Show Notes
Welcome to the Southern Ground Hunting Podcast. We're glad you're here! This week we're joined by Olivia Glasgow to talk about her progression of becoming a public land hunter. Unlike literally every man we usually talk to, Olivia has to balance out being a mother and wife with her passion for hunting. For all you guys reading this saying, "well I have to balance being a father and husband..." Shut up. It's not the same and you know it! We've talked to a lot of people over the years, and few have the drive and passion of Olivia. She's a student of the woods, and more than just a pretty face.
In this episode you'll hear Olivia discuss some of the things that have been a challenge for her as a female hunter. Things like finding the right hunting gear, judgement from other men and women for her lifestyle, and the challenge of finding a hunting mentor. Enjoy!
Show Transcript
Parker McDonald: [00:00:00] Hey, thanks for tuning into this week's episode of the Southern Ground Hunting Podcast, where you're gonna hear a valuable hunting based conversation that's tailored for us southern folk. If you love what we do and would like to support Southern Ground Hunting, you can visit patreon.com/southern Ground Hunting, or you can click on the link in the show notes below.
We'd love for you to join the Southern Ground Hunting community today. Again, that's patreon.com/southern Ground Hunting. You can also support us by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. It helps more than and we greatly appreciate it. And now let's get to the show.
All right, everybody. Welcome back to the Southern Ground Hunting Podcast. I'm joined by the second female ever to be on Southern Ground Hunting podcast. I had my wife on actually, you know what, that's not true because Kathy Perry was probably the first [00:01:00] female on the show whenever we interviewed Mike Perry.
The third, actually, Olivia, you're the third female that we've had on Southern ground, and excited to have you. We're gonna start doing this little I'm hoping it turns into a series, but we've, th there's this obvious gap between male and female hunters and it's obvious, every deer camp I go to is mostly men that are there.
Every scouting trip or N W T F convention or expo, everything is always men that are there. And you see a few women occasionally, but there are sometimes where you find a woman who Their hunting style and their determination and their grit is no different from any man, if not maybe a little bit stronger than most men.
So I'm happy to be joined by Olivia Glasgow today. Is that how you pronounce your last name, Glasgow? No . How is it? What is it? Glasgow. Glasgow. The w the g o w got me with gal. So[00:02:00] Olivia Glasgow is here. And Olivia, we're excited to have you. Thank you so much. I am excited to be on this even now I'm the third still top five , so that counts.
That's right. But yeah, I'm super pumped and I'm glad that you asked me to come on. So Olivia, you don't come from a hunting background, correct? Correct. I do not. Nobody in my family hunted. We grew up fishing on the river, and that was about it. Played with BB guns as kids and.
Hikes and climb trees. I grew up all over central Alabama, but Walker County kind of area is where a lot of my roots come from. And of course Walker County's kind of in the, middle of nowhere back in the sixth. Yeah. So in the summertime when we're, on our, at a river house for months on end, we had nothing else to do.
We didn't have internet, we didn't have stuff like that. So we just, we hiked and, got twitty birds with tv, guns, and sick. That was about it, probably. Jumped off with so [00:03:00] illegal probably. I've thought about some of the birds that I shot when I was little. I'm like, that was probably not within the law.
Yeah. Yeah. I think the first time actually, we were just shooting at them, not intentionally trying to, kill, I don't know what we were doing. We were kids, and I think the first time I actually killed one I cried cause I was like, oh no, didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to scare it off a post or something I guess.
But it was upsetting, but but yeah, so yeah. Didn't grow up with that hunting family whatsoever. Not until I, I met my husband. Yeah. He had a good bed. He did hunt a good bed then but yeah, that's about it as far as until I was 27. It's funny, we we talk it's hard, especially this day and age because everybody has something to say about man, and I don't wanna sound in any way sexist, but it's kinda like the anything you can do, I can do.
You know what I mean? And there are just some things that are different about men and women. Naturally, like a God, like God designed us differently. I've taken my daughter squirrel hunting. I've taken my son [00:04:00] squirrel hunting, and the first time that I ever shot a squirrel with my daughter, it was a different moment.
She was like, Aw poor squirrel, holding it. And she wanted to take it home and revive it back and, and my son was like, yeah, let's go eat it. He was like holding it around, like swinging it around by the tail and stuff. There was like, no, none of that. And so it's definitely a, there is, there are differences, but I think for you with a lot of female hunters you see a life situation that allows them to hunt.
You see a lot of particularly on Instagram there's this whole. Female huntress movement, that we've talked about it on the show before. , and it's a little bit cringey. But every once in a while you find people who are not, that are not, do not have the cringe level that a lot of these people do.
And to be fair, it's men and women who are that way on social media. I just think it's right. Highlighted maybe a little bit more within this space, within the hunting [00:05:00] space for sure. But you have a situation, a life scenario that probably isn't too different from most, women as far as like your responsibilities.
Tell us a little bit, just so the listener can have some perspective. You mentioned you have, you're married tell us a little bit about that fam, family life and how that looks for you. I am married and I have two kids. I have an 11 year old son. Brody, who plays baseball and football. So we are usually doing sports year round with him.
And then we have a four year old daughter who loves the outdoors. Early on he talked about your daughter being, sad about a rrl she goes dev hunting with us and she's pumped. Yeah. She's like our to go get 'em. But it I guess I was always like in a high pace work environment where, I was in catering for 10 plus years.
I did all those fancy events weddings, galas, all that kind of stuff. And so [00:06:00] that's what I was used to. That's what I did, where it's like dressing up every single day, like having to wear like business, retire and just the constant go. And so finally, I guess I like saw a year and a half ago I.
Decided to pursue this end of it, which made it difficult with the family life just because, I'm home a lot more now, but I'm also not home a lot cuz I'm in the woods majority of the time now, . But I still have that time to where I can pick my kids up from school and things like that. From a family aspect, I, it's given me a lot more time with my family and also being able to share the woods with them and being able to teach them and stuff like that.
That is something that I cherish a lot and I think the world these days is just so fast and it's just so negative most of the time that, people miss, what's right in front of him. And so that's what we as a family are trying to do more of, do more things together. Especially like my son, he's just, he's [00:07:00] always on the go, so it's nice to be able to get him out there and just relax and take a breath.
Every once in a while. But but yeah, so that's kinda my family. No more kids come coming from me though. It's just the two boy and girl. That's it. . Awesome. That's great. That's and it's unique. I try to think of my wife, she works a part-time job. We have two kids and I try to, I've tried just while I've been preparing for this podcast to figure out a way, like, how would she even be able to hunt if she wanted to?
There's a lot of responsibility that comes with kids. You talked about your kids doing sports or your son doing sports, and so you're always busy with that. My kid's gonna, my son's gonna start tee-ball this year. And I'm like, oh crap, this is gonna really mess with Turkey season.
How are you balancing ? Like, how are you balancing mother responsibilities with hunting? Because hunting can be a very. Difficult thing to try to balance anything else with?[00:08:00] My husband is actually, he's stepped up a lot. So he takes the kids to school. Like when I do wake up really early and I leave, like at 4:00 AM I'll get things ready, like the night before, like I lay their clothes out or, make sure they have breakfast stuff and I leave them the little note before I leave, but he usually takes me to school and then I'm usually in the woods and then I'll pick them up from school in the afternoons and then make dinner and then do it all over again the next day.
But yeah he's definitely stepped up a good bit as far as like helping out that way I can continue to pursue this dream of mine, but it's difficult. I'm not gonna lie. It's extremely hard because there's so many days where you're in the woods, with me at least, and it's man I'm missing time with my family or I'm missing time doing this and that.
And my house is a mess cause I'm not here. and laundry just piles up. So honestly, like our laundry room has been like a war zone for months now. Just because I haven't been here to do it. And it's like all those little things, it's I don't, you don't really [00:09:00] realize that, I don't think until after like season's over with.
And then you just sit there and you like look around at your house man, , this place's terrible. I really need to like, do better as far as balancing my time than it woods versus like my time cleaning, which is something I'm learning like this is only my second year doing this. So it's just been a a learning process all around, between the woods and home life.
So we have a mutual friend, clay Harper, who has been on the show. If anybody doesn't know who Clay is clay is probably one of the funnest people I've ever been in a deer camp with for sure. But Clay was telling me about how you are just a student of the woods. Like he's never seen somebody who just has the passion to learn as much as you do.
And I think that's super impressive. I think it's really cool. But you mentioned first off your husband sounds like a trophy husband. Like I'm trying to, I'm sitting here thinking if my wife started hunting, would I start picking up the kids from [00:10:00] school? And it's like ? I don't know.
Probably not, so kudos to your husband on that . But when I think about, you mentioned you've been doing it for about two years now. What sparked that for you? Just because it seems, if you've only been doing it. A year and a half, two years. What was the thing that was like, I gotta get better at this.
I wanna do it, I wanna do it this way. And I wanna preface that by saying for to the listener you've largely cut your teeth doing this, like public land, doing it the hard way, get out and scouting every day. It's not like you're going to some manicured property or anything. Like you're actually going out there and trying to figure it out.
What sparked that for you? It was I guess January of 21. I had shot two bucks before, but I had never, I had missed a one time, but I'd never got an animal and not recovered it. And so that particular day we went. And I [00:11:00] shot at the biggest buck I'd ever seen at this time, which was an eight point.
And I'm using a 6.5 pre more as well. So that probably makes things a little bit more difficult and doing it probably the total illegal way to which now I've, I learned the rules now, but at the time, my husband just had a single ladder stand and I was like just sitting in between his legs and, he'd hand me the rifle and I'm just dangling, 18 feet up in the air, just if I sw too much, I'm gonna fall.
So anyways, just freehanding shooting and I shot at this buck and we had some blood and tracked it for hours, couldn't find it, had a dog come out couldn't find it. And then I'm very hardheaded and I'm like, I know I made a good shot on him. I know I, I know he's gonna be dead somewhere and, but I just couldn't let it go.
And so I spent like the next few days just. In the woods, just searching, like doing like a grid search, doing everything I could do to be like, where's he at? And it just, it [00:12:00] broke my heart. I don't know if I've, I've felt heartbreak before, but not recovering that animal hurt more, than anything.
Have, like in the past 10 years, almost like I boohooed like a little girl. Like I was just bawling my eyes out crying. Cuz it just bothered me to know that it suffered for no reason or, coyote's got it or something like that. And it just, that just really bothered me. And so that's when I started researching, stop placement or, like how long can they live after you shoot 'em a certain way or where do they go after you shoot 'em?
Or if they're injured, what are they typically like gonna do? How long can they live? Things like that. And then it just spiraled and then I just wanted to be back in the woods more cuz I was like starting to get that like obsession with it. . So then I bought a Turkey gun and started Turkey hunting on my own and was terrible with the mouth cough, still hands but I can manage.
I've been doing it since I was seven and I feel like I'm terrible at it, so don't worry about [00:13:00] that. Yeah, it's just something else. But I don't know, I just, once I started like Turkey hunting and getting in the woods more that year, I was going by myself. I think the first time I ever went in the woods by myself in the dark, I was pretty terrified.
Cause it was just like, normally I've had someone with me or I, I know more of exactly where I'm going. And then in those situations it was like, all right, Turkey hunting, you just go pick a tree you think might be a good location. And also there's coyotes and hogs and all that kind of stuff too.
So there was a lot of. Things that I had to overcome, like all of my fears, and spiders. I hate spiders. Like I've had ara phobia for the longest, and I can't tell you how many spider webs I've walked into at this point. And or sat on and just, telling myself they're not there.
It's just been one thing after another. And so after, Turkey hunting and stuff still wanted to be in the woods, and so then I bought a bow. [00:14:00] So I was like, all right, if I start bow hunting, then I can get the woods sooner. So then I caught myself, had a bow hunt and then just started scouting during the summer, started putting cameras up, starting trying to figure out like their patterns.
And at that time I wasn't really hunting public land. We have area in Walker County. It's a club, but not really. It's along the river and I think maybe two other people hunt. This whole location. And so basically where I was at, nobody had touched it in 50 plus years. So it was just, extremely difficult because these deer have ample space to go.
And so patterning them was exciting. Cause I was like, all right, why were they here on this day? What was their reasoning for coming through? What was the win? What was the moon? And kinda of days I started collecting all that data and then, had a pretty good speed.
It, I finally killed one with my boat for the first time, and then that's a big deal.
Olivia Glasgow: That's a big deal though. Yeah. You started this progression[00:15:00] pretty recently. I didn't kill my first deer with a bow until I was 18, 18 years old. And that was after hunting. I got the first, I shot my first deer at 10 years old and I was hooked in it.
I was like doing it all the time. Like the fall was for deer hunting. And I'd take my bow out every year and I'd try to shoot one and I'd miss, or I'd screw up, whatever. I didn't kill my first one until I was 18. So the fact that you were able to do that is pretty impressive. I think you were talking, and I'm reminded of the, was it schoolhouse rock that says knowledge is power?
Yeah. Yeah. And I'm thinking about how you started, you start, it all stemmed from not recovering a buck, not recovering a deer. , I think I have learned more through my failure. My failure has sparked more knowledge. And that knowledge turns into confidence. It really does. And so I decide, you know what, I'm gonna try something maybe a little bit more difficult.
And it all stems from a failure, right? Your, , your broadhead [00:16:00] messes up, so you decide to go down the rabbit trail of. Heavier arrows and more effective arrow setups. And it all comes from a failure that you've had, right? Yep. And so I think it's neat to see how you've done that and it's paid off for you, or at least it's it's expanded your passion, right?
It's made your passion run a little bit deeper because you failed, which is neat. Oh, absolutely. I have, I think I posted this on Facebook, like I've ate my fair share of humble pie this past season because after, last seen seeing my first season again on, on private land, so I did put corn out.
And so this season I made it my goal to again, do something even harder, which would be public. And of course, what do I do? I wanna go to the hardest publicly there is, which is black warrior, I think in a lot of people's opinions. . So I'm, I made it my goal to, shoot one with a bow there.
And at [00:17:00] first my goal was, all right, I'm gonna do this before rifle season and scout it all summer long. And found numerous great spots and had cameras out, all that good stuff and then hunted my butt off, from, in one till February 10th. So I think I, I had a lot of issues going well, going into it.
I think I was overconfident cuz I was like, oh, I know where these Sierra are. I've got 'em I've been in the woods more than anybody out here. And just from listening to you guys too, it's hunt the hunters, all that kind of stuff. So I was extremely cocky going into it.
I got knocked down a good bit. So whether it had been from. And I caught it, apparel malfunction with a glove issue with my bow and missing the first buck I'd ever seen on Black Warrior. And then also Arrow went into a tree and it was just a bad day. . And then how many how many deer did you end up missing this year?
I think I saw it on a Facebook post three. You missed three. That's sorry. [00:18:00] So here's the way I see that, the way I look at that all on Black Warrior, no. One was black. I missed one on Black Warrior and then I missed an opportunity for another one on Black Warrior. Just because I got down too soon literally like five minutes too soon.
But you were in the right spot. Extremely. To me, what I'm hearing is that you, yeah. I you it's hard. You are correct in that. That's a very difficult place to. To start public land hunting at and you had opportunities . So to me what I'm hearing is like somewhere along the way, like you figured something out.
Because the opportunity is the hardest thing. The shot is usually the easiest thing, but I'm a lot like you in that I miss a lot, right? , like I, I'm a lot like you. But also I've been doing it longer. So like your misses are a little bit expected, like you're just getting those all out of the way.
And what I feel like is probably gonna happen is once you pinpoint where those misses came from it's probably gonna just [00:19:00] continue going uphill for you. And that's the reason why I wanted to have you on the podcast because the fact that you are able to do that and do those things in the places that you're doing 'em is pretty stinking cool.
And I think you probably have a lot more insight and knowledge to help somebody who is new because honestly, Male, female, kid, whatever. It doesn't matter. I don't know a lot of people who decided to hunt black warrior one year and had multiple shot opportunities at deer. Especially not deer archery . That's cool as heck.
Yeah. Tell me when you're scouting, it was for sure. When you're scouting, what's what are you looking for? What's your process as you go out to scout? Most recent sign is, the first thing I'm looking for because I have also learned I've learned so much. I feel like it's almost too much knowledge crammed into such a short period of time and terms, information overload.
Cause again, yeah, you get information coming from all different directions [00:20:00] and you're like, all right, if Faith has success doing that, then I'm gonna try that, or I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna try that. And so I finally, at some point I'm like, I'm just throwing it out the window and I'm just gonna start doing what I find myself as successful or what works for me.
Because everyone's different. Everyone has a different style of hunting and people are lucky people and some people are not lucky people like myself. So I just have to, work a little harder at things. But yeah, most recent time whether it be like, fresh sct on the ground, cos or whether it be fresh scrapes is what I was really focusing on during boat season up there.
Just going into the pre rut and, rubs not so much cause I know that they make a lot of those at nighttime and that was something else I had to learn too. I had no idea the difference between a rub is. Two years ago you were asking, I'd be like, I dunno, , I just, I know grown men who call a rub a scrape, and a scrape a rub.
So don't feel too bad [00:21:00] about that. I think that makes sense. I feel they're scraping the tree with their antlers, it does make sense. Whatever. You're right. Yeah. The English language. And so yes, first got fresh grape food sources, transitions, between like pines and hardwoods.
Another thing I've heard y'all talk about a recent podcast was like the lack of acorns this year. That really hurt me because going into it, that's what I was focusing on when I was scouting, was finding these oak trees. And, finding these trees that had just the ground tore up a thunder 'em and so that's where I was sitting at a lot of the times.
And then I started realizing, all right, this isn't working out. High level areas pre crossing, any of that kind of stuff. I don't even know, I never really focused on one specific type of Terrained feature because there would be a ton of sign in a terrain feature where people don't really talk about that much and then, like on a saddle or something like that, there'd be nothing.
So it was [00:22:00] a very hit or miss, especially with the Acorn production being so minimal. And I just, for newer people that are doing it, I would definitely say you have to just get out there. You just have to do it. Don't just keep Yeah. Do your research for sure. Especially in the different WMAs, like you have to know your different regulations on the antler sizes and what days you can go out and, what days are.
The O days are. Gun hunts, things like that. There's a lot that goes into it. And two, I try to stay away from like heavily trafficked areas. Like I, I never, I didn't hunt greenfield. I've beat myself up all season this year, but because I didn't hunt any greenfield, because you're not supposed to, right? That's just not what you're supposed to do.
On public land, everybody knows that you don't hunt greenfields. But there was some deer that got killed off greenfields this year because the apron crop was so bad. It's almost like there was [00:23:00] some type of adjustment. And I want to talk too, like even in that I wasn't doing it and you weren't doing it right because we had, it's just a known thing in a, in the circle of in the circle, in this style of hunting. We don't hunt the green fields on public land. But you're talking about information overload and holy crap, like that's a part of it. That's a part of information overload because you almost get to the point we live in a day and time where you can have every bit of information in the palm of your hand with the cell phone.
And everybody's got opinions. So I can imagine from somebody who is getting started in this right now, where you can , Google search, anything, you're gonna have 18 different answers to one question. And so it's man, how do you sift through that and find the good? And what you said is absolutely true.
You just gotta be there. You can listen to podcasts and watch videos and read articles all you want, [00:24:00] but if you're not going out and being there, then you're not really gonna see it in action. So when I reached out to you yesterday about coming on the show, you said actually I just got out, got outta the woods.
You've been scouting yesterday doing the post-season thing. , When you went out did you feel like, do you feel like you're still early enough in this progression of being a public land hunter? Did you feel like you were able to put together a lot of things in this post-season time that maybe will help you next year?
Oh, absolutely. I tell everyone like my nicknames should be right place wrong time. Cause like you said I am in those right places, but I'm there at the wrong time. I even had a massive 12 point, like almost charge at me at 4:00 AM I was there one time and I didn't know exactly he was the 12 point until somebody posted in one of the groups Hey, just saw a 12 point next to this, truck along this road.
And I'm sitting there that's exactly [00:25:00] where I was, and it was just a few hours after he had come at me and then ran off. But I definitely think that I have learned a lot because I think to another guy I talked to Jordan Coke, he told me that, during the summertime when you're scouting you'll, you might see buck or a buck signer similar, I guess sign in certain areas.
But that's just because they're looking, knowing where those dough groups are for when the rut comes along. And I had no idea that I thought, like their summer core area was their summer core area. I had no idea that they had a purpose for really like checking out these different dough groups and knowing where they were.
And so that kind of opened up my eyes a little bit to be like, okay, I haven't seen a buck there yet this season, but I know he was here last summer, so I know he is gonna be back in this area at some point during the rut. Which he was, that's the one that had charged at me. And then, but post-season I go back to those areas, like I've gone back to every area where I've had encounters with buck.
Just to see if they are still hanging [00:26:00] out in those areas or if they were just there, during the rut or if they were there because of hunting pressure food source, whatever it may be. I think those are all things that hunters need to look at postseason because yeah, the rut is just the rut.
Like the road is just, it's the right, like the, it's just crazy times for bucks. I mean they, everything that they know goes out the window, but when it comes into like really understanding the animals, I think it's a year long process of trying to figure out where they are and why they're there.
And so that's what I was doing yesterday. , do you want to know more about saddle hunting? You can go to tethered nation.com for all your saddle hunting needs. Tethered is four saddle hunters by saddle hunters, and they're redefining ultralight hunting. If you know me, you know that I love to have a system for all of my hunting equipment.
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Parker McDonald: em out.
Olivia Glasgow: I remember when the whole concept of post-season scouting hit me whenever I first started doing it. And I started going. And what I would end up doing is going like towards the end of the season and like my February, a lot of my February hunts or January hunts would be spent scouting. I would consider those to be the post-season scouting and hunting.
I would go and hunt doze or do something like that if I was already tagged out, but it opened up a whole new world. When you can, when you go in without, I think you, you're able to go into those areas without the pressure of I've gotta hunt here soon. The post-season, you can go in and you can actually get into those spots and [00:28:00] really get into 'em.
It doesn't matter if you bump a deer out, you're not gonna be there for a long time. You're just trying to figure out where he's spending his time. The other cool thing about it, and probably you've seen this too and I mentioned it on the podcast before, the thing I like about postseason, especially in Alabama, is you're able to pinpoint thickets with the leaves off.
So if it's a thicket right now in February, beginning of March before greenup, then it's a thicket and once the leaves fall off in November, in December, and you really wanna pinpoint those things. Yes. Is there any, what's that, say that again. Easier to get in there. Yeah. To certain places.
Absolutely. Up back. Yeah. It's a lot more pleasurable to walk in February to walk two miles than it is in August. I dunno, yesterday about like August , huh? Like 80 something degrees, something. Dude,
Parker McDonald: it's
Olivia Glasgow: like I was in terrible. It's really hard for me to [00:29:00] justify going out in August when I know, honestly, what I'm gonna be looking for, I might take a couple days in the summertime to go and scout just to get prepared for the early season.
Like trying to figure out what trees have acres. And when I say summer scouting, two weeks before deer season starts, like that's when I want to get that information. Everything else. Can happen during Turkey season or post-season scouting. Do you do much? Are you doing a lot of in-season scouting or are you basing your spot selection on what you found in the off-season?
I will do in-season scouting, if I'm honestly just cuz I'm so indecisive about where to set up at and that's another thing, like this is my first year using, like a mobile setup. So I've got the XO a vanished sandwich I love and it's, it works for me cuz again, as a woman we don't want anything like too Gotti cuz I've had a summit climber and it's just, it's really [00:30:00] difficult to make those like mile half hikes up and down ridges and things like that.
Just cause it's massive on me. I love that you said, I love that you said Gotti oh yeah, they're so Gotti. Most men would say they're so heavy. Not Olivia. She says they're so Gotti. I like it. Yeah. I'm just trying to be honest with these people, especially if any women are listening. You're a girl, you're a woman, you're not that.
That's the thing. That's the thing that I think is really cool and unique about you, is that you're, you are a woman. Like you're not a tomboy. You're not out there. You know that that's not you. Like you're a lady and you're a lady who has a passion to hunt, which is even more unique and really cool.
So anyway, proceed with all that. I just thought it was funny you called it Gotti . No, you're, I apparently used a lot of the wrong words, but No, it's actually, I think it's appropriate. I think it's great. You should keep calling it Gotti. Don't ever change that. Before I get on this other subject, so we, I did find a shed up there last season and I was with one of my [00:31:00] friends who's a female hunter as well.
And when I first found it, I was like, dude, gosh, look at the girth on this thing. And she was like, I don't think you're supposed to say girth. And I was like that's what it isth. She was like, I think you're supposed to say math. It's got a, heavy mask on it. And I was just like it's fine.
I'll just, I didn't know. To me, I just think of that's the only way in my head to describe it. So it's funny, it's like you don't know when you don't know the, imagine somebody who's not a fisherman going on a fishing trip and here in all these words that people use, like my, even my wife yeah, she'll see some of some of the videos that we do and some of the she'll hear me talking to buddies.
She's like, why did you describe it? And it's that's just it's what it is. That's how you describe it. Yeah. That's funny though. . Exactly. That's
Parker McDonald: hilarious.
Olivia Glasgow: So anyways but yeah, so this is my first year using a mobile setup. And so I found me an awesome stand and actually pitched my frame a little bit better.
I don't really pack too much in, in there, but still it's around 27 ish [00:32:00] pounds, 30 ish pounds I guess. . And for me it's my workout basically throughout the season. So whenever I'm hiking in there, I'll set up before sunrise, and then if I feel like I'm in a bad area, I'll get down and do some kind of es scouting on my phone on Onyx or something and be like, all right, lemme go check out this spot.
And then I end up just walking around the woods being like that spot didn't work. Let me go check this spot. So then I'm walking around with it's almost 30 pound pack, pack for hours on end. not even like setting up on anything. So I guess that's more of my end season scouting.
It's done more online or actually just by mistakes. . Yeah. So you're a woman who has a passion that is largely ran by men, . So in that, talking about gear and equipment, have you found it difficult to find things that are. Made for you like that you can, that you feel like you can use in, and by that I'm not gonna find, I'm not gonna find a whole lot of things that I [00:33:00] wanna wear at I don't know, some a female outlet store or something like that.
And most of the hunting stores and things like that are gonna be largely geared towards men. Have you had any issues finding stuff that fits you? Not necessarily clothing, but like gear in general? Oh yeah. It's everything. And this is like a rant I can go on for days about, because it's, for one, this sport is expensive enough as it is, whether it be, gas going to and from these places, whether it be your weapon, like your toes, your arrows, your broadheads, your guns, rifle, ammunition, no matter what.
It's just expensive. Everything is expensive. Tree stands, they're expensive. And then getting into, gosh the apparel part of it first, I guess there aren't very many, lines or brands that are geared just for women. I know there's, I think there's two of them, just specifically four women that I know off, like DSG [00:34:00] and like she from Cabela's or Bass Pro or whatever.
And the price difference in 'em is just outrageous because I know a lot of people are like, yeah, you should get this, you should get that. And I'm like, this is only my second year doing this and I've already dropped like thousands of dollars on a bow and gun and, a shotgun and a Turkey vest and all of this kind of stuff.
And now you want me to spend $200 on a pair of pants? No, thank you. I'm a TJ Max shopper. Okay. Like I don't wanna spend $200 on pants. Especially some that, I don't know what they feel like I can't go into that store. I can't touch them, I can't feel them, I can't try them on, it's extremely difficult to make that commitment to something that you have no idea what it's really like.
And then if you go to bass Pro and get like this cheap branded stuff, yes, it's a lot cheaper and more affordable, but at the same time it's, it is cheaper. It's cheaper quality. It's gonna fade faster. And then two, a lot of times they don't even have [00:35:00] sizes in stock. Majority of the sizes that gonna keep in stock are like larges and extra larges.
And everything else is just kinda you have to order it offline. And it's just, it's frustrating. It's extremely frustrating. Cause if I were a man, I could go to anywhere, work to any store nearby and pick up even Walmart or something like that and pick up a jacket or, a pair of gloves or something like that.
But being a female, even finding those little tiny things is difficult that are what you want. Because again, hiking in these areas, you wanna be able to have layers, but you don't wanna have too many layers because, you're trying to limit, how much you're taking in there.
You don't wanna keep adding weight on yourself, but at the same time, you don't wanna freeze while you're out there. And boots is another thing. It's difficult to find good like women's hiking boots. And again, that are, and again, this is all just trying to find affordable stuff because I am a mom I do have two kids and I have already dropped kind of money on just everything else.
So it's [00:36:00] trying to balance okay, is this really gonna be worth it to buy this or not? And I think I've I founded a couple of the local stores, around here about their. Women's, I guess section because it's like a tiny little six foot little area. Whereas the rest of the store, hundreds of feet, square feet is dedicated for men.
And for me, I'm like, you guys would get so much more business. Cuz there are, there's a lot of female hunters out there. Maybe not mobile hunters, but maybe they just wanna go with their husbands or something. But they're having to resort to going online and buying these items versus buying from a local store.
And to me, I would much rather buy from a local store than, some like big name online
Parker McDonald: store.
Olivia Glasgow: Yeah. It's it's the availability, right? Like it's just like whenever I, if I'm in a situation where it's crap, it's hotter than I thought it was gonna be. I need to go find a [00:37:00] lightweight camo shirt.
I can just run a Walmart and go find one pretty easily. Or. I go somewhere else and it's a little bit colder and it's ah, really under packed for this. I have the security of knowing I can probably find something at Walmart or anywhere else. And I can imagine for a woman it's a little bit different.
You mentioned that there are a lot of other female hunters out there. I want to, I'm interested through your process and your journey of getting into this. Has there been ha have you come across any other females that have the drive that you do? Is that a, like a thing that's pretty regular or not really?
No, not really. Not at all actually. They're, I think Kathy Perry is probably one of the other females that I have talked to where she actually, does a good bit of her hunts herself. I know that, Michael's out there and help her and, they'll hunt together, but at the same time she's just as knowledgeable and passionate about this as I [00:38:00] am now finding other females that haven't been doing it, that are new, that wanna learn and that wanna go out there.
I've come across there a lot that are like, yeah, I'd love to go. They'll, they're all talk, they're like, oh yeah, just let me know when, and then you let 'em know when they're like, oh, I'm busy. Yeah, you let 'em know another day, oh, sorry, I can't visit. And it's just like a constant, excuse after excuse because I guess I've told them like how difficult it is and, it's a lot of hiking and, going in the dark and sitting there and it might be freezing, it might be raining, it might be you just, you never know what's gonna happen.
But at the same time, it is something that is worth it. And I try to tell everyone that, especially females that want to get into it. I'm like, look, even if you don't see anything, just sitting out there and just being able to wash sunrise or. Whether it's any animal comes in front of you, it's just, it's nature.
It's something that's not planned, it's just unexpected no matter what it is. And it's just, [00:39:00] it's nice to be able to experience that with someone else. Especially, so I would like to be able to expand that community especially in Alabama, because I do think that there are a lot of females that could potentially be as hard for as me.
But they just don't have the tools. They don't have the access. They they don't have a mentor or somebody to go with. So hopefully one day I can get a group together and lay down some basics for just women I guess, and children. But that's a long thing coming.
Yeah, definitely would love to have some female campaigns out there. I'm wondering about family dynamic stuff. You, we've, we talked a little bit about it at the beginning. You said your husband, he used to hunt a lot more than he does now. Is that because you've started doing it so much and so there's other responsibilities?
Did he get out of it? Like, how did that work? Because you mentioned Michael and Kathy Perry.[00:40:00] They're both pretty hardcore. It's easy to understand how she got into it because she wanted to, maybe spend more time with him whatever, things like that. She's into it for sure.
But there's definitely a reason you're going out seem like most of the time by yourself. How does that work with you and your husband? It's not easy, . It's been an up and down thing for sure. He, I guess he never has I guess he's hunted public land a couple of times, but he's not really a mobile hunter.
And his style hunting he grew up with was going and sitting in a, a tree stand like with his granddad and, leaving by 9:00 AM and going getting breakfast somewhere. And that was just their, what they did and, which is fine, that's, there's nothing wrong with that. But I think he didn't understand at first why I was so obsessed with this and why I was so passionate about it.
And so that was frustrating for him. And he got, I think, really sick of me [00:41:00] talking about it all the time. So he says I ruined hunting for him. But he'll, he supports me as far as what I'm trying to do, where I'm getting at. But he is also really frustrated with how much I'm trying to do.
I've asked him to go with me multiple times, but again, he's more of you want me to go where in the middle of the woods with no service and hike? How long? And maybe have a chance of seeing a deer now. Thank you, .
Parker McDonald: That's a wild
Olivia Glasgow: dynamic. Y'all have such a crazy dyna dynamic. It's cool though.
It's unique. Yeah. And the funny thing to me is like your husband's a burly man, like he's not , he's not like a he's not like the kind of guy that, that you would think would be what's the word I'm looking for? He's not the kind of guy that you would think would be against hunting or not a hunter.
He looks like a bearded, burly man. Like he is a man's man. And so it's just funny to hear your dynamic and talk about it and you're a you're, I love how honest you are about it too. And it's just hilarious [00:42:00] though to think about that dynamic. I wanna know, do your friends do they make fun of y'all for it?
Do they give you a hard time about it? I think they just feel bad for him, , honestly, because he has to put up with it. I think that they're just, yeah, I think they're just more of he calls me during dear season, he just, he calls me like his best friend, or here's my man friend or something.
She's not my wife, she's my man friend . And it's just, they kinda hearing about it too. And but now he's taking on this season, he's already getting into duck hunting. Oh yeah. And so he obsessed with that now. And for him, that's his style. He likes to just minimal, hiking, not much walking.
Like you just go and you sit and you do a bunch of calling and you don't have to stay still for very long. So that's just That's his little niche. And I told him, I was like I'm gonna get into duck hunting too, . And he was just like, no, you cannot lemme have my thing. Let me just have one [00:43:00] thing.
I've heard duck hunting is a addictive that it's tough to not duck hunt once you've been once, so I just don't go. Oh yeah. That, and it made even better, like for me on my end at least, because at this particular WMA that we were going to I was deer hunting a certain spot, like close to the river.
And I was sitting there one day and I was like, man, pretty sure I just heard a bunch of ducks. And then so the next weekend or the following weekend, we went duck hunting. And I was like, all right, let's just like the night before I was like, let's just go to this little hole and see. I'm pretty sure there's ducks in there.
There's Gotti ducks in there. I know. I heard him the other day. And as soon as we're like going in, like with the boat or whatever, like two mallards, fly over us, I was just like, All right. So I'm great at duck scouting too, , because obviously this is a great hole. And then, yeah, so we saw a bunch of ducks who didn't kill any the next day.
He actually missed one, but so I think he at that point was like, all right, maybe she can come, maybe [00:44:00] she can get into this a little bit. He finally got, he got invited into the club, into the duck hunting club. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah.
Parker McDonald: That's
Olivia Glasgow: awesome. And that can be something we can do together. But yeah, I just think that the hiking and all that kind of stuff, it's, it is, it's intimidating for a lot of people to do, especially, it's an active, like you have to be somewhat active or not necessarily in shape, but it will whip you in the shape.
Yeah, a lot of these places. And so I think, yeah, definitely duck hunting is something that we can enjoy together, but I'll kids in Turkey stuff. What are your kids interested in? Are they on the deer train too, or are they just watch mom and dad. Waste all their time. No, in the woods.
My son actually I bought him a bow last, not this past Christmas before, and the first time he ever shot it, it was like perfect bullseye. And I was like, there's no way. That's not fair . But I practiced for months, trying to get mine. So he actually is, he went with me mobile hunting [00:45:00] on public land more than anyone and, took his boat.
Like I had to set up his stand for him, but, and he was all about it. He was like, yeah, let's go. It's like waking up at 2:00 AM getting out there, sitting in the tree, like doing, he was putting in the work during the summertime, with his bow, making sure that it was cited incorrectly and he loves it.
He loves deer hunting. Now Turkey hunting, he's been a couple of times and he usually ends up just falling asleep on the ground. When we're out there or scraping mosques off a tree, just boys do it, yeah. But he is excited. The older he gets, I think the more he is into it. He's got a mouth call now and he is got a boxer crawl he's been practicing with.
And I think me too is just talking to him about it all the time, gets him fired up. And my daughter, she always asks, like, whenever I come outta the woods, she's did you get a deer? Or did you get a Turkey or a gobble, I think was what she called it last year. And yeah she loved being in the woods too.
So I think it's [00:46:00] something good for us going forward. Hopefully we can get here more next year since it didn't happen this year. And then, I don't know, my daughter's too loud right now to take down the woods, I hear that. I understand that. Four years. My my daughter, my kids. It's funny, we were talking about this my, both my kids used to, it wasn't really a speech impediment, but they used to say, girl, they would say Gore.
So Little Gore . That's how, this is how they would always say it. Yeah. And now they don't say that anymore. They've corrected that and they say, girl, me and my wife are the only ones who say gore in our house. Just because we got so used to saying that cuz of our kids, they always have little things like, my kid Daddy, you shoot deer, daddy you shoot gobbler.
You know what I mean? Yeah. . So you were talking about that and I was thinking about it. I was like, yeah, it's pretty funny how we all have different things that our kids call certain things and we end up calling that too. Oh yeah. That's really cool. Olivia, I really appreciate you coming on the show and sharing your passion.
That's really just what I wanted to highlight is your passion. I think it's important [00:47:00] to, to do that whenever, especially for me as a content creator, like I'm trying to find these people that. Are doing something a little bit different than everybody else, and you definitely fit that bill. You're as passionate about this stuff as I am.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and your family life and how it all works with your hunting schedule. I think it's unique. It's really cool and appreciate you talking about it. Of course. And I do wanna jump on one other thing if we have time. Absolutely. We got plenty of time.
So I think talking about, I guess not necessarily like the husband dynamic of it, but for having female hunters that want to go with me, but being married and being, I guess a blonde female makes it difficult because the people that I can find that will go scouting with me or that wanna talk to me or that I have to hang out with are men and.
Looks bad, to a lot of people because they're like why is married woman hanging out with, two grown [00:48:00] men, in the middle of nowhere on public land? And it's just, men don't experience that like females do. And it's just those are the only people that I can get advice from, are the only people that I can talk to about it.
And it's, that's another struggle in itself for Mary's females trying to do this. It's just, we have a passion, we wanna do it. But being in the south, it's, there's a lot of things that are frowned upon or that you're not supposed to do, and there's these lines you're not supposed to cross, but yet, in order to achieve your goals, it's like there's no other choice.
I don't have, I wanna talk to people about this. I wanna get advice from whoever I can. I want to learn, and it's only people that are willing to teach me, or, grown men or something. Then yeah, I just, what other choice do I have? Yes I learn a lot on my own at the same time, but I think that's a big struggle too for a lot of people.
Is that, or for women, if their husbands aren't into it as much, or if they wanna learn it, if they don't know any other [00:49:00] females that have the time to go out with them or or in their area, whatever it may be. I think that it's something that should be equal as far as just having friends, like a female, a marriage female, like having male friends, especially like in the hunting ones, cuz it is male dominated.
And I don't know, I think that's just something that is old school that I want to bring to light a little bit more and be like, you know what this is, it's 2023. Freaking bathroom signs where it says, male, female, whatever, go into, but yet I'm not allowed to have a male friend to go into the woods with, to learn something from without it looking a certain way.
And it's just it's frustrating in that sense because I know like Clay has been so helpful and I've learned so much. And it's just, those relationships are relationships that I will cherish, and that advice is something that I will remember and be so thankful for the rest of my life [00:50:00] is because there was nobody else for me to reach out to to get help from.
And I, I appreciate those people, but I also don't appreciate, just the backlash that comes with sometimes. I think it takes a certain type of certain type of relationship, right? Like when I said Kudo, kudos to your husband. Seriously, kudos to your husband because it takes a secure dude.
To, for that to even be a thing, right? Like you're trying to go out and learn. So kudos to you on that, but also kudos to your husband for understanding. There's gotta be a, I think that's the important thing is there's gotta be a trust level at a thousand for that to even be a thing. And as far as I'm concerned, that's y'all's business.
I don't care. You know what I mean? Like the, y'all handle that if somebody wants to, wants whatever, and I think it's, it is very specific to the situation and to the relationship. I think your husband, when he's absolutely a tr a trophy husband for, for your situation, for what you're doing.[00:51:00]
And that's, and honestly one of the, it's one of the things that I thought was so unique and interesting about you is that dynamic. It's a, it's an interest, it's a weird dynamic. And by weird, I don't mean like stupid. It's just not normal. It's not right. It's not the, it's not status quo and but it is very important to your progression.
And I think, I think it's a good husband who lets his wife follow her dreams and do the things that are necessary for that. So I think it's cool and anybody who thinks otherwise and whatever, who cares what they think. They're not a guest on broadcast. So attitude, it's not an attitude.
I'm, I have, I am, gosh I've gone through a lot in my life. And so I always tell people I feel like I'm an 80 year old lady in a, 33 year old body. But just because I have had those experiences that a lot of people hadn't had, and a lot of people just this day and age are just so naive to what [00:52:00] reality is.
Yeah. Like they see these females going to all these different shows. Like I know you got back from Nwtf and I'm sure there were females there with, tight shirts, short skirts, and
Parker McDonald: no, they weren't around trying to,
Olivia Glasgow: they weren't there. Nobody noticed them sell these products. Oh yeah. Didn't tons of pictures.
And so that's the perception that they give off to men because it is male dominated. Yeah. They wanna sell stuff. And I think if I were an unattractive female and I'm not, keep my own horn or anything, but I think that does make a difference. If I were an unattractive female, married or not, I think that the, I guess the image of it would be totally different.
Like it would just be fine. But it's just the fact of being like an attractive female and also married and get, trying to get advice from other males. It's Their wives or whoever it may be, it's like people just automatically just get offended or have a guard up or something [00:53:00] just because of people like at the shows or on TV of making it, like that's what women do in this industry.
And it's not, like I want to teach people that it's, we can be out there and we can still be females, we can still have put makeup on every now and then and dress up and look nice, but we can still, go in the woods and enjoy it just as much without feeling judged or anything like that.
So it is, yeah, it's definitely there's a lot, there's a lot I think for female, for females and just for non-traditional hunters, like late onset hunters as well. That we have to go through though. A lot of people don't think. and when you're both a female and a newbie at the same time and married and don't have anyone else to teach you or anything like, it's just, there's a lot of challenges to overcome.
But if you have a passion to do it, then you can do it. Set a goal, you can achieve it. That's awesome. Olivia, thanks so much for coming on. That's perfect. Timing is [00:54:00] right at one hour right now, oh, perfect. Fantastic. Hey guys, thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Southern Ground Hunting Podcast.
You can keep up with Southern Ground hunting by following us on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribing to the YouTube channel, and you can be sure to check us out@southerngroundhunting.com to pick up some of our merch, read some blog articles and all that good stuff. I truly hope you enjoyed this week's episode, and we'll see you here again next.
Remember that God gave you dominion over the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the earth. So go out and exercise that dominion. We'll talk to you next week.
