalize on these DOE permits, especially in these highly populated areas in order to kind of keep that going. So I find myself as at a catch 22 on this whole thing. Where do
Nate (21:34.859)
Yeah, dude, I agree 100 % because that was where I was at. I feel like I have deer, but I don't know if I have too many deer. So one of the questions I asked Elliot was, how do I know if I have too many deer? And he made some good points. It does take effort, right? He's like, I'm scouting for does. I'm scouting for deer density with trail cameras or driving around the blocks. And he's like, I'm checking my browse pressure, my farms and that kind of stuff.
Nick Otto (21:36.664)
personally working on this.
Nate (22:04.619)
And so then I was like, well, how many does I've heard a lot of different things like what, what's kind of the recommendation? And, know, he, he, he said some things that I did some research on and I would agree with him that if you shoot 30 to 40 % of your dose, like you're not making a difference. Like you're not going to, you know, decimate your herd because of, especially in Southern Michigan is one of these winners that just have huge kill -offs. Right. So if we shoot 30, 30.
percent of our does, they just re, you they reproduce every year and they drop two funds and you know, with the coyotes, blah, blah, and roadkill that stuff. Well, it's, proven that, you know, we're still keep maintaining the same amount of deer you have. So that's a lot of does. Like if you have 10 does, you can shoot three of those and you're not going to see impact. and then he said he had to get over 50 % to like make a difference. So the problem isn't that we need everyone to shoot 10 does.
Nick Otto (22:56.078)
And it was then it was 50 % continued. That's the killer part is like they are very, these deer are very successful and we're seeing that. And you know, maybe as it becomes, we've created habitat for bucks, know, does are ultimately becoming more successful. Like you said, you get two for one, you get two fawns that take off. Like it doesn't take long to build back whatever, whatever was taken.
Nate (23:00.416)
Yes.
Nate (23:24.411)
Exactly. And you know, you got to do that because you never know what's going to happen with with your habitat or with, you know, a bad winter in like certain areas of state like northern Michigan. You know, for example, they'll they don't have as many deer as we do. They can't they can't support that many deer. Then you go to the U .P. and it's even crazier. Like you start looking into some of that stuff. It's like, whoa. And it really didn't take much like U .P. used to be the place to go to kill deer in Michigan. People drive from out of state to go up to the U .P. to shoot, you
bucks and does like there was just, was very prevalent up there. And if you look back in time, that wasn't really that long ago. And I just don't want that to happen in Southern Michigan. But you know, Elliot did say is like, cause he's talking about how many does he shot and he is like on the extreme. Like he's went crazy over the last like decade plus of shooting does, but it's because he's the only one really doing there's he's not the only one, but there's limited. he, his like approach was we just need to get guys to shoot one or two dose.
Like, cause there's just a lot of guy, like, you know, a guy like you or a guy like me, we, we've, we shoot does because we like to eat the meat. We don't have any issue with doing that. I mean, it's kind of how we were raised. Like, Hey, there's this, there's this resource, right? We have this resource and guess what? A dough tastes really good. So we had no problem shooting a dough, you know, kind of a thing. And I think there's just a select, I mean, obviously we're in the minority, right? If you look at the statistics, we guys who do shoot does are
And we just got to get more people kind of on board. That's kind of how I took through that. That's it's, it's tough. do agree with what you're saying though, because like it's a resource that we, know, you see every year, but we, well, if you think of the grand scheme of things, like how much property do you hunt? Like we're such a small, like even the properties I have is such a small amount compared to the whole state or the whole County. And there's just, there's some issues. And I just.
I don't know what the correct thing to do is. All I know is that I'm gonna do a better job myself educating myself on doe harvest, paying more attention to does and put some effort towards that. And that's why it's like, it's a commitment, right? It's a commitment to shoot does. And I love your approach to how you educate and do those things because I think the problem is a lot of guys are cool with shooting one buck, maybe two bucks a year and they don't really need the venison because of a couple things.
Nate (25:43.813)
One, maybe they bring them all the processor and that can get, if you shoot five deer and you bring in the processor, that's a nice shotgun, right? You know, money wise.
Nick Otto (25:51.628)
It's like a hundred. It's like a hundred. Yeah. It's a hundred bucks to get one done properly and to be happy about the processing job.
Nate (25:56.895)
Yeah, and think about taking care of five deer.
Nate (26:02.089)
go take care of five deer, right? You got to gut five deer, you got to haul five deer, there's logistics involved in that. And I've been blessed that I can process a deer, I'm not quick by any means, but I'm not afraid of that challenge, right? I know if I shoot a doe early October, I got a game plan, I got infrastructure set up in place, I can do that. Or on top of that, I got people who don't hunt that want venison, so I have an avenue to go with that extra. And I just
We just got to kind of push that agenda maybe a little bit. I don't know. Like that's I'm kind of in the in the in the gray area here of like what direction to go. Because I don't want to be like, hey, we got all these hunters. Let's just decimate the deer herd. You know, let's see what happens. And I'm just like, I don't want to lose that. also, I feel like something's
Nick Otto (26:51.658)
Absolutely. cause even like, mean, look at it in my family or a family of five. Now we got three young boys and they've, they've, they've put on the feed bag this past year. they're starting to get big, you know, again, like it's, it's a two pound night instead of a one pound night. so we've been able to go by with like three deer a year that gets me through like between the ground and
The steaks that I want roasts that I want like three deer will get our family through really well supplemented with, you know, a couple other things here and there, but that's, that's what we can confidently go through. And there's been some years where our guy I've been in the five deer boat. And so I've been able to put a stockpile up. I've got one freezer like dedicated to just like, Hey, this is the surplus. Like this is where you got to break into. is stuff that we can play with and, and try new stuff on.
But it's almost kind of like, you know what, if, the gauntlet's been dropped, if we've been asked to as hunters, or at least we've been given these potentials, I guess I go back to the asked to, I'm going to go back to that letter, that open letter that was sent, in 24 season of guys, we do need to take more does. The call was put out, out to do that. And I, I can confidently say that I did one in one and I had a bonus deer.
Alongside the road. So it was like, had the two for one. had my two does and I had, I had the buck, but at the same time it's like, well, shoot now is this year. Am I going to, am I going to double down on that? Am I going to go for deer just to help out rather than try to solve all of the problems that are in the area? Maybe I just do something little as even add one. So if you are a one buck guy, if you are, you know, get your two bucks and then be done.
I mean, add one more to it. Yeah, it's a hundred more on processing, but at the same time, you're getting another boatload of meat on that as well. So maybe it's, not going to try to finish this. We're not going to try to solve all the problems here in, in, 24, 25, but very possible. look at changing those, you know, just that little amount.
Nate (29:09.299)
Yeah, let's just move the needle, right? Just like, let's try to move the needle a little bit into a positive direction. I kind of took the approach, like I don't see myself, you know, all of sudden going and like I'm feeling all my, however many tags I can get Michigan, man, I'm feeling them things. Like that's not my goal going into this fall. But my goal is to maybe encourage or talk to a neighbor or like, hey dude, like I know you don't, I've never shot a doe before, but it'd be really cool if you did because X, Y, and Z.
If it's one of those things where you're, you know, want help with it, I'm here to help. if it's, you know, some, cause some guys are like, man, I shoot a deer, need help. Like I don't know what I'm doing. So they kind of wait for that to be a buck. You know, they don't, they don't want to just go out there and start shooting, especially new hunters or people who are adult onset hunters. Like I understand there's a lot of things I take for granted, but I'm just like, maybe that can just kind of be that voice, that guy, that neighbor, the same concept I did with passing deer, right? Like when
I would go to all my neighbors and all people close to me be like, Hey, look at these deer I'm passing because they're here. And it took a lot of effort. Like I talked to a lot of people, went on my way. Maybe I just kind of got to shift that focus to does, doe harvest. And I think, you know, maybe do a little better job of, know, I, I, I feel like I do okay job of like, Hey brother -in -law it's gun season. Like, dude, I'm not going to shooting does in this spot because I know you're coming Thanksgiving. There's a pile of them. Let's let's shoot two of them.
you know, let him do that. Like I feel like I tried to distribute the wealth a little bit, you know, diverse, diversify a little bit on that. And it's like, do I need to get to the point where I'm like, I need a dough weekend. Like, Hey, bud, Hey guys, come to my prime spots. We're shooting doughs. Like, do I need to get to that point? And it's like, maybe I do because like, like circle back to like, if you go drop a bunch of doughs, like any deer you shoot, the responsibility starts as soon as you pull the
And that's with your bow or with your gun. like there is work involved. There's, know, you got to take care of that meat. And like, you're a really good example of like, you know, educating guys and helping people out with that. And like, I've learned things from that too. and it's like, maybe that's kind of the direction we need to go a little bit here instead of we need to shoot more dough so we can have bigger bucks. Like, no, that's, that can't be the MO. The MO has got to be, we need to shoot more doughs cause it's good for the white tail and hole. Like the whole like picture.
Nate (31:28.075)
And, yeah, it's not going to change overnight, right? It's not. And I just, I just, I'm scared, man. Like I'm not scared is the wrong word. I'm just like, man, this is the first time in my life, maybe because I'm getting old, you know, I'm 34 now. So, you know, I'm halfway to 68 or whatever, but yeah, like it's yeah. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta, know, like I'm seeing things a little differently every year. I don't know, but it's a, it's, it's the first time in a long time ever felt that
Nick Otto (31:43.882)
You're stuck in your ways. Yeah.
Nate (31:56.619)
with that. know, CWD was one of those things where I felt kind of, I felt kind of worried about it. I got, I kind of tell a quick little story with that. So the reason why I think I feel the way I do when CWD came in, it was kill all the deer, right? And we can't bait no more. You can't do all these things. Well, where I hunt, there's a lot of deer in these, this certain area that I hunt in Kent County. So we were one of the properties that the sharpshooters were able to come in and they were, they put feeders out and they would shoot deer at
And the discussion was, Hey, we are only going to shoot young bucks and does is this okay? And I was like, yeah, like obviously so CWD is bad. Let's test these deer. I don't want to eat deer there. You know, got CWD. Well that year, that summer I had some like really nice bucks and this is a while ago, but like back then I was like, okay, I'm, really pumped for the fall. fast forward to the fall. Never saw any of them.
no trail cam pictures, nothing. I was like, this is really weird, but not un -normal. Like deer come and go, right? Well then, you know, talking to the sharpshooters through the grapevine as in like the town board and like, however that went by, they were bragging up how they would go out there and the bucks they were shooting were so big, they could see them in the hay field. Like their racks were standing up. And I'm like, what? Like, yeah, obviously. they're shooting them. I know right where they're shooting them, watched them do it. And I was like, man, they said they weren't going to do that. And here they are just blasting everything.
That did not take much, right? And they were able to come onto private property, use spin feeders, use thermals and kill deer. Like what, like if they get a justification for it, they're going to do it, right? And that worries me, know, market hunting and get into that thing, like all that stuff. So I'm a little maybe trigger shy on this because of that, cause I had firsthand experience that like affected me. so yeah, I'm a little reserved, I guess on that.
Nick Otto (33:44.013)
Mm -hmm.
Nick Otto (33:49.038)
I mean, what's next? Are they going to change it off of the 15th and make it like that first weekend? Like I think, I think the state will burn if they change, if they go too far, everything will burn, burn it to the ground. yeah. But yeah, it's, it's one those things like they're cool.
Nate (33:58.101)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Yep. It's going to be over.
So one more regulation thing that comes to mind. One more thing I was thinking, have two, you have young sons, right? So they're changing the youth hunt. What's your gut reaction to no bucks for the youth hunt for next year? 2024, you can still shoot a buck on the youth hunt, but moving forward, they want to switch that dose. What's your gut reaction to
Nick Otto (34:18.06)
I got three.
Nick Otto (34:34.414)
I didn't blink an eye. fact, just to like, again, you hear the stories of dad takes the five -year -old out who, you know, louder than heck, doesn't pay attention, hasn't practiced, but comes back with this huge buck. You know, it was like, well, who shot it? You know, like the kid who didn't practice or you that has been there ready to go,
Nate (34:57.216)
Mm.
Nick Otto (35:02.274)
You know, we're never going to know at that point. And that's an extreme circumstance. And maybe that's just some storytelling, but at the same time, you know, you got to learn, you got to go through those steps and to start out a young kid with only shooting does like, don't, I don't see a problem with that at all. I not to say that they have to like, I would say, yeah, you gotta, you gotta, if you're going to be a big boy, you gotta shoot with the big boys and come into the regular season.
Nate (35:29.507)
Mmm.
Nick Otto (35:31.938)
There's that's what the apprenticeship tag is, is all about. But to like have those couple weekends be dough only. I have zero problem with that. I'm like, shoot, man, let's get them. Let's if you get two as a kid or one, whatever the limit is, let's fill your limit, man. Let's get you what you know, let's learn all what this is about. Use it like a youth weekend. Use it as a training. You know, I could see.
processors doing like an open house at this point where they're showing what they're doing to these kids. You know, I granted they can't have them in there, but like take them a little bit through the process. Let's celebrate that as a learning experience. But for little Jimmy to go out and smoke a 10 point early on the season, I don't know if it's necessary or not. I know my boys probably their first one's going to be a dough, but it's going to be a huge celebration. So I don't know to be successful in a youth season. Doesn't mean you have to take a buck.
Nate (36:24.139)
Mm.
Nick Otto (36:30.402)
So yeah, that rule didn't really affect
Nate (36:35.039)
Dude, that's about... that
Nick Otto (36:36.034)
How about you as a reflection? What is your boy going to
Nate (36:39.989)
That's the same thing, I'm in the same mindset. My son shot his first deer last year Thanksgiving night. And he's seven, last year he's eight now. He did not participate in the youth hunt. And that was because, first of all, he didn't really want to. And that could be because he knew I didn't do it growing up. And if you use a gun, it's November 15th on. That's gun season to him. So there might be a little bit of that involved from a parenting side point. I didn't
push it ever like, hey, dude, you can shoot one right now in the summertime with a gun. I never really did that with him. I just let him tell me when he was ready to shoot a deer and I said, you want to shoot one, you you let me know. And he proved to me he can handle a gun and did the things that I thought were necessary. And that took until, you know, Thanksgiving day to seal the deal. He got a deer. So my gut reaction is sweet. Let's make killing does cool. Cool again like that. When I grew up, man, I shot my first doe and I would, I would have a gun in my hand.
first dough that stepped out, no more 15th when I was 14 years old, kaboom, I smoked that thing. Like there was no like, that's the Roosevelt way, right? Like we shoot doughs during gun season. That's always been cool. So, and it was celebrated no different than my first, but I shot my first buck the next year with a gun. And that celebration was no different than the first dough I shot. We still took pictures with it. We still all gathered around the truck, you know, everyone kind of cleaned and processed it together. did.
Nick Otto (37:47.202)
Yeah.
Nate (38:06.417)
all those things. So to me, a doe is just as you're taking a life and yes, it doesn't have a rack on its head, but also like the importance of killing a doe is so cool and can still mean a lot. And you know, with Henry, we had that discussion with him. He's like, obviously he wanted to shoot a buck and you know, but he was totally willing to shoot a doe. if it came down to the last couple of days, we had talked about it like, Hey man, if you can't get one of these bucks to give you a good
And he had some misery and some, you know, heartache in, in before he got his deer would not be able to get on them quick enough, but he was totally going to shoot a doe. Like he was in cool with it. And this year he's kind of got a thing. He's like, dad, think, I think, yeah, if I see a big doe, I'm probably going to shoot it. And I'm like, yeah, dude, like that's cool, man. Like that's fantastic. So I think it's all that approach. So, you know, that can come from a selfish reason, maybe a little bit. Like I have been affected by youth hunts, you know, youth hunt shooting a lot of really nice deer.
And you know, if you get, if you get a little jealousy in you and get a little that it's pretty easy to be upset about it. But I always try to ground myself, you know, and like, Hey dude, it's a kid, man. Like if that keeps him hunting, like I'm all for it, you know? And, so, but also I'm cool with them not doing it too. You know, like that's kind of my thing. but yeah, that I had same, same process. Like let's make dope. Let's make killing does cool again. And that can start at a very young age and you're doing like, how cool would it be? have your kid that you're like, dude,
You get an opportunity here to shoot a doe in September. We have really high odds of seeing them because we might have a great property, so and so down the road's got beans and he's like, yeah, sure, come shoot some does. We can sneak in there, develop a relationship with that farmer and you smoke a doe. It's like, dude, you're helping the deer herd by shooting a doe. Like that's a parenting thing, right? Like you can push that and I'm all for
Nick Otto (39:53.496)
Good deal, good deal. Yeah, it's one of those things like, I don't know, that was just as you put the nail on the head, like it's really, it's a teaching thing, but I think for them to even get their helping out, you know, we're gonna drag all this, we're gonna process this. This is, the kid gets a visual of, hey, I provided for the family, like I did this. And that's something that sticks with them, whether it's into their adult life or it's just a memory that they have, like that's really cool.
for them to be able to do. What was coming to mind too, you had mentioned earlier, the CWD and how that is a perfect storm that has screwed up, think, probably making us in the position that we're in right now is I believe there's also some new headaches or at least you have to have that deer tested before it can be donated. So there's a lag in time. I know Kent County, you needed to have the test done.
I think there's a couple of counties. think Barry Barry is one of those where we, we don't need to, we can still donate without being tested yet. but at the same time, these overpopulated areas that are, that are in like a big County, that has a lot of suburban area where deer just hide in these areas. If we can dwindle those down, it's like, it would be super nice to donate all of that to the food banks. But at the same time, like it sounds like we've got some headaches when it comes
the testing and aspects with all that. So perfect storm laid right there in the front. Like I'd like to say, like, we'll solve this problem with our mouths. We're going to eat these things back into the way that they need to be. But it's just not as easy to say like that. We can't donate it. so yeah, that's where the testing comes in and the headache of I wish there was a, I thought they were working on it, at least a field kit where a hunter could get a.
Nate (41:37.531)
Yep.
Nick Otto (41:51.842)
like a within like a certain amount of time, whether it be a few hours or a day or an overnight that they could basically with a swab either in the blood or in the spinal cord or wherever they were going to take that. to get some sort of response on a litmus test or something like a piece of paper. But I haven't I haven't heard anything else other than that. But like, I guess that would be the dream solve right there is if we can give a quick answer to
does it have it or can we not prove that it has it and then go from there? So I think that's the next hurdle that we got to deal
Nate (42:29.455)
Yeah, make it, make it, make it valuable, right? Like you have to make the white tail be of value without putting a price on it. That is going to be the, the, the, the challenge here. Like how can we benefit? How can we say we have, we have too many does. So what are we going to do with these does? If they can come up with program that, Hey, it's streamlined for hunters. We can come in here and drop something off and guess what? We're feeding all these people are homeless
I mean, you just hear stories about people who like, they don't eat red meat, you know, they don't have the access to it, they don't have that. I can get behind something like that. I don't have any idea what that means, what that is, but the story sounds good to me, right? Like, let's do this. Like, I can go out there with an agenda and let's help. And I know that when I'm doing something like, it's going to the right thing, opposed to, you know, Elliot was talking about, like, you know, they're proposing a thing with crop damage for
tags that if you shoot a deer you can essentially dig a hole and throw the deer in there and that's totally illegal. You know there's not the want waste with that and that's that hurts you know it hurts it. I think all hunters who care about the resource and do those kind of things and know that that hurts but also what does that circle back to? Us as hunters not shoot enough does. That's kind of what I keep coming back to right? So but it's just like
Nick Otto (43:39.19)
us.
Nick Otto (43:49.134)
We got a sleep in the bed that we made, so...
Nate (43:53.829)
Yep, huh, it's tough man.
Nick Otto (43:59.246)
Well, shoot, we go in from one problem that we're dealing with at home, but we did do a little problem solving down in Oklahoma this past spring break. Nate was on that trip when we went down. In fact, were the successful gunman. You got the lottery where you had, shoot, how many pigs was it? Like 20 pigs came running into your pen.
Nate (44:26.731)
yeah, 20. I mean, I could probably count them on the video, but it kind of makes me hurt that only six didn't make it. The other 14 got out unscathed or they seen them scathed, but we'll say 20. 20 entered death door and only 14 left death door, so six didn't make it. And wow, what a blast that was.
Nick Otto (44:49.587)
Absolutely. Did you end up posting that video or did you end up to be chickening out and not posting
Nate (44:57.373)
No, I did. posted on Instagram. I don't know if I did on Facebook or not. I did throw a little video edit. I'm terrible at editing, but I got on there and yeah, I didn't do anything too splashy, you know, but wow. If you want to, if you want to see some carnage, like as in like I, it was just, it was just a Northern, a Michigan boy being able to go down there and experience the ranch Southern way of too many pigs. And we all can think about the videos we've seen of shooting pigs out of helicopters
Nick Otto (45:04.328)
okay.
Nate (45:26.367)
do those things. Well, I got a little taste of that. And let me tell you what, I can't wait to do it again.
Nick Otto (45:33.55)
No, it was, it was awesome. And so then, yeah, being along with you, we, got in shoot. Yeah. We heard the fireworks and yeah, we've, we've talked about this on other episodes, but where, where we took those six pigs, we gutted them out. We aired them out as best we could. And we got butchering on them. yeah, Nate was, Nate was awesome when it came to, help and break those pigs down. I mean, breaking animals breaks you. That is
I don't care if it's something small like a turkey, like your hands are cramped up when you're done plucking that thing. And it's the same way with these pigs. Like we were burnt. I, yeah, I definitely did not drink enough water while we were focused doing that job. but we, got those in coolers. Yeah. but we got them in coolers, got them in ice, closed them up. We got them up to Michigan and they were still cold. They were still real nice and cold. I gave them a couple of days in my chiller.
Nate (46:16.253)
It was so hot!
Nick Otto (46:31.296)
And then, yeah, when they were nice and cold all the way through and it set, they've, they've gone back to your hands. You were telling me that there was plans with a family member that you were going to be doing a wild game dinner. but, we'll talk a little on that too, but have you done anything personally with, with any of that pig meat? Have you done anything with that pork since, since picking it
Nate (46:57.323)
So yes, you'd be correct that breaking down those pigs were or those hogs was quite a interesting thing for me. Someone that has never done it like that before. But let me tell you what, once you get the system down and learn, I felt right at home, you know, breaking them down. And it was it was very enjoyable doing that and maybe look kind of a weird way because it was hot. We were sweaty. We were running on, you know, 30 minutes of sleep kind of a thing. But, you know, I did I did enjoy doing that and breaking them down. But yeah, we.
mean, the game plan worked, right? We got them in coolers. We got them on ice. did, we did everything we could. And when we got back to Michigan, they were, they were still good. They were cool. They were cold. And we, you know, got them in the freezer. but yes. So the, the majority of that pork, I mean, all the stuff that I brought back is, going to be going to the wild game dinner. I family up North that their church does a wild game dinner every year. So we're going to kind
kind of, know, move the needle in a way that hasn't been quite done there yet. We're going to do like a pig roast, I think of some sorts. I'm hoping that I got this guy, Nick Otto, that might be able to assist a little bit with some things, but that was quite the bounty that, quite the bounty we brought up there. they were talking, they were all like, wow, this looks so good. These things have so much fat. where did you get these? Like they were talking about it.
Nick Otto (48:07.128)
Ha
Nate (48:20.841)
That was kudos to you and your approach with how to take care of those, essentially rats, right? The Oklahoma people consider them things rats and yeah, do that. So no, I have not had any of the pork other than what you had cooked for us down there. But I am anxious to bust out the, we have a pig roaster and do a couple different things with that and feed a pile of people some of that wild pork. And what a cool story that's going to be. But yeah.
I, we have to feed a lot of people, right? So like you want to kind of keep it simple and be able to get done, take care of business, you know, quick, but yeah, there it's all sitting in the freezer in the church, just waiting fire, you know.
Nick Otto (49:06.126)
That's awesome. But yeah, like I think, yeah, just, just smoking those things down, letting them just, you know, slow go, get them to that 201, 202 temp, and then just shred all that stuff. Man, Sammy's for, shoot, that'll make a lot of sandwiches. That'll make a lot of food for people. So that'll be, that'll be fun.
Nate (49:25.951)
mean, how much weight do you think we had? We had just like, mean, one, two, three, we had five. Do we have five coolers packed full of pork?
Nick Otto (49:38.862)
We had five coolers packed. My bore took up one whole cooler where he was, we, again, we guesstimated that he was over 200 pounds, like 250 pounds. But again, his, I've kept his skin on, but we've charred him. We've, we went through that process. So like it's skin on, but ultimately that skin ends up coming off. And that's, I mean, that's heavy.
You gotta look at how much gut they had in them. Shoot, mean, there's a big percentage of the weight that goes off of those. But again, when you pick up a quarter of that, it's dense. It's heavy. So I mean, several hundred pounds. I can't even say a couple. We're like, we're into several. Yeah, your truck did really well. Like I think there was a little bit of squat in the back. I think that's why we really got.
Nate (50:21.001)
Yeah, it was
Nick Otto (50:33.548)
Like better gas mileage on the way is I think we had better tread. but man, like we did put a lot of weight into that. So we'll be able to really, really cook those down. shoot, I don't even know if I've, I've talked a little bit about the board that I've gotten and I, I had a chance to cook up, just a little bit of him for, my boys and my wife. And. You know, as I'm, smelling him, like the board taint is there.
Like that musk is present on that bore, but it's not into the point where it's going to like turn your nose sideways. Like it's not this like, throw this whole thing away. But at the same time, like it really is, like, this is, this is it's wild pork. The boys ate it up so easily. My wife enjoyed it. And I wouldn't say she's picky, but she's definitely like, if you're asking me to look for something, I'll, I'll be honest about it I'll look for it. And she was like, no, it's tastes really, really good.
Yeah, home run on that big bore. He's an eater. yeah. So those, those sows that we got for you that you stacked up like shoot, man, those things are going to be delicious. They're going to be
Nate (51:41.781)
Can not wait. And that's cool hearing you say that, because.
Nick Otto (51:44.162)
So you said you're lining
Nate (51:48.177)
I was just saying that's cool that, you know, the boar you had cooked for us when we were down there from the previous year was smaller in size. And then this one, the each shot was, I mean, I don't, I can't imagine it being any bigger. Like I'm sure they get bigger, but like that was a, that was a boar, right? You know, I mean, when it's laying there and it's like, yeah, that thing weighs more than me and I'm a big guy like you, you know, we're not, we're not little, we're snow, we're snow drift busters, you know, here in Michigan. So we're not, we're not petite by any means.
Nick Otto (52:14.273)
Right.
Nate (52:15.029)
We're sprinters, we ain't long distance runners, know, kind of a thing. But yeah, so hearing you talk about cooking that, you know, the more older boar, you know, bigger and you'd same, it sounds like the same result as we had with the boar we had. mean, yeah, you could smell it when you cooked it, but like you said, it cooked off and I ate it. I'm a very picky eater. Like I'll be straight up honest. Like there's not many things I like. I like simple. like, I mean, you cannot
meat, cheese, and carbs, in my opinion. know, like if you mix them together in a sandwich, even better. Like that's kind of my thing. So, but yeah, that's cool hearing you say that, cause that's kind of exciting. Cause we kind of didn't really know what, you know, we kind of had to be picky on what we brought back. Cause we have enough coolers, right? So we were fortunate enough to shoot a lot and we kind of picked some of the sows over the boar, but maybe next year, if we don't have as good of a year, complete confidence in keeping a boar to eat is pretty cool.
Nick Otto (53:08.45)
Yep. Yep. would say, for whatever it is, we bring it back and, know, there again, it's a, it's a lottery when it comes to wild game. It might look like a big fat dough, but you might get into her and she's just, was wrong with her. She didn't even get enough water. She was stressed out. You know, it can be a bad eater that you get. And you know, it's, that's just what you gotta do, mixing it, grind it all. And you'll mix in some, some pork fat to, to mellow it out. But that's the beauty of wild game. And if
We're seeing that shoot with poor decisions that have been made with pigs. They're now everywhere and it's now created a problem. Kind of thinking they're not pigs, are white tails. But if we don't pay attention to it now, if we don't do the necessary work, just like you said, I don't think people of higher power are going to hold back when it comes to, well, we were going to impose our will to make this better. Like I think right now,
we need to shoot one doe more every hunter. Like if you've never put one down, now is the year to put one down. If you've put down one and you've made that a, made that a tradition, just add one more to the pile because yeah, ultimately we want to solve an issue, but I don't want to see everything go to waste. So, you know, alive deer is still a value to me because it's going to continue to grow and it's going to continue to provide. But at the same time, like this might be the time to
reap the harvest, reap what we can, put it in stores, and then hopefully solve an
Nate (54:43.581)
Amen. Amen. I love it. And I had something that popped into my head here a little bit. Like, let's say you're in area of the state of Michigan that you don't have the high deer density, right? Like you don't, you're like, man, I would love to shoot does. I just don't see them. Or I only got like a handful and it's always the same number every year and trail camera will make a drive down to the southern part of the state and just maybe knocking a couple of farmers doors and be like, Hey, full disclosure here. There's late gun season for does. I can't even shoot a buck. Like legally I had to shoot does.
Nick Otto (55:12.504)
Thank you.
Nate (55:13.963)
I would bet that you could find a spot to do that. Now, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe guys are way more hoarders than probably, but I seem to get permission on things, new property every year. So maybe it takes a little leg work, but if you're one of those guys like, man, I would love to shoot. You know, I have a family of five. I only get like one buck, maybe two bucks because I only have a dough to shoot. Go down to the southern part of the state and go find some doughs and do that and help move the needle. Like that's a good, I was just thinking that like, what if I lived in a spot that I was like, man, I wish I
I can promise you what I did when I wanted to shoot bigger bucks. I went to places where there was bigger bucks. So maybe you got to do the same thing with those. it's a lot of fun. It is a lot of fun. Let's not disclose that. mean, shooting a deer and we do it because of the, we can have the whole etiquette version of it of like helping wildlife and all that. But when it comes down to it, there's that adrenaline, that feeling I get. There's nothing else that replaces
Nick Otto (55:50.988)
Mm -hmm.
Nate (56:13.139)
And I enjoy doing it's like it's in my soul, right? Like it's this is like a long lineage of like, I would like to think that a hundred years ago, my ancestors were dropping deer, you know, or whatever kind of wild game. Like, and you know, you go back even farther than that. If they were alive, you know, they're eating wild game. So that's that's a cool thing. And I don't want to I don't want to sugarcoat that. mean, I do like shooting deer now. I don't have a body count that's like in the hundreds or anything crazy like that. But every opportunity I get.
you know, make an ethical, clean harvest. I celebrate it the same. And some of my fondest memories are of shooting a doe opposed. And I've shot some really nice bucks, you know, in Michigan. But yeah, I just wish more people felt that way. And I feel like I feel like we're in the minority. It's just weird. It's just weird for me. And I'm processing it. And I just like, how is this a thing? But it's a thing. So I'm just going to we'll shed good light on it, right? We'll just keep doing it. Keep doing our thing. Me and you are going to be celebrating every doe we shoot.
And I'm getting dude, I'm getting fired up, man. Is it October 1st yet? Like, let's go, let's go.
Nick Otto (57:11.755)
Absolutely.
Nick Otto (57:16.462)
As, as uncle Ted would always say, whack them and stack them. And this is the year for that to happen. So yeah, we're going to expand ourselves out and we're going to do a little more. this has been super fun, Nate. Thanks for coming back on. as my listeners are continuing to jump on, I mean, we're both, both part of sportsman's empire. but where can my listeners jump over and find you? What are you doing on
so that we can keep in contact with
Nate (57:46.035)
Yeah, dude, mean, yeah, Sportsman's Empire, I'm on that feed like you are, but also just Michigan Wild. Search that, it should pop up. Yeah, I try to do episodes every week. I've been doing pretty good. Actually, I think I'm just over a year in. I'm trying to think quick in my head. I think this next episode will for sure be one full year. It's been great, man, I love it. Thank you, sir. And let's not let that six year mark, you know, do you anything too, because I mean,
Nick Otto (58:08.022)
Well, congratulations. Congratulations.
Nate (58:15.135)
That's a pretty awesome feat that you've kept us going for six years, man. That's seeing guys like you are still passionate for this and doing the things, you know, encourage me and say, you know, my fire, I'm still going to be ripping, you know, six years from now. And, you know, having guys like you to kind of show the way and you've helped me tremendously. It's awesome. That's what's cool about sports is empire. Like all the guys I've talked to have met through that have all been helpful and no deep down. They care about the resource. They care about the hobby. They enjoy.
I think they all do a really good job of getting good guests on, know, being doing these episodes at a high level, like they care about it. And yeah, they're just, they're good humans. Like that's another thing. I like to surround myself by good human beings. But yeah, you can check me out on social media. Instagram is the only thing I'm rocking right now. I don't have a Facebook account with that yet, but just Michigan Wild Pod on that. try to, you know, I do some things. try
I try to keep it kind of relevant, you know, once a week, maybe I post something or, know, kind of do that thing. I'm, one of the things I probably should do a little better at, you know, get involved with this whole social media thing. But for the most part, man, I just love talking to all things Michigan whitetail. I love talking whitetail. Like, you know, there's some fishing episodes in there. I'm, big into small game. love rabbit hunting on my Beagles. full disclosure, I'm getting another Beagle here in a few weeks. So I'm going to have three Beagles now. So I'm pretty pumped about
Nick Otto (59:18.051)
Mm -hmm.
Nick Otto (59:34.756)
congratulations on that too.
Nate (59:35.863)
Yeah, so convince the wife and she's all about it. So. Yeah, you got a good thing. Beagles are small, you know they don't take much, but yeah, so like I said, I'm very I'm very involved in know all things outdoors in Michigan. Fishing is kind of like lower on the the totem pole a little bit for me. I've never been a huge Fisher Fisherman. I did a lot of it was a kid, but I'm getting into it. I mean we bought an 86 bass boat this spring and it's been a blast taking the family on
Nick Otto (59:39.106)
New edition, new mouthpiece, yep.
Nate (01:00:03.953)
I am very lacking on the preparing and eating of fish. That's not something I've ever done, never been a fan of. I think maybe I will maybe dabble into that here in the future, but most part we just are sport fishermen. catch, celebrate the catch and it doesn't matter how big or how small it is. And we, you know, put it back in the water kind of a thing. But yeah, I I love all those things. mean, it's, it's, it's, it's fun. Like Michigan's a great state and I love, you know, kind
You know, I do have, I do plan on having some guys that, know, we talk about a lot of state hunting and that kind of stuff too. But for most part, try to keep it in house in Michigan and, yeah, do all those things. So, and you know, you, since you look so good in that Michigan wild hat that you're wearing over there, I'm hoping that you come out here in Michigan wild here in a weeks. And, we're going to talk about some dough preparation and kind of, you know, spin off of this episode and maybe dive into what to do when you shoot the dough kind of a thing. And you kind of do a really good job of that.
know, kind of give guys direction and kind of break down that. So looking forward to doing that here in the next few weeks. And, yeah, for the most part, dude, thanks for having me on. It's always a pleasure doing this with you. Me and you have developed a friendship, on the pig hunt of 2020 for started our friendship. And, we're going to have that for many years to come. So thank
Nick Otto (01:01:20.718)
a meat hunter and an antler hunter for 16 hours going all the way down to Oklahoma to find bonding over pigs. That's really, that's our tale. That's good. Last question. Last piece of venison that was in your mouth. When and
Nate (01:01:38.44)
Last piece of venison would be jerky or like a little snack stick I had that and it was I'm trying to think when that was it was my buddy Tyler his dad made some he helps the low he's he's retired we'll just say but he spends a lot of time the local processing place and Pretty good gig. got over there man. I drop a dough off and I get snack sticks kind of a thing
That was the last thing of venison I had and it was, it was great. It was, it was delicious. I want to say he had a little cheese and a little jalapeno mixed into them. So yeah, it was, it was good stuff. That was last venison I
Nick Otto (01:02:00.91)
There you go.
Nick Otto (01:02:09.89)
Oi.
Well, good deal. Nate, hold on for just a second while I let our listeners on out. Well, folks, I hope you come on first, maybe with a little bit of anxiousness like I had getting our new regulations in, knowing things were happening and I'm just on basically wait to figure out what's gonna happen. I myself am, I would say self -declared optimist and I'm gonna find what can I still glean from all of this. From what I see, we've
we've got an expanded need to take out does. And so I think the DNR is putting up the meat hunter signal. It's like the bat signal except meat hunters. We got to come in, we got to do our job. We need to take hold of our ecosystem and take some of these does out. Cause otherwise somebody else is going to do it for us and I'm not okay where that ends us up. So whether you're going to be planning on filling up
every one of those tags and taking it to a processor or it's going to be taking a few deer and cutting them up on your own at home. Make sure that the knife you are using is very sharp.
