Selective Hunting

In this episode, Ricky and Hollywood have a chat with Jason Matzinger of Into High Country on the Sportsman Channel.

Jason is an award winning film producer and the host of Into High Country on the Sportsman Channel. He is a champion for conservation and has dedicated his life to sharing his backcountry experiences in a way never before seen. 

Jason tells the story about what led him to his current successes. Ricky enquires about his already accomplished 2023 hunting season, and the discussion segues into what it’s like to be a hunting dad. 

Jason is a busy man with 2 new films and Season 14 of Into High Country on the horizon. Chasing a Ghost is a film about a 400” Bull Elk Jason chased for nearly 5 years. His upcoming conservation piece in conjunction with the Wild Sheep Foundation, explores the idea of Selective Hunting and why the practice is so important to wildlife conservation. 

In this segment of Shiny Things, Jason is mindful of juggling work and time with his boys. Ricky is taking his crack at being a farmer and is also really excited about the podcast. Hollywood is under contract to buy a home and is looking forward to his South Dakota hunting trip. 

The Range Podcast is brought to you by Vapor Trail Archery and Stokerized Stabilizers.

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

‍

[00:00:00] The new film that you have coming out with the Wild Sheep Foundation, selective as the title states. The film is about selective harvest and reclaiming the narrative of what the word trophy really means, and I love this idea of flipping what the script has become. Can you speak a little bit more about that?

Yeah. The idea is trophy hunting is selective hunting. The word itself is what's been demonized and taken and twisted. And the aha moment for me is selective hunting is meat hunting, and it is the guy that wants to go out and kill the biggest animal. As long as you're doing it for reasons that benefit the wildlife, it brings us back together as we're just hunters and we're working together for the wildlife, not individual gold.

I'm gonna tell you what trophy hunting is and how beautiful it is, and why it was beautiful then. And why it's beautiful today. The more we think about it and embrace it, I think the wildlife will benefit. That's really the messaging. Welcome to the Range [00:01:00] podcast. I'm Ricky Bruley, and with me is Jake Hollywood Iversson.

Join us at the Archery Range where we'll tell stories from the hunt. Discuss technical bull shooting tactics and gear, and pick the brains of some of the most successful people to ever shoot a bow. Whether you're about to shoot that X for the win, or send an arrow at a trophy buck. This podcast is for you.

The Range Podcast is brought to you by Vapor Trail Archery. Makers of the best BOL Strings money can buy Originators of limb driven arrow rest technology and innovators of Stoker eyes stabilizer systems. Welcome to the Range everybody. I'm Ricky Bruley, and joining me as always is by far the coolest millennial.

I know. Yeah, probably would. Hello? Hello. Thank you all for joining us today. You can also find the video version of this episode on our Vapor Trail YouTube channel, so please head on over and subscribe. Today we have a very [00:02:00] special guest on the show. He's an award-winning film and television producer and the host of Into High Country on the Sportsman Channel.

He's most famous for his appearance on Vapor Trails, GI eight Arrow Rest packaging as the real American hero, mountain Hunter code. Name zinger everybody. Welcome Mr. Jason Mattsinger to the show. Yeah, thanks for having me, man. It's good to, always good to catch up. For sure. We appreciate you having on, I know you got a busy schedule like you had said, you were just on the, you had just gotten off the phone with some TV commercial stuff appreciate you setting that aside so that we could have this chat, man.

Oh, of course. I'd much rather talk about this stuff than commercial minutes and things like that. Anyway, yeah, thanks a lot. How you been Jason? How's everything going besides that? It's going really good. Just super busy. Got a lot of really fun projects in the works that are all gonna come out in the next three [00:03:00] weeks, so we're on that home stretch of just getting all the fine details taken care of and making sure they're telling the stories we wanna tell.

But excited about all of it. It's just kept me super busy and coming outta Spring Bear and Turkey season, it's We've just been moving and shaking, but I'm really excited for this stuff that we're about to start kicking out. Yeah, that's awesome. We follow along. I follow along quite a bit and you can just pay attention to a lot of the stuff that you're doing and dude, you've had a lot of success in the back country.

You got a 400 inch bull elk with your prime bow outfitted with Vapor Trail and still rise accessories. Doll Sheep Bighorn, you're a champion for conservation. 2021 Badlands Film Festival winner, and I think that's not the only one. You've got a few others that you've gotten up there in the Badlands Film Fest.

Yeah, I've taken home several awards through the years at Badlands Film Fest. Not always first, but and sometimes I've never placed at all, but yeah, through the years,[00:04:00] we've done pretty good there and. It's fun to just see that bar getting raised every year better and better filmmakers, better stories being told, and it's, I really enjoy that event.

Yeah, for sure. Man. I got I wasn't able to make it last year, but I had the, I was able, I got there the year before. Of course, it was like at the end cause. We walked in right at like when they're wrapping it all up. Yeah. Because we always have so many dinner. We always have so many dinners after the show.

And then, b c Y has a party and there's all the parties. So we're trying to poke our heads into all of 'em, for sure. Sure. Really cool to see you there. And obviously those are just to name a few things, but could you ever imagine that at the pinnacle of your career you'd have the opportunity to be a guest on the Range podcast with Ricky Bruley in Hollywood?

No, I've been waiting for that moment where I feel like I can turn around and say I've made it mom, and I think I've finally hit that spot. So I I appreciate you guys. Given me that [00:05:00] opportunity. There's a lot that has led you here, that's for sure. If you wanna share that journey with us what kind of led up to that glory of, like I say having your own packaging as a superhero that we, we thank you a lot for everything you do, whether that's conservation and, or, just killing, huge animals or really pushing your brands and supporting us.

That's been huge. But yeah, the very start of it, if I, Rick and I were talking about it, didn't you? The whole start was you filmed, I remember you filmed a big white-tailed deer in Montana when you were guiding someone. Wasn't that the kind of, the start of your whole.

Kick off to being a superhero. That was around the time that I was really starting to get into filming. And that was definitely one of those clips that I knew I had captured something special that I wanted to share with the world instead of just my friends. And I realized what I was seeing every day out there with these hunters was, as good or better than what I was seeing [00:06:00] on hunting television at the time.

So it inspired me to, capture it not, at the time it wasn't for tv, I just knew that what I was seeing was really good. So I was like, just wanted to film it so I could show my friends and my family these cool experiences that I was having out there. And I wasn't just trying to tell 'em through a story.

I could actually show 'em. The cool stuff that was happening. And so that was really the start of, it was every single night you'd go out and film, and then that's when you, we were like living with buddies and stuff, so there'd be five or six of us piled in a house that, every night. And we'd just sit back and they would tell us what they saw and we'd show 'em what we saw.

And it was just the culture surrounding our friendship. And I just got more and more passionate about wanting to capture that stuff. And around that time the outfitter I was working for moved away and a different outfit came in and we didn't end up getting the lease on that [00:07:00] property to, to continue to guide.

And so I just pushed harder on the filming side of things and Yeah, we just really enjoyed it. Whether it was my dad or my friends or whoever, I just always had a video camera along and after a certain amount of time, I had this archive of like hundreds of successful hunts on camera.

They weren't well told stories, they were the highlight. It was like all the highlight reel of these hunts. And so I just started to really look at what I had as compared to what I was seeing, and I'm like, man, I have stuff that's way better than this. I have clips that would like, people would love to see and at the time, hunting TV didn't really speak to me on the level that I felt when I was out there.

It was more like, how many kills can you cram into the time you have versus telling a story that talks about conservation and what those animals in that area need to thrive and survive and how hunters. What [00:08:00] hunter's place in those areas should be to maintain that health of those herds and just really build all that up.

So I could go on and on, but really that's where it all started, was just I loved and it and it wasn't just the hunting to this day I get more excited about capturing an animal in its natural habitat, doing something cool than I do a kill shot. You know that? Yeah. That's real. I love capturing those rare moments in nature that people just don't get to see.

And unless you put a lot of time in out there and then when the camera settings are right and the lighting's right, and the animal just almost reads the script, it's just, that is so much harder to get than another kill shot, and so that's really what's always driven me is just. The wildlife and being around them and learning from 'em when I'm not hunting 'em and all of that kind of stuff yeah. Yeah. No, that's that's great. You, [00:09:00] I feel like you're definitely a pioneer of changing the narrative as to how like a hunting film should be or just even calling it a film in general cuz just like you said, all the old hunting stuff or from back in the early two thousands and gosh, even when, teenagers and all that kind of stuff, you go way back then and it was again, like you said, it was just kill shots.

There wasn't a lot of discussion about this is the gear we're using or this is what we do, or this is how we do it, or, that kind of stuff. Which those are good things too, but I just love the aesthetic of the films that you make and the story you tell and the way that you tell it. You're so articulate in all of that.

And so I think that really paved the way to what a lot of what we see now. And I just think it's fantastic. And then throwing in the cons conservation piece too was really important. And that's when when I had approached you y cause you had been using our products for quite some time up, up to that point, you were good buddies with our [00:10:00] previous general manager ears. And you were supporting us in that way. And it's I wanna take this further because I like the message that you're putting out there and conservation is really important to all of us. And so that, that was a face that we wanted to have with our company.

Or I should say with Vapor Trail and ized. I appreciate you saying that. Hearing you talk about that just gave me, like goosebumps. It's just even when I was like, a kid growing up, look, watching those hunting shows, it was a lot of the, I just remember stacking up arrows.

That was the whole thing. Just how many shots and yeah. Your film, like calling it a film. That's the way I see it almost makes me think of like Sitka gear, like that's, yeah, that's a plug for a company right there. They call it gear, not just hunting clothes, like they change the way we look at how we're going out into the field where, like Jason's saying, it's not a hunting show.

I wouldn't call it a show, it's a hunting film or even an outdoor film, and you don't, at least I haven't seen that so much on other people [00:11:00] where they're telling the story of the animal and making it a way bigger connection with what is happening. It's not just running out there and you see this, at least for the Midwest at do you just shoot it?

You're talking about, such great species. My wife and I have watched most of your into high country stuff, but, like the one appreciate that really sticks out to me. No problem. It's awesome watching, like the goat, there's a hunt that I remember specifically where you're chasing after goats and just seeing the cinematic, shots of it is just so awesome.

It's just captivating. It's just, this is no longer just a hunting show, it's just a film, there's a lot more meaning to it. It seems. It's it's a much more immersive experience, right? Yeah. I don't get. Excited about, just strictly watching a guy sitting in a tree standing, shooting a deer. It's cool to see that kind of stuff, but just the way that the episodes open up with all the amazing shots, and you've got sunsets and you've got, walking through the tall grass and the sage brush and, just images [00:12:00] of the wildlife that you're seeing along the way.

It's just, it's super cool. I love it. Yeah, it's amazing. Yep. My focus with the show is I'll, I'm never a how to guy, I'm never a what's in my pack. I'm never a tell you where to go, what to apply for breakdown, any of that kind of stuff. My goal is to get people to fall in love with the wildlife and the habitat enough, that they care enough to protect it.

And that's my goal is to just when people watch the show, I want 'em to walk away with a greater understanding of. How amazing those animals are and ways they can maybe help or maybe not, some animals are just fine, but, and when I started doing that, it's because I didn't wanna just, I never did this to just see myself on tv.

I wanted to do it to change the narrative, to make, to be a better representation to people that don't hunt. So maybe they would have, [00:13:00] be willing to meet us in the middle a little more. And at that time that I came out with that mountain goat piece, that was the very first high end film I had ever done.

I had two camera guys on that hunt. We had crazy, big cameras with us. And at the time we were trying to do something different. And at that time, There hadn't even been one like slow motion shot captured of a kill shot in the hunting industry. Not one. So it was at that time where camera equipment was really advancing and things like a simple drone shot or a slow-mo shot, separated you from the pack.

And it was right at that moment in time. And so I did that film for three reasons. One, I wanted to test the waters of the industry to see if there was that level of interest there through partners who would get behind supporting that level or that look and feel of hunting production. I did it for that.

I did [00:14:00] it to tell my story. So when I met potential, people that were interested in partnering with me or something and they would say, I'd love to see an example of your work. I didn't wanna just send them a 22 minute episode with commercial breaks and bars and tone and all the stuff in the middle.

I wanted to send them a tight little package that told my roots, my beliefs, where I came from, my family and what I believe in. And I just wanted to put it in a hunt and show what we could capture. And so I did it for that as well. And so it was really like testing the waters for me at that time is, can I continue to go down this path or will this just kind of tank and I, and and at the time, had that not taken hold like it did, I probably wouldn't have been as interested in continuing with this cuz I, I just wanted to create something but that met [00:15:00] Planet Earth to.

The hunting industry, bridge that gap. Yeah. And captivate people. And so that was always the goal. That's exactly what I was just about to call it. Awesome. Yeah, no, that's great. Said. And you're doing a good job of it too. No, without a doubt. Again, just changing that narrative it's done nothing but good things in my mind for the industry as a whole.

Not just, specifically archery, but just in the outdoors in general, and conservation as well. Again, trying to change that narrative. So far, thank you. So far this year you've had a pretty solid season, touchdowns and turkeys with your boys and Alberta Black Bear with your bow you just returned from what looks like an amazing access, deer hunting trip in Texas.

We talked briefly about that hunt yesterday on the phone, and I'm curious, like, how does a hunt like that go down? What's the day-to-day process? Cause I, there's not a lot of content out there about that stuff, so I'm just curious to hear about how that all goes down. It was [00:16:00] awesome.

So this is actually the second time I've been after access. I hunted the same piece of property down there last year, but it was really dry and hot and there just wasn't a lot of feet. It's always hot down in Texas, but it was exceptionally dry. And so just for whatever reason, the place we were hunting didn't have a lot of feed.

And so we saw a few access, but I never even saw a buck I would've shot at on that trip last year. So returned again this year. And basically they have about three different water sources on, we were hunting about a thousand acres, surrounded by these bigger ranches, and it's all free range where we were hunting.

There's no high fence stuff there. So these axis are, They'll make big loops can come and go, but basically you're focusing, you're hunting around water, whether that's spot and stock game, around the area where there's water or [00:17:00] just sitting in, in a blind. And for me, knowing how flighty axis were and knowing the level that I like to film stuff on the spot and stock game was gonna be tough.

So I committed to sit in water on this hunt. So we'd go in and we'd get set up axis will stage in different areas, kind elk. So we were getting in the blind incredibly early. I think we were leaving camp about 4 45, getting in there about five 15 and then sitting there for an hour, just waiting for the light to come up.

And they're gray light animals. From the. The experience I ha I've had with them. I've seen very few kind of hidden water in the middle of the day. Now that's not to say they, I'm no access expert by any means. This was just my experience. We didn't have any midday action on the water.

So it was like first thing in the morning, [00:18:00] last thing at night. But you can't just get lazy with it and go, oh, it's gonna be right at daylight. And, and then it's over you cuz you just don't know cuz we're hunting the roar. So bucks are on their feet a little more than normal and chances are, if a buck is gonna show up in those later morning hours, he's probably a big mature buck that's leaving his d for just that amount of time to go get some water when all the other bucks are beded down, not putting pressure on him.

And he is got that opportunity to like slip in, get water, and get back to his d and so your odds go way down as far as, the later in the day it goes. But based on what I know from elk and deer hunting, those encounters during the rut are usually pretty good bowls or box. And yeah, basically we were, and we'd get in the blind then at about three o'clock and, action wasn't till eight, but once again, you can't get lazy with it because if you [00:19:00] try to just slide in at seven 30, they're already staged a hundred yards out.

You've just blown it for the whole night, oh, okay. So just a lot of hours sitting in water and being patient. And so over four days I saw four access box that I would've shot, like within range. The first one just came in head on, walked through the trees, walked right past me, never even stopped.

And it, it was like, 45 yards out there. And he was head high, like moving. Just not a, not an opportunity, but a great encounter. Really cool footage. Then the next night I had one come in and I came to full draw on him. He was drinking at 28 yards and I let him con like finish drinking and he came up out and stood there quartered away.

And it was just like too dark. I could not differentiate exactly where I was aiming on him. So I was trying to like, pull my head out, put it in, pull my [00:20:00] head out, and narrow it in. And I'm like, I can't, I don't feel good about this. So I just let down and he just walked away. Then the next night I had a really good buck come in, came dead in on me straight in and started drinking.

And I pulled back when he came in and just was holding my pins on him. And two white tails came out of the brush to the right and spooked him. So he just came out of the water hole like unglued and took off going dead away from me. They're flight ear, they're like 10 times flight ear than a white tail flight ear than an antelope.

Yeah. They are so finicky. And so I started to realize you're not gonna get these perfect shots with these animals. Like you're, you have to be on your game. And that's not to say it can't happen, but you just gotta be a lot more. Ready all the time with these animals. They don't give you a lot of foreshadowing to their actions like a deer, an [00:21:00] elk will.

When my buck ended up coming in he came in, was drinking quartered too, but his legs were spread out and he had his head down and I was, I had my 30 right on the bottom of his chest and my 20 like halfway up through his lungs and I was just rock solid on him and I've killed quite a few antelope, pronghorn, with that shot.

And I was locked on him. So I sent it and put it right here and it came out right here. And he was dead. He freight trained out of there and was down in five seconds. He made it 65 yards and. It just piled up right there. Big old Dust cloud. It, but it, I, for my buddy down there, Jeff Helm has tried to get me down there for years.

And I'll be honest, I Phoo Texas a little bit. Eh, it's not really my thing. I'm a mountain guy, not really into the, canned hunting. Like I, I thought all of [00:22:00] Texas, I just stereotyped as like this just easier level of hunting for some reason, and I don't know why I did that.

And so I've thoroughly enjoyed hunting those things. The first time you see 'em on the hoof, like a big axis buck, it is like a mythical creature. They're so beautiful and they just elegant animal. And so I am just hooked now. Now I learned so much. Spending that much time around them that now I just wanna apply it.

I went from just straight up rookie, knowing nothing about access to now. I've learned enough about 'em to where now I wanna apply it, okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's, I was thinking right when you were saying the water deal, I'm like, this has gotta be close to like pronghorn hunting almost, where, you, you almost have to sit.

And I've heard that they're very skittish. I've seen other people hunt them and it sounds like they're just, the ultimate [00:23:00] deer to try and essentially catch and, see them slip up and I'm like, this has to be like the hardest pronghorn hunt ever, is what I could imagine it being.

You couldn't have said it better as far as, I. I'm calling 'em a mythical creature, cuz I never really thought about it that way until you had mentioned it. And I thought, gosh, yeah they really are, just even everything about 'em, the spots and the the configuration of their antlers and all of that right down to it.

And I was super excited to see that you did it with a bow. I might be just a little bit biased, but every time I see you do something with a bow, I'm like, yes. The best method for probably making that happen is to do it the way you did it. But it's really cool and congratulations on that.

I think it's awesome that you found another new passion. Yeah. Yeah. I needed that. I needed a hole in the head, but, but yeah, it it's an incredible experience and the part that I didn't mention is we timed the roar just perfect. And so hearing 'em, calling and trying to figure out what certain [00:24:00] calls meant and how other ones responded to 'em was just really interesting.

And so that, that was a super fun part of the hunt too, just hearing 'em out there doing their thing. They call it the roar, but it's more like a whistle. Oh, is it really? That's funny. Yeah it's a weird sound. So I've never hunted with Jeff. I, I've met him several times and, at the Tacs and stuff like that, so I can only imagine what it's like in hunting camp.

That's gotta be just a blast hanging out with him. Yep. There's never a dull moment for sure. We were, we had a lot of laughs. I'm stoked to. Put all this together and they do a fair amount of spot and stock down there. The country is pretty conducive to that just cuz you have a lot of like intermittent brush that's open so you can make quick moves without snapping through timber, but you have these kind of pockets of brush to use between you.

So they do pretty decent at spot [00:25:00] and stock in those. But but like I said, trying to film and do that with, just put it to a whole other level. So maybe now that I got one under my belt I'll go to try to do that next time or be more apt to hop out of the blind. But yeah, just a great hunt since father day is coming up here.

Sorry, wood. He doesn't have any kids, but yeah. No I just wanted to talk a little bit about being a dad that. That post you put up about touchdowns and turkeys. I love seeing the photos that you post with you and your boys. And this spring you guys had a pretty special day. Yeah, that was they just don't get much better.

My boy was in, he had his first flag football game. He's nine years old. Asher is his name. And so he was super excited about playing football because I take him to a lot of Montana State football games here. And of course his older brother plays football and so he's around a lot of football. So it was finally his chance and.

He [00:26:00] right out of the gate, the first game scored three touchdowns. So Geez. He was super excited about that. Yeah, so we went right from the football game. We went through the Wendy's drive-through, picked up some food, and headed out to this piece of property that I actually worked on when I was in high school.

I lived out there my junior I can't remember what years, sophomore and junior year or something. I would live out there in the summer and I would do the irrigation so I could hunt there in the fall cuz there's white tails out there as well. And so I got paid minimum wage and I got to chewed a whitetail there in the fall.

So I worked on this place not too far from Bozeman and I, I just reached out and asked him if I could take my boy out there to maybe get a crack at his first Turkey. And they didn't even hesitate. They were like, absolutely. That's cool. And they told me when it would work for when they were gonna be at the ranch and all that kind stuff.

We ended up going out there and [00:27:00] meeting up and he told me where he'd seen some and all that kinda stuff. And so we just went to walking around, we got all our camo on, dressed right there on the side of the truck and started going down through the woods. And we put on a couple miles, had covered a bunch of different spots calling and just hadn't had any reaction.

We had found a few Turkey tracks in the dirt and just having fun and it got to be prime time. And we ended up in this spot where it was the end of our loop, and then I was gonna swing back to the truck and. So we're just sitting on these logs and I gave my one boy the box call Asher, and I gave Dawson the slate call.

And so I'm filming Dawson trying to learn how to work the slate, and I'm telling Asher how to, use the box call. And so we're just having fun, beautiful evening. And I go, have you guys ever seen how you make a gobble with a box call? And they're like, no. And so I get the box call from [00:28:00] Asher, and I go like that with it, and it, and a Turkey hammers back to us and our eyes just lit up like, holy cow.

Oh yeah. And and once he went off he did not stop like that. Tom responded, he wouldn't respond to any of those hen calls, but the second we did that gobble, he just hammered and then he was just coming and he came right in. My boy got him and. My, my younger son was right back here, watched him come in and that was the first animal that my boys have ever experienced communicating with and then watching it come in and just come right into our face.

And so they were both like really fired up. Dawson, he shot a couple nice mule deer and a white tail now and an antelope. And I have never seen him get the fever like he did with that Turkey. He was like vibrating after that hunt was over. And as a father to go through a day like that, [00:29:00] like the big day of your younger boys' first football game, and him having a great day and just so happy and then going out and having this just incredible Turkey hunt, couldn't have went any better.

It was like my heart was so full, walking back to the truck in the sunset and watching the two boys just like little teammates, and yeah, it was like, it was just one of those moments where you really have to just stop and take it in because you know that, that's just so special.

And yeah. It was an incredible day, start to finish and yeah. As a father who loves football and hunting just doesn't get much better than that. Yeah. No, I'd have to imagine you were on top of the world. That day sounds nothing could have went wrong. It all Yeah. Came together by the sounds of it.

Yeah. And, got home to both of them asleep in the backseat and I'm like, man, that, that is just a satisfying day right there. Wore 'em [00:30:00] out and. Couldn't have went better. Perfect. Yeah. So continuing the Father's Day theme, so the quote that you have on your post with the Alberta Black Bear. I want, I was gonna read, I wanted to read that just for the listeners because it's such a profound statement, but I'm gonna put you on the spot here.

I thought it would make more sense for you to read it. I wonder if you would mind reading that quote that you put up from your Alberta Black Bear Hunt Hollywood here. Vapor Trail Pro Shop is a one-stop shop for all of your archery needs. Coming this Friday, June 30th is our brand new online arrow Customizer Build Your Victory or Eastern Arrows with multiple vein options, configurations, and custom arrow wraps in a large array of designs and colors.

Spine indexing and expedited build options are also available. So you can get back out in the field and flinging in style. Check out the Vapor trail Arrow customizer at www.vaportrailarchery.com or slash arrow customizer. [00:31:00] I'm gonna put you on the spot here. I thought it would make more sense for you to read it.

I wonder if you would mind reading that quote that you put up from your Alberta Black Bear Hunt. Sure. I just gotta pull up my, pull it up on my phone here. Yeah, I shut it off so it wasn't dinging, so it'll take just a second, another moment where I was like, yes, he did it with a bow. And and I'm, doesn't mean that I don't.

I get there's hunts where, you know I use a gun from time to time, that kind of thing too. And especially when it comes to some of those, I know you had your bow on that sheep hunt up in the Northwest territories and but I know that's not one of those hunts where you can run the risk of not being able to harvest an animal simply because you don't have the right equipment.

So totally understand that aspect of everything. So yeah, a lot of those emotions are gonna come out. I'm actually doing a three part series on that she hunt that kicks off into high country this year. And that I'm really excited about. And [00:32:00] the, a lot of those emotions of, showing up with a bow and whether to take the rifle and where you're at in life and realistically what it takes to get back there and all that stuff becomes much more clear when you're up there.

But I'm excited to kick it out. Oh, okay. So I found it. Okay, so here's the quote. I said I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of chasing and hunting black bears, although I'll admit, after taking so many, it gets harder and harder for me to find one that gets me excited and enough to wanna take its life. I watched it happen with my father, and now it's starting, started happening with me.

It's just the natural evolution of a hunter, he always says, I'm just not that mad at him as I used to be. And now more than ever I've come to understand what he meant by that, and being mad at them. Never had anything to do with it. Alberta Black Bear 2023. What a hunt. [00:33:00] Yes. Dude, that is such a profound thought.

Honestly and it scares me a little bit because I've discovered that. After having kids and it's man I feel like there was a point in time I was like, my purpose in life is to hunt, and now I'm like, my purpose in life is to be the greatest dad and husband that I possibly can be.

So naturally time spent in the wilderness is taking a backseat a little. So it's a little scary, but I am excited about my daughter getting old enough to start taking her out. And and my stepson, he's 10 now, and so he's getting in, we're doing grouse hunting. That's his favorite thing to do.

So it's just a blast. But I don't know I guess I don't really know what else to say about that. I think it speaks for itself, right? And I think we all as we progress in our abilities to hunt, you start to just see the reverence in it more than it's about actually killing an animal.

And I just love that. I love that quote. That was amazing. I appreciate that. I find that with bears more than anything. I'm starting to get that way with a few [00:34:00] other animal species as well. But and I've struggled, I shouldn't say struggled with it, but, I told myself from the very beginning of this before I ever had a show that I was never gonna kill an animal to make a TV show.

That was one of my number one rules is if I'm not thoroughly into it and a hundred percent jacked up, I'm not gonna do it. It's not worth it to me. One episode is not worth it to me. And so as I've been doing this 14 years now, kicking out average of 10 episodes a year. And as you get older, You evolve as a hunter and you want to do better than you did the year before, or you wanna do it by a different method than you did before.

You wanna, you always want to keep that level playing field as soon as you feel like you're gaining ground or it's become this thing [00:35:00] that's almost automatic as a hunter, you wanna get back to where it's harder, at least I do. I, if I ever feel like the animal has less of a chance than I do, it's just not appealing to me.

And so I think that comes from reverence of the animal that comes from learning what they go through on a day-to-day basis to survive out there and what it all takes when it comes to that moment to take its life. And you think about it more and more, and Through 14 years of just doing the show, I've hunted my whole life.

I'm just talking since the show. It gets harder and harder for me to find animals that I wanna take. And but I've got this show and so I'm to the point now where I'm like, turning the page of the show of not feeling like I have to get those kills, but explain to the listeners the evolution of the hunter.

So I would rather hunt the [00:36:00] entire season and go home without one and explain to people why I didn't wanna take one that year. And then take one that I'm not totally jacked about, just to satisfy a guy that wants to see a kill shot at the end of the show. And it's but it's this fine line cuz like my partners like to see success.

And at the end of the day, I like to see success too, but I'm having to dig deeper and go harder all the time to find these animals that, that give me that drive, to hunt 'em as hard as I did when I was 21 years old. And I think that it's this beau I think part of this beautiful cycle that we go through is about the time you start feeling this as a hunter is about the time you want it all for your kids.

And so then the light bulb goes off to me of now I understand why dad was like happy letting us go and just [00:37:00] hanging at the truck. And now I understand why dad was, could take midday naps. That would drive me nuts that we weren't out there, now I understand all this stuff. And it's So as into high country evolves, those, that's more of the lens that you'll start to see it through is rather than feeling the pressure of these animals, taking these animals, I'd rather just tell that evolution of a hunter that as far as I can tell, every one of us goes through eventually, and there's no actual show that kind of talks about it and accepts it and lets you know that's okay.

And as there's more hunters on the landscape and smaller areas and fewer animals, like it's okay to not notch tags and it doesn't make you unsuccessful. It just, and this kind of comes all back to this selective film. But yeah, that's, I went down a rabbit hole there and I don't really know [00:38:00] how, but No, but that was perfect because that's we're about to segue into that what you just talked about the new film that you have coming out with the Wild Sheep Foundation Selective it premieres July 6th.

July 6th here in Bozeman at the Emerson Theater. Emerson Theater. Okay, cool. Yeah, so for all you folks out there, looks like tickets 20 bucks in advance, or 25 at the door. There's gonna be a bunch of door prizes that you can give away at the Premier. You got Randy Newberg is your evening Mc.

That's pretty cool. Vapor Trail and Stoke Rise is gonna be giving away a package there arrow rest stabilizer and custom bolster strings of their choice. So we're happy to participate in that with you. Absolutely going. Back to, as the title states, the film is about selective harvest and reclaiming the narrative of what the word trophy really means.

And I love this idea of flipping what the script has become. Can you speak a little bit more about that? Yeah. [00:39:00] So I grew up really familiar with the records keeping system. The Boone and Crockett headquarters is right in Missoula. And at the time my dad was friends with some of the people that were very involved in Boone and Crockett.

And growing up I, I was aware of what this record keeping system was. And fast forward to today and you ha you can have a lot of conversations with hunters and non-hunters. Who don't truly understand what that records keeping system is for. A lot of people think it's just like a bragging book for who's the best, best hunter out there, who's killed the biggest animals, who's killed the most big animals.

But in reality it's just the most best kept data most what's the word I'm looking for? Intricate collection [00:40:00] of data ever recorded that proves that the North American model of wildlife conservation is working. It proves that hunting is conservation. And without that, if those records were to go away, We wouldn't have this document that any time somebody puts us up against a fence about the benefits that colo come, like the conservation benefits that come along with selective harvest, we've got, hundreds of years of data that we can show them and say actually you're wrong.

Look at the number of record book animals. Then look at the, look at now look at all these different counties around the United States who are now producing quality animals that if you were to go back 50 years, there's not one entry. So it allows biologists and research and all of those people to look back and see where areas are healthy, where they're not healthy, where [00:41:00] they need work, where they don't.

And what I find fascinating that's big part of the film actually is conservation in America was actually started. The first time that the general public ever became involved with matters that involve wildlife and wild places was because of a taxidermy collection that Theodore Roosevelt strategically put together.

The's called the North oh geez, the north American gosh, national collection of heads and horns, and it's it's now housed in Springfield, Missouri at the Wonders Wildlife Museum. But originally he made this room outside the Bronx Zoo because at the time, if you wanted to see these animals, you either had to go where they lived or you had to go to a zoo.

And so zoos were worldly attractions, people were traveling from all over to come see [00:42:00] these animals. And so Theodore Roosevelt had this idea. He and his buddies were gonna go out and collect as many animals around the world as they could and mount every single one of them. And they did that.

And they made this national collection of heads and horns, which was basically a room you had to walk through to get to the zoo and above the, when you would go in the door, it said, in memory of the vanishing, big game of the world. And so people show up to a zoo to enjoy wildlife and the first thing they see is in memory of vanishing, big game of the world.

And it sparked, it scared 'em. It was a scare tactic. And it worked because people would show up and they'd be like, wait a minute, what's happening to all these animals? And why are, what can we do to help? And so it lit a fire in the general public to wanna help wildlife and. Look after him. And so that [00:43:00] national collection I've seen it referred to as the memorial that was never needed because we, not one of those animals went extinct.

I find it fascinating that taxidermy started wildlife conservation in the general public. And taxidermy preserves history and there's a lot of things that come through taxidermy, and so that's a whole, chapter of the film. But really, the idea is trophy hunting is selective hunting.

The word itself is what's been demonized and taken and twisted and. But the act of trophy hunting is an absolutely beautiful thing, and there's major benefits that come from trophy hunting. We, we're trying to shift it to selective hunting to try to get away from that word, because I believe selective is a much more descriptive word for what we're [00:44:00] doing.

Because to me, trophy hunting is killing that dry dough that's beyond her prime, that is benefiting the herd as much as an old buck that's no longer breeding. Trophy hunting is killing 300 cow elk out of some areas because there's only 30 bowls and they're all little spuds. That trophy hunting is all hunting together as long as it's done for the benefit of the wildlife in that area.

And that's what I love about this is. The aha moment for me is selective hunting is meat hunting, and it is the guy that wants to go out and kill the biggest animal. As long as you're doing it for reasons that benefit the wildlife, it all goes together and it puts us together. It's no longer I'm a trophy hunter and you're a meat hunter.

It brings us back together as we're just hunters, and we're working together for the wildlife, not individual goals, [00:45:00] shortsighted goals, that's been the big light bulb moment for me is oh my gosh, this is awesome. This brings us together because if we're taking the right dose out of the herd and we're hunting the areas that need to be thinned, and we're leaving areas alone that, that don't, and only just picking those few off, approaching it with that kind of outlook, it's gonna be beneficial for everybody, and all the wildlife around it as well. So we just want to take back the narrative because I know, and all my friends know, and anybody who understands how wildlife management works, knows that taking those older matriarchs out of the forests and the mountains is an absolutely beautiful thing for wildlife.

And as long as we continue to do that, those wildlife herds will continue to flourish. It's the old hashtag age matters. It's a hundred percent true. Yeah, it really does. That's some really cool [00:46:00] info there. A lot of that I, I didn't know about the Theodore Roosevelt Museum and how they use that as a tactic.

And yeah that's some cool stuff. I'm, I really look forward to seeing that in the film. Yeah. It's funny, when I do these, Documentary films. I get more excited about those little chapters of 'em than I do the actual hunting portions of them, cuz they're just so juicy with information. And the hunting is you can see hunting elsewhere.

You can't see this elsewhere. This is special. So I love those informational pieces in there. Yeah that's why I think like, when I think into high countries more, touching on why conservation is important and so this is just another add-on to it. And I'm stepping back to that quote as well, where, you know that when you're describing what into high country is, that goes right along with that quote where it's just you're not out there just to, kill to kill, it's just like there's a point in, I think all of our hunting [00:47:00] careers and Rick was thinking maybe I wouldn't feel it yet just cuz I am a little bit younger and still full of some vinegar.

But even myself, I feel that way. It's just I'm not here to just take every single thing because, hunting is getting a little bit bigger, but, maybe there'll be some retraction, but what about the next generation behind us? It's not fair to that next person. And that might be Rick's daughter or your two sons.

It's I want their, them to be able to experience that too. So it's just, it's so cool seeing that, you've got this platform to be able to share that more than just watching the bullet fly or the aero fly, pushing the fact of, this is where it started and this is where we need to keep going, is to.

Bring this whole thing together. We're, yeah. And we're not just, you're a trophy hunter. And I'm a meat hunter sort of thing. It's just, we're all hunters. We're all here to conserve, for the next generation. So it's really cool being able see that. And in such high def definition too, having that story is just amazing.

It's awesome. Heck yeah. I appreciate that. I wanna read one quote [00:48:00] that I used that I am going to use in the film too from Jack O'Connor. I don't know if you guys are familiar with who Jack O'Connor is, but he's a legend in my world, sheep world. He wrote this quote in September of 1954, and it says, trophy hunting never hurt sheep herds because the rams with big heads are all the old ones within a year or two of death.

Hunters could take every ram over nine on every sheet mountain in North America without jeopardizing the herds at all. And that is still true today. Yes. Yeah. That's so insane. I like when I was watching your selective trailer said Rams over seven years or seven years is about when they start, really start to breed and mate, and I'm like, oh my goodness.

Like that really, to your point, selective that's the importance of going for the bigger one instead of just killing to kill, because eventually one day I want to be up there, but I have to [00:49:00] wait 30 years. But I'll be happy to if they're still gonna be wait, sitting there, for sure. And those outfitters up there, they're self-regulating. Like they're not, they're tag numbers in the Northwest territories are not determined by the providence itself, or anyone, it's up to them to determine the take out of their area, to keep it healthy and, if they want longevity or they just wanna pillage the land, and none of those outfitters pillage the land, not a single one.

And Glenda Gro is the outfitter. I went with Canal Outfitters and we did an interview with her for Selective and she summed it up very good in the fact of if you have a bigger, beautiful eight-year-old ram standing next to a 12 year old, that's not quite as impressive on the mountain, and you kill that seven or eight year old ram, you essentially just took two sheep off the mountain because that old ram isn't gonna breed anymore and he's likely gonna die that [00:50:00] winter.

So when we were hunting up there, and the, that's the reason I wanted to use sheep. They have their age on the side of their head. There's no question how old they are. You can see it right there. So age you're positive of age, but also like sheep is a perfect example because it's not practical to get there.

In most instances it costs quite a bit of money and still when you're there hunting and you wanna get one so bad and you're sitting there on deciding which one to take, every hunter I was up there with would've never killed that younger ram. Even though he is way bigger would score way better. They're not doing that.

Yeah. You get the odd guy that's self-serving or whatever. Fair enough. But generally speaking everybody I know is gonna kill that older ram and leave that seven or eight year old there. And I just thought that was a great way to put it. If you kill that younger one, you're essentially taken too.

So in cheaper, very sensitive.[00:51:00] They're a finicky animal that takes a lot of precision when it comes to looking at 'em and how to take care of them. Yeah. One day. One day. I sure hope I'll get there. If you make it a priority, I promise you will. Oh yeah. I already put in my points this year for at least Colorado for she and then hopefully Montana and Wyoming, but we'll see.

Just gotta start. The points creep anyway. Yep. Just keep waiting. Exactly. Gotta start somewhere. Put in for all those raffles. There's, cool opportunities at local banquets, wild cheap foundation, all that kinda stuff. I put in for all of that stuff You just never know To go back to the selective hunting like we were talking about earlier.

So I don't know if you can see this. I brought this is the first mule deer that I ever shot with a bow and uhhuh. So my philosophy I figured I'd bring it to the table cuz I wanted to, I wanted to match match up wits with your abilities, and just try to one up you.

So I figured this would be the [00:52:00] best one for me to bring to the table. But all jokes aside, my philosophy, I guess is always been to match wits with your quarry, right? So I start small and then every year I try to work my way up, work my way up, work my way up, and then eventually you can get to a point where, you can no longer be too picky, right?

Or you're just, or you're, or you'll never I guess have any success in the In the way of killing an animal, but I wanna allude to what you had said about how in some cases that selective hunting is taking out, 30 cow elk in order to advance the herd. Or, so like with this type of philosophy I've changed that a little bit.

You talked about your boys and how you want to instill that with them to, at a young age where you don't always necessarily have to go after the smallest one. And maybe you should educate yourself on what the populations are like in that area, and if they're suffering or if they're not.

And [00:53:00] make sure that you're making a better a better decision based on the future of the herd as opposed to taking that approach where it's I wanna match wits with my quarry. Anyway, I just I just wanted to point that out, that I, that's something that I learned too, cuz I always felt like, yeah, I think that's a great philosophy to have.

I've told so many people if you're bow hunting and you've never shot anything don't hesitate to shoot that spike or that, that kind of thing. And now maybe not, maybe I wouldn't say it quite that way, just make sure that you're educated on the area and make a decision based on the future of the herd.

Exactly. Just understand the ramifications of that action and know that Yeah, maybe if it's your first one, yeah. Not a big deal. But if you continue to do that every year, there would be effects. So I think that's why it's important that we evolve and I think that this has been happening for generations, this evolution of a hunter, and it's And I think I'm just getting to that point where I understand it a little bit better than I did [00:54:00] when I was 25 and just couldn't imagine how I wasn't gonna be just this maniac until the day I fell over, but now I start to get it more yeah. And I'm certainly not judgmental. I still believe that if you're out there having fun and playing by the rules and are like vibrating outta your skin when that experience happens, then absolutely. But just, yeah, you gotta just understand that those animals are pretty delicate, all of 'em, like those herds and that there are effects.

And the more of us that are out there, the more effect it's gonna have for the positive or the negative. And j just think about it, I just want people to understand that if you're a. Person that's labeled a trophy hunter or a selective hunter or only wants to kill the biggest, baddest one or nothing.

That is a beautiful thing. And for too long, we've let people outside of hunting tell us that's not a beautiful thing because they twisted one word. And I've just, we have never, as a hunting culture put together a piece that [00:55:00] we can all I'm hoping stand behind and say, okay, this is no longer just us forming a quick response to an attack that we're under currently.

This is us saying, all right, time out. Let's back up a minute and I'm gonna tell you what trophy hunting is and how beautiful it is and why it was beautiful then, and why it's beautiful today. And it's done amazing things in the way of wildlife conservation. And Don't be afraid to be that guy and it's Right.

That's the main thing. But at the same time, yeah, I'll never judge anybody for the way that they wanna hunt. I just want people to think about it, that's all. And understand there is this whole other side and that fill in the tag necessarily isn't always the best thing.

It's like perfect example I put in for Wyoming antelope only because I had points there and I didn't wanna lose them. And I'm sitting there going, please don't [00:56:00] let me draw, because they just had major die offs in that, in the area that I'm hunting. So I get the web the link today that said Wyoming results are out.

And I get on there going, please don't draw. Please don't draw. I drew. And so now I've got this Wyoming antelope tag and I'm like, I probably won't even go down there. I, yeah, I've got a tag and I burned like quite a few points to get it this year, but that doesn't outweigh that. I don't, I, those animals don't need hunting pressure right now.

I've heard upwards to 90, a hundred percent die off in areas. I've seen videos where there's just antelope laying out through the sage, just bodies just stacked. And it's, so that's, I think that's a good example of just, you don't have to fill a tag. Think about what's going on in the area.

Yeah. And for our listeners, can you elaborate on what's going on out there? Or is there [00:57:00] any speculation as to what's going on with it? Was it just a bad winter kill or, yeah, just really bad. Winter kills in lots of Wyoming on the mule deer and the antelope specifically, they just took a hit.

Like I said I'm still seeing stuff roll in where, at first it was 80% die off, and now I'm seeing some places where they're like, nearly a hundred percent die off in these hunting district. That's crazy. So that's wild. The habitat's great. And the, the kind of the foundation for rebuilding is really good there.

It's not like it was a catastrophe or. Like a wildfire or something that just dramatically just changed the landscape to where they won't be able to make it back. Or a disease that just continues to infiltrate or something like the fact that it was just a hard die off. I do think they'll bounce back pretty quick, but I guess time will tell what next winter will bring. Yeah. [00:58:00] My, my fear with this whole thing and the thing that I've been trying to just dance around is I never want anybody to feel like I'm sitting up on some high horse telling you how you should hunt, because that's how I feel. I don't like people like that.

I really don't. Yeah. No, it bugs me when people try to control your actions cuz they don't believe in the way you do it. That's not what I'm trying to do here and say that, oh, I'm holier than now cuz I believe in this and everybody else should. That's not it at all. It's just. I just want to put out the message that trophy hunting's awesome and it's beautiful and it does great things for wildlife.

So the more we think about it and embrace it, I think the wildlife will benefit. That's really the messaging. And I want people that don't understand at all what trophy hunting is to actually have a real picture and a real story told about what trophy hunting is. So it isn't this dark cloud kind of thing.

So I just wanted to throw that out there because I'm not that guy to reign on people's parade. I [00:59:00] just, I'm just, I wanna make the information available. Yeah. And I don't really take it that way. I think you're setting a good example, and especially having conversations like this, I think that most certainly helps.

You're always gonna get your guy that probably, has their opinions about you or me or whatever, but I think you're doing it right. I appreciate that. I was just thinking the same, like I if, like you said earlier if you're, if that gets your blood pumping, send it.

I mean go ahead. Yeah. And I like, like my way of relating back to what you're pushing is, my meal deer hunt last year, North Dakota, I had a deer just like Rick's walk 10 yards in front of me and I'm just like, this isn't what I'm here for. Cuz I could just feel it, and part of me, I still came home empty handed, but, and then the thoughts of, their herd was also struggling last year as well with e H D. It's been really dry out there and everything, so it's this is an opportunity for someone else now and it's gonna be bigger for the next guy.

Sure I could have shot it, but when I spent [01:00:00] how many days out there last year and, put on, X amount of stocks and on bigger. Class animals. And then to have one just walk right in front of me, that was the point where I'm just like, almost to that quote where I'm like, I'm not mad at it.

It's, I can't take this, this is just too precious. This is for the next person. Maybe. Maybe there's a kid on the other side of that hill, since I'm out there doing rifle hunting, it's all his, it just, it didn't get my blood flowing. Exactly. But if that's, something that's gonna make it like top of the world for you, send it.

But for me it's just, 12 straight days of seeing other things and going on other stocks is just no. Yeah. We'll wait for this one. I'll be back, when you're bigger. Or give someone else that chance. Totally. I've got a, I've got a cool example of that. I had chased this mule deer all year and he was a good buck.

He wasn't a giant, but he was as good a one as I could find. He had some cool characteristics, like extra points and stuff, and One day I'm hunting and I'm just cruising down the [01:01:00] county road to get to the area where he lived. And I look over and there he is, 120 yards off the side of the road.

And this was during rifle season. And so I've got my video camera and everything right there. And I, at first I'm like super excited holy crap, there he is. And so I get out, get my camera, sneak down, just, inside the fence off the county road, get in the timber right there. And I'm like aiming at him and I'm like, ah, this isn't really how I saw this going down.

I can't, I don't feel good about this. This just isn't for me. So I just filmed him rutting and I was like, and I drove away knowing I wasn't gonna see anything bigger. So it wasn't like I, I don't know. I just drove away and I went up to the spot knob where I could just sit cuz it was getting close to dark.

And I put out my spotting scope and I'm sitting there spotting and boom, I hear a shot go off right down where that buck was at. And I'm like, [01:02:00] no, please, no. So I'm thinking the whole time like, dang it, maybe I should have. And I'm having these mixed feelings and I go down there and there is this guy that is so excited he cannot even contain himself.

Like he is losing it. And he is so happy to see another hunter because he wants a picture with this thing and he has no way to get a picture. So he is just walking around hands on the head like, I've never shot a buck this big. Oh my God, I'm gonna mount this and I can't wait. Get home.

Can you, do you mind taking pictures? And I was so thrilled in that moment that it worked out the way it did, sure. Yeah. That's a great story. And yeah, I, to your point yeah it might not get you going and you don't always have to fill a tag, but if that animal lives awesome, or if it goes to a person whose appreciation of that animal is way up here, that's awesome too.

Yep. Yep. It's even that [01:03:00] much more meaning, right? I'd say. Yeah. Yeah. That's a cool story. Yeah. Now, since that guy had a shiny object, do we jump into it? Yeah. So this is our new segment we call shiny objects, where we talk about our current obsession and we always like to start out with the guests.

So what is your what's your current obsession right now? What do you what's been on your mind a lot lately? Oh geez. Too much probably. It's for me I would separate that into two things cuz there's a shiny object when it comes to my career and my hunting. And then there's a shiny object when it comes to being a father.

And for me, I just want to be a better father all the time. I'm gone a lot and I have two boys with two different mothers, and so I get 'em both together every other weekend. And the old saying, it's like, it's not [01:04:00] about the, it's not about the time you have, it's about the quality of the time.

I'm trying to not be like so busy in my time with them that it's not a hundred percent for them. So for me, my main focus right now is just enjoying my kids while I can at the age where they're scoring touchdowns and killing their first turkeys, those, I wanna be, I want to have more of those days together with my kids.

And that's personally the biggest thing I'm chasing in my life as far as outside of my career. But within my career, I've just, got this selective film coming out. I started this project in 2008. I started writing for this. I started filming for it, planning for it covid, got in the way two years, couldn't get to Canada, was wondering if it was even gonna happen.

And now back into full tilt production like this project has been a lot on me. Getting ready for the hunt. The [01:05:00] hunt itself, being physically able. That's been a big focus of my life for a long time, is that selective film and now that we're just like right there to, to sending it off and kicking it out, that's really the tip of mind for me.

Beyond that, I'm super excited. Next weekend at Total Archery Challenge at Big Sky. I'm launching a film called Chasing a Ghost, which is a film based on my bull elk hunt from last year. And craziest elk hunting story I've ever had. Happened to me personally on the biggest bowl of my life bowl that I had found in 2017 and knew about him, but never once put eyes on him since 2017 until four hours before I got him.

No, no trail cam picks, no nothing. I never once saw the bull on the hook. Until the day I killed him and I thought he was dead years ago. That's why I called the film [01:06:00] Chasing a Ghost. I didn't, I wasn't hunting for that bull anymore. I was just hunting for any big bull. And then he showed back up.

So I'm really excited about telling that story because since I've killed that elk, I've had other hunters come forth, which is gonna be the long version. I'm gonna this version that's gonna play at Tack is about 13 minutes long. The full film will probably end up being about 22 minutes long.

I'll show more of my process of all the trail cams that I had out, pictures that I got, other bowls I'll show like his sets of sheds that I have together, cuz I have his sheds from 17 and 18, both sets and then when I kill them. So I wanna lay all those together, talk about that. I'm taking them in to have him aged.

We're gonna document those guys. Agent him for me. And then at the end of the film, I'm gonna add in a lot more of the stuff that's come to me since, which has just been fascinating. The stories of where [01:07:00] this bull's been, where other people have seen him, putting little pinpoints on the map and just getting a better picture of this bull's life has been really cool.

So yeah, that and then this, yeah, between the selective chasing a ghost and then season 14, kicking off between the launch of those two films with the three part series on the sheep. It's just a lot of irons in the fire and a lot of projects that I'm, yeah. Really excited about. That's been the shiny object for me, is making sure that I stay the course and just give those projects everything they deserve, right to the point where we kick them out.

That's huge. Yeah, man. Do you have anything that I can top that man? No. No. I'm like, I don't want to talk about my shiny object now cuz it's like I can't, wow. I was going to say my current shiny object is I'm trying to learn how to be a farmer. And not in the matter of like food plots or anything like that.

Like I'm preparing for the end of the world, [01:08:00] so I'm like trying to be a G gardener and uhhuh, grow cucumbers and tomatoes and do that kind of thing. And then I, I didn't draw any tags this year, so I'm just gonna be whitetail hunting here and if I get, I have about a one and a billion chance of drawing an elk tag here in Minnesota.

But other than that, yeah, I'm just that's it. Shooting my new bow and the, really the, this podcast has really been a recent shiny object. If we want to talk about what's going on currently in our career. Cuz this has been just a, an amazing experience. Just, and the community is really awesome.

Everybody that I've met is amazing. And also just getting educated too just even having these conversations with you, Jason. We've had some brief conversations like out at the ATA show and stuff like that, but it's always so hard to, we're always so busy. It's so hard to actually just sit down and have a conversation, so I hope we can do this some more. You bet. But let's move on to what's Hollywood shiny thing? I don't know. I got some small stuff I guess. Not near as cool [01:09:00] as that, but any of those things. Yeah one day I'll have to poke your brain's about getting into sheep hunting, but I know that might have to come with a savings book behind it.

But yeah right now, I guess for myself or, my wife and I are under contract for a house, so that's the, there you go. That's the big stressor for me. There you go. But that's a big one beyond that. Yeah. Yeah, it's huge. I'm excited and nervous and all the things that come with that, but beyond that would be I did draw, so I get to go to South Dakota, so Yeah.

Man, be awesome. Yeah, I'll be Oh, very cool. It's kind of start. I gotta, shift my mindset to I've been doing a lot of target archery stuff. Now it's man, it's mid June. Busy season here is gonna start kicking off for us, for our bow strings and everything. And as far as the pro shop, a lot of tuning work is gonna start coming.

So I'm like, man I better start taking this time while it's slow or slower to really, start, touching out that a hundred yards and just practicing that long range just to make everything that much [01:10:00] easier. Been focusing, pretty heavily on getting back into the gym, making sure I'm ready for that.

Although South Dakota looks a little bit flatter than. North Dakota? I have you hunted. It depends. Either of you. Depends. Okay. Yeah. Cause I know there's, there's parts of Badlands there too it'll be mule deer round two for me, so I'm excited for that. Hopefully everything pans out.

I really think we do need some rain though. I don't know how out by you has been, but it's been so dry. That's, I guess the biggest thing. We're looking really good here right now. We've been getting a lot of rain, but Good. Yeah. I don't think they've been getting quite as much on the eastern half.

Yeah. But yeah. That's cool. The Black Hills, all that area is really beautiful. One of my favorite tacks I've ever been to is that Terry Peak shoot in South Dakota, Terry. Yeah. Good one. Yeah. Yeah. That was a good one. So there's a, one of our Frequent customers here. He actually came in, he had something pop up again, being a father he wants to be there for his kids'.

First playoff birth for [01:11:00] baseball, so he wants to go and, do that. And he's do you wanna go Terry Peak? I'm like, man, you know what? The house and everything and that's busy season. I'm like, I don't know. We'll see. But yeah, I've heard Terry Peak is pretty fun. I haven't been there.

So it'd be sad to see that. It's a neat area. It's like the shoot's fun. It's more low key than probably Utah and Big Sky. But then you can go see Mount Rushmore Crazy Horse Deadwood. There's just so many things around that area that are really fascinating too. Like Needles Highway.

Oh yeah, that's fun. There's just so much that's super close right there. So yeah, I enjoyed that one. What I think the next time I go back, I'll take my boys I'll probably wait. A couple years and then take the boys just so they can see, crazy Horse Mount Rushmore all those cool things like that.

Yeah. The you spoke about the big sky tac, which is, I think coming up this weekend or no. Next. It's two weekends from [01:12:00] Yeah, next weekend. Yeah, next weekend. And by the time this airs the Monday after that. Hopefully a lot of people get to your showing of chasing a ghost.

But I just wanted to talk about too big sky. I was there. Two years ago, three years ago, gosh, I can't remember now. It's been time flies by so fast. But what I really liked about Big Sky was just the family oriented environment. There's so many things to do for the whole family, and I think Terry Peak is the same weight too.

Yeah. But that big Sky shoot was a ton of fun. I'm jealous that I can't be out there, man. I just, we used to have a booth with them, but things have been just so crazy with the new acquisition the last few years, and we're really hoping to get back out there. We're hoping to get a booth back or Vapor Trail is, anyways hopefully next year we'll see how this season goes.

But yeah, my, my favorite main attraction at the Terry Peak one is a individual by the name of Rick Hansen. Oh yeah. I like Rick. He's a goofball. I like those guys. Awesome dude. Good crew over there. [01:13:00] So don't tie Rusty. Yeah. Oh, I got a shirt on here. I was gonna say, you have a shirt on right now.

Shameless plug for Rick, but oh. Yeah, I think and for people that can't you were saying that this comes out after Big Sky, but for people that didn't get to see Chasing a Ghost at Big Sky, it will be on rmf.org, so they'll have it on their website as well. Oh, great. The long form version will be on there.

Yeah. Perfect. Sweet. And then we come on Monday nights, Sportsman's channel, beginning of July. We come on seven 30 Mountain Time Monday nights. So there we go. That's where you'll be able to find us on the into high country. And then Selective Awesome will be out all over online here soon. We're gonna launch it organically here in Bozeman at an event called Ram Rendezvous.

That's we're stoked about. And then after that it's gonna go online and we're gonna try to spread that thing everywhere we can get it. So that's the plan. You're not busy at all. [01:14:00] You have to shoot me the link when it's ready to go. Yeah, for sure. We'll have to put in this episode and everything.

If we at least chasing the ghost, we can do that. But yeah, that's the beauty of YouTube is that we can plug links after the fact, after it's already been put up on YouTube. So we'll definitely link to that. Yeah, so sweet. Make sure you guys check out the show into high country. And the film Selective and also chasing a ghost for sure.

And the rest of this podcast, you can find us on Instagram at the Range podcast and on Facebook you can do that. Rick, how about you? You can find me at Ricky Wayne, 80 n i g and Ricky w Bruley on Facebook. I guess I'll also say people can find me if they really want to on Instagram at Jake Ivy.

Three. And Facebook, same Jake Iversson and Hollywood in Quotations. But Jason, how about you? I know we got into the high country in there, but you're on Instagram and [01:15:00] maybe Facebook. Yeah, you out there? No, I'm on Instagram and Facebook on under just Jason Mattsinger official. So both platforms are the same thing perfect.

Nice and easy. Yeah, I like to keep it simple. That's perfect. Not me. Yeah. Once again, thank you so much for joining us and and with that we are going to pack up our bows and arrows and we're gonna leave the range. So have a good day everybody. Peace. Yeah, thanks for having me guys. I really enjoyed it.

Appreciate it, bud. Thanks Jason. You bet. Vapor Trail is now offering an exclusive discount to the Range podcast listeners. Enter promo code T r P 15, that's t r p 15 at checkout for 15% off VTX BO Strings and Vapor Trail Andris branded t-shirts, hats, and other gear.

‍