Whitetails, Life & Side Stories

On this episode of the Nine Finger Chronicles, Dan is once again joined by whitetail nut Tony Peterson to talk about their family and their plans leading up to the upcoming season. The guys have a bit of a therapy session about their marriages and their children and how they are dealing with the stress of being a father. After venting for about 15 minutes the guys get in to a conversation about what they are doing this time of year getting reay for the upcoming season. Topics of conversation include out-of-state hunts, how deer behavior changes once they go hard horn, fitness, and sports injuries.

Just another random episode that is both entertaining and educational.

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the nine Finger Chronicles podcast. I'm your host Dan Johnson, and today we got a good one. The man, the myth, the legend, the Public Land. Dear Slayer, Mr. Tony [00:01:00] Peterson is back on the podcast and it's a fun one. They're always fun. When I get a I get to talk to Tony.

The dude is my exact age, I believe. He has kids. He's married, he likes to hunt. He's a outdoor content creator. So we have a lot in common, and I think that makes these episodes, these, we grew up in the eighties. And it makes these episodes really fun. I, it let me kind of preface this conversation that we had and sometimes things get taken out of context and I want to prepare you guys for the bitch session that I have.

I. Leading up to this leading up into this episode, I and I'm sure everybody listening can relate. I had one of those days where the family was not in sync. We were not on the same page. Me and my wife were at odds with each other. My kids were just, [00:02:00] god bless their souls, but they were not listening to me.

They were fighting. And so it all boiled over onto up into my office, onto the podcast. Usually I do a, an okay job. I always complain a little bit and bitch a little bit, but usually I do an okay job. Kind of separating work from personal life. But this episode I did not. So just a bit of a warning there.

But if I get a lot of, I get a lot of comments basically saying Hey, Dan I can definitely relate to what you're going through. I have kids myself I'm married and things like that. And so I really do appreciate it. I really do love my kids and I love my wife. And sometimes you get in arguments and sometimes things don't go well, but it's how you handle that and how you come out of it that is the strength behind the family.

And that's that's something that I gotta work [00:03:00] on every single day. Now. I just watched the YouTube video. I don't really even know who. Who built it or who made it, but it was about some guys hunting deer and mule deer and white tails in South Dakota, and it got me fired up. And I. I'm, I hit it today for some reason.

The flip has been switched and now my mind is like starting to get ramped up for the upcoming season, man. And I am fired up. My bow is shooting. It sounds like nothing. It's really efficient. Cams have been tuned, new strings put on arrows reflected, and I'm shooting darts like I've been practicing out at 60 yards.

And I'm gonna say this, I'm not like dialed in 100% at 60, but I'm telling you this, I'm hitting a paper plate at 60 every single time. And I am, dude, I'm excited about that. I shot Broadheads too. Usually I, I shoot broadheads all [00:04:00] year round, but when I went with the when I got my arrows redone and a new string on my bow, I went back and put field points on the, all my arrows.

I shot a couple broadheads last night. They're flying ridiculously good. And usually at 60 yards if you pay attention to the arrow, you can see if there's any, tail movement or if the fletching are doing their job. And my arrows, man, they look straight. They are, they look like they're flying straight and that means that they're, it's an efficient setup and I'm hammering the target and I can hear it.

Thwap at 60 yards. And man, that's a good sign. Now all I gotta do is do that to a mule deer in South Dakota and a white tail in Iowa. And I'm really hoping this year I would love this year to be a multiple state Year. I. To where I have success in South Dakota, I have success in Iowa[00:05:00] and or another state, like I really would love to, to go to another over the counter state.

I got three of them that border me here in Iowa. And so I could go take advantage of something close or I could make another big trip maybe down to Oklahoma or out even further east Ohio or something like that. And, that's still on the table. But again, I'm coaching fall baseball.

I am a man. I might be coaching soccer. I'm not a hundred percent sure yet. So yeah, who knows what's gonna happen, but I'm really looking forward to this upcoming season, man. I'm starting to get failure up, but yep. What are we gonna do today? We're gonna talk with Tony Peterson. Before I get into today's episode, though, I'm gonna run through all the sponsors real quick.

And then I'm gonna get back probably next week into some court sort of rotation with him. But real quick, man, I my buddy Josh Hilliard, he just got hired on at at tethered. So I guess that's public news now. I don't know what that means to you, but it's pretty cool [00:06:00] tethered if you're looking for saddle hunting accessories and a really good educational platform on how to become a better saddle hunter, go check out tethered nation.com.

If you're looking for, and this is my opinion, some of the best. Manufacture. Most of their heads are made in America. Some of the best broadheads on the market, both mechanical and fixed blade was bar tree.com. I do have a discount code and it is N F C two zero, and that's gonna save you 20% Vortex optics.

I'm telling you, great people, great products, and that's why they're. Damn near number one, if not number one in their space, man. They are participate pence in their category, which means that not only do they sell a product, but they're the people who work there and run the company. They are hunters, they're sport shooters.

They're, op gun and outdoor enthusiasts. And so when you have that mixture, man, it just turns out really good. And go check out one of the latest episodes of the Hunting [00:07:00] Gear podcast that I did with Mark Boardman from Vortex about all the new products that they've launched within the last year.

Next on the list is, and one that I'm really looking forward to is Code Blue. Code Blue is a a scent company and they have not only scent elimination sprays and stuff like that, but the thing that I'm really looking forward to is working with their mock scrape kit. I'm looking forward to getting.

Some mock scrapes set up this year within shooting range of some of my tree stands and hopefully it brings the big boys in to investigate. So I'm gonna be messing around with mock grapes code blue sense.com. Discount code NFC two zero for 20% off Woodman's Pal Habitat tool. It's been around since 1941, made in America.

When you hold it in your hand, you can tell it's durable. It's like a machete, and then it's got a little hook on the back end. Go to woodman's pal.com. Check it out. It's definitely something that I'm gonna be keeping in my [00:08:00] truck and in my pack this season, especially as a mobile hunter. And then last but not least, hunt worth baby.

The more that I get to know these people here at Hunt Worth, the more that I really do enjoy working with them. They're great people, regular people. And there, there's no egos at that company. It's just people who want to make the best hunting product for the most affordable price, and that's hunt worth.

Go check out Hunt worth's website and look in on all their camel patterns and all their temperature, like all the different variations of temperature gear that they have. And read up on that. And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to the end of the commercial block. I really do appreciate you guys listening to that because that's how I pay my bills and that's how this stays free.

This, all this stuff stays free. Good vibes in. Good vibes out. Have a good weekend. When you're listening to this, I'm gonna already be in Florida hitting the beach and hanging with a fam before school starts. And then [00:09:00] it's back to the whitetail woods after that, man, and I'm fired up for it.

So good vibes in, and we'll catch you on the back End 3, 2, 1. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another Tony Peterson edition episode of The Nine Finger Chronicles, my friend. How are you doing today? I'm doing good, buddy. How are you? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. You know there's days where someone says, Hey Tony, how you doing?

And you say, Hey, I'm good. But then on the inside you're like, man, fuck, this day. I'm like, 

[00:09:34] Tony Peterson: I know that. Yeah. I feel like you 

[00:09:36] Dan Johnson: have that going on right now. Yeah, a little bit of that. I got a little bit of that going on right now where I'd literally wanna leave my house and just drive until my gas tank is empty and then walk back home.

I. If that I don't know if anybody's ever had those feelings before, but I, that's what I'm going through right now. What 

[00:09:56] Tony Peterson: why, what's going on buddy?[00:10:00] 

[00:10:02] Dan Johnson: Being married is extremely hard. It is a hard thing. And I don't know when this whole shit went from cavemen to being like, I'm a man. I'm gonna bang all these, I'm gonna do whatever I want whenever I want. I'm the dominant species to, I feel like we should get married and spend the rest of our lives together.

Like when did that all happen? I'm not a history nut, but I feel like that's just saying, listen, hey, gasoline, you should get married to the this book of matches. That is what being married is like two completely different things. Forced to live, or not forced, but like that live together, that any moment could just destroy an entire neighborhood.

[00:10:56] Tony Peterson: I don't wanna sound like a total prick. Yeah. But my gut [00:11:00] reaction there is the idea of marriage either came from women or religion, I don't know. But it feels like one of those two sources brought it into our lives. Yeah. 

[00:11:11] Dan Johnson: Anyway 

[00:11:12] Tony Peterson: that's it. That's all 

[00:11:12] Dan Johnson: you got. I just, at this point, just me, it's just me bitching about things.

It's just me bitching and I'm like, I don't wanna bitch about anything anymore. Today. Yeah. Before, 

[00:11:22] Tony Peterson: before you stop bitching, do you finally realize, 'cause you and I are about the same age here. Yep. I'm to the point now where I'm like, I get it. Why 55 year old dudes are pissed at the world.

Oh 

[00:11:34] Dan Johnson: yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And here's the person who I'm in a way the most pissed at, is my dad and my uncles, or my grandparents, or my grandpa's. I'm like, I have all these people who I looked up to my entire life and not one of those assholes prepared me for what marriage is and what [00:12:00] like, Hey Daniel, just wanna set you down a second.

Talk to you a little bit about what to expect when you've been married for two years and then seven years and then, 10 years. Or like my grandparents, my grandpa's case, they both hit their 50 year wedding anniversary before they died. So not one man. So it's gonna be my goal in life.

My goal is to break the cycle of uneducation men about marriage. And I am going to tell my sons what to expect and what to do what I feel they should do. But do you know why they never did that to you? Because they're fucking mad that no one ever told them. That's 

[00:12:43] Tony Peterson: what I'm guessing.

Because you 'cause you wouldn't have believed it. 

[00:12:47] Dan Johnson: Yeah. You're probably right. That's a good answer. Oh, okay. How old were you when you got married? I was 30. I was 31. Yeah. 

[00:12:57] Tony Peterson: So if you went back to 31 year [00:13:00] old Dan, you were like, Hey, here is this absolute shit storm that's rolling your way. It's not gonna get here for a decade.

Yeah. But trust me on this, it's coming. You're gonna drive your truck until the gas runs out and then take a long fourth gum type walk back home. You'd be like, there's no way that's 

[00:13:19] Dan Johnson: happening to me. Yeah. There's no way it's that bad. There's no way it's that bad. I love my family though. I do. I love them, but man it's a struggle being married.

It's a struggle being a father. Let me ask you a question about just who you are and the household that you live in. You have two twin daughters, you have a wife. What is your patient's level like? And what, how long is your fuse and how long does it take for that fuse? To hit the t n t. 

[00:13:51] Tony Peterson: This is so short, man.

It's so short. Yeah. I am just an absolute walking contradiction because I'll tell you one thing I'm real cocky about in my life [00:14:00] right now is I am a patient hunter. Yeah. Like I, I feel like I've hit a spot where if I find something where I'm like this is the place, or this is the standard, this is the blind, I can go all day.

No problem. You give me multiple all day sits or whatever. I'm elk hunting. Whatever I feel like on that side of my life, I'm crazy patient right now. Maybe more disciplined and patient than I've ever been with anything at the opposite end of the spectrum. So maybe this is, maybe there's a psychological thing here, but maybe that pulled away any reg, like remaining patients from my regular life because my fuse is pretty short.

Yeah. And it sucks and I, it's Part of it is some of the stuff like, so we, we have just a normal split level house. I'll give you an example of what sets me off. Just small, three bedroom, two bath, normal type, suburb house, whatever. So you know how an entryway is on a split level, a small you either go downstairs, you go upstairs. Yep. When you go upstairs in our house, you go [00:15:00] up the stairs and then, there's a hallway, a kitchen, living room, whatever. But there's like the hub of travel. Yeah. If you were gonna hunt us, you would set up right at the top of our stairs because everybody's funneled through there every which way.

And my wife and my kids will leave their, there. It's like they're trying to block the one place we all have to walk through all day long. And I'm like, that there's that. It's driving me fricking crazy. And then my wife has got into this habit of just throwing her stuff on my side of the bed. So if she comes home from work and she's got like a Tupperware from lunch or whatever, I'll go to bed at night and I'll be like, why is there a Tupperware pushed onto my side of the bed?

If I come in, you never know how you're gonna enter the bed. You might come in real hot and do a flying, karate kick or something and land in there, or you might sneak in. But I'm like, if I come in the wrong way and there's glass Tupperware on my bed that blends into the comforter, 

[00:15:58] Dan Johnson: you could fucking 

[00:15:59] Tony Peterson: kill me.[00:16:00] 

And I would never do that to somebody. I would never be like, here's my stuff. I don't wanna deal with this right now, so I'm gonna push it two feet over and just leave it for you to deal with in a place. I know 1000% you are going to be there today. Yeah. Oh 

[00:16:17] Dan Johnson: man, I got a couple of those.

Things that they're like pet peeve. They're more pet peeve things, but they're pet peeves with logic behind them. Here's why I get a little upset when this happens, but I do what most men do and swallow that deep inside till it turns to absolute rage and starts affecting my health.

But one thing in our house is like the kids man, and I understand this is just parenting, but I have a very, I have a very long fuse. I'm, I feel like I'm a very patient father, but then when it is time I am [00:17:00] on, I'm a mass de, I'm a weapon of mass destruction. The neighbors can hear me.

Like when I go off my house is shaking there's a good chance I'm throwing some shit. But it usually takes me three days or an entire week, sometimes an entire month of me just repeating the same thing over and over, calm and collective until people just are safe in my presence and then the then they're not safe anymore.

If that makes sense. 

[00:17:30] Tony Peterson: 1000%. I'll tell you what, man, I have been dividing my time outdoors between taking the kids fishing or taking 'em, scouting, deer, bears, whatever, just being out there. But I've also, I also have to just get work done. Gotta get the stands hung. You gotta get some stuff scouted.

There's take kids out and have fun with 'em, but get a little bit done and then there's like mission mode. Yeah. And I've been dividing my time and when I go on mission mode and I'm by myself, I'm like, I feel so good. [00:18:00] I'm, I have this task. I don't have to think about anyone.

I don't have anybody ticking me off or like getting distracted or whatever. And man, it is like a real thing. To just need to be away from everyone and just do something that, that works for you. It's fricking tough, man. 

[00:18:19] Dan Johnson: I think all people need that. Not both. I think men and women need that, but I think men need it more.

There's just something like primitive about, like a man's needs compared to a woman's needs. I'm not a woman, never been a woman. And so I, maybe I'm wrong there, but that's just an, that's an assumption. The 

[00:18:41] Tony Peterson: I like how you needed to point that out. 

[00:18:43] Dan Johnson: Yeah. Exactly. Basically was wondering.

Yep. It's 2023. Man. Shit. The world like weren't a woman earlier. 

[00:18:49] Tony Peterson: You were always a dude. 

[00:18:50] Dan Johnson: Nope. Always a dude. If you All right, if you couldn't tell here's something that I struggle with on a yearly basis, and my wife has literally admitted this to me. [00:19:00] She says she's told me that she resents me because she has to work a regular job while I get to do what I absolutely love every single day.

Talk, hunting, talk to outdoors, get to go hunting, get to go fishing. Shit, it's noon on, or it's two o'clock on a Tuesday, I think I'm gonna go shoot my bow for an hour. I get to do whatever I want, whatever, whenever I want to do it for the most part throughout the day. And she doesn't, and she it I think it, it pisses her off.

Yeah. And in, in some worlds, I would just assume that person to be happy for me. But she admits like, she's Hey man, it pisses me off sometimes. Or her, that's not the exact words. The exact words were, I guess I resent you because you get to do what you love. 

[00:19:55] Tony Peterson: Yep. I know exactly what you're talking about, buddy.

Yeah. It, [00:20:00] and it's it's because you spend all of your time hunting and fishing and having fun. And not running a business or doing any 

[00:20:06] Dan Johnson: work. Yeah, exactly. So there's a disconnect there. Like maybe I need to like just be more vocal with her about what I'm actually doing. And being like, okay, today I'm actually doing spreadsheets and I'm actually doing copy and pasting, or I'm actually, shopping for web designers or whatever the case may be.

And so I don't know on top of that, okay, this is the shit that's getting, starting to get tricky. And I know you are gonna, you're a rookie at it. I'm a rookie at it. And that is maturing daughters. Yep. I, nice reaction. Nice reaction. Yeah. And what I mean by and I'm gonna just be blunt here, maturing daughters, my daughter is now [00:21:00] 10, she'll be 11 in February, and your girls are about to turn 12.

12 in December. 12 in December. So now we're starting to get into this. Stage of life where it's, it goes past sassiness, now we're dealing with hormones. 

[00:21:19] Tony Peterson: Okay. Yep. And 

[00:21:22] Dan Johnson: I honestly don't know how to handle that shit. 

[00:21:26] Tony Peterson: Me either. Like me either. Especially now that I don't drink. Yeah. I'm like, I dunno what to do.

Heroin. 

[00:21:33] Dan Johnson: I don't know. I'm just gonna self-medicate with narcotics until this stage in your life is over. Which it, from my, from what I've seen, it never ends. 

[00:21:45] Tony Peterson: Listen, that's always a solid option 'cause nobody ever loses control of that. Yeah. 

[00:21:51] Dan Johnson: Anyway. Yeah. I don't know what you, I like, I, it is crazy.

So she will, my daughter will, [00:22:00] I'll say, go do something. And there's some days where she'll be like, dad, come on, dad, please still act childish. And then there's other days where she will start to debate me and her debating is getting so good. I can, in my head I'm going maybe I am the asshole in this situation.

And then I shake my head, I'm like, no, I'm your dad and you gotta do it because I said, so you got it. Get outta here. Go do it. And then she gets mad and cries. And so 

I don't know, I don't know what is gonna be harder if being a husband is harder or being a father to a daughter is gonna be harder.

'cause I honestly, it's been smooth sailing with my son so far. They're just assholes. And then I call 'em assholes and then they're like, ah. And then I'm like, oh. And then we're like, oh, hey, you wanna go shoot some hoops, bud? Yeah, let's go do it, dad. Like they're. Awesome. But my daughter, she will hold a grudge against me for periods of time.

Yep. 

[00:22:59] Tony Peterson: [00:23:00] Psychological warfare, man. Yeah, they're good at it. Very good at it. 

[00:23:06] Dan Johnson: All right, 

[00:23:06] Tony Peterson: it sounds like it's time for some therapy, dude. Yeah, I know, 

[00:23:09] Dan Johnson: right? You are my therapy right now. You, this is how I get off my chest. Actually, here's a conversa here. So a while back with Aaron Lysey from the Fall podcast. Okay. We had one of these conversations before we started recording one of the fall session episodes.

And it. Like man to man we were going through some of the same issues. We got into detail about it. And this is the truth. I feel like every man, and I know men don't like to talk about their emotions and men don't like, they gotta be tough and stuff like that. But honestly, it's okay if you're like that because the world has gotten to this point with that.

But I feel like if you had a buddy just to vent to who, you guys don't even have to [00:24:00] solve any problems. The guy could listen to you bitch, and he could then just say, I understand what you're going through, and that's it. Yep. Dude, that I got a whole bunch of shit off my chest and I felt good.

Yep. 

[00:24:14] Tony Peterson: So I. Yep. That's half the reason for going fishing or pheasant hunting or deer hunting with your buddies is just a bitch and get it outta your system. 

[00:24:23] Dan Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. I think the hunting culture in North America was probably built around some of that. Like what we don't know about the history books aren't telling us is that sustainable farming happened way before people even started hunting.

And the only reason hunting became popular or is even a thing, is because Indians got fed up with their wives and were like, Hey dude, do you want to go run some buffalo off a cliff? Yeah, let's go do it. 

[00:24:53] Tony Peterson: And then they're like sitting in their teepee and they're like guess what honey? I'm gonna be gone for a few days.

Yep. Buffalo back. And it [00:25:00] just 

[00:25:00] Dan Johnson: becomes it's tradition. Yep. It's become a tra it's become a problem. We gotta go take care of it. So all. 

[00:25:08] Tony Peterson: Rewriting history books. One podcast at a time

[00:25:14] Dan Johnson: hard pivot. Now let's start talking about hunting, because, hey, do you remember the last time, I think it was the last time I talked to you? I, we started talking about scouting, some summer scouting. You said you had some scouting that you had left to do. I said that I have zero trail cameras out.

Like a while ago. I said I had zero trail cameras out. Ask me how many trail cameras out that I have out today. 

[00:25:40] Tony Peterson: How many trail cameras do you have 

[00:25:41] Dan Johnson: out, Dan? I have zero trail cameras out, so I feel extremely behind. I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit pissed at myself that I've made the excuse that I tell everybody not to use, right?

So my mission has been, you can always find time. To go do something. If you [00:26:00] can watch tv, you can find time to go do something. If you have time to just stop and relax for throughout the day, you can go do something. And so I haven't done that. I haven't followed through with my own mantra and I am I'm getting slow.

I'm slowly getting angry about it. 

[00:26:19] Tony Peterson: Why don't you go out into the woods and get some cameras 

[00:26:21] Dan Johnson: up? I know. Anything I say from this point on is just an excuse. So if I said my farm is hour and a half and three hours away, right? I can't. That's just an excuse. I'm sure there's, there has have been days.

I'm sure I get to do whatever I want so I can go set my work schedule up. Yeah. So I should go do that. But at the same time, we just bought a pontoon boat and I don't know if anybody's ever owned a pontoon boat before, but they're fun, man. I love cruising in a pontoon boat. 

[00:26:54] Tony Peterson: So you're just doing different stuff.

Yeah. Let me ask you to, do you think the reason that you [00:27:00] haven't got those cameras out and been as, as diligent with that is because, it probably doesn't change the outcome of your season A ton. 

[00:27:09] Dan Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. That's a great point. Absolutely. Absolutely. 

[00:27:14] Tony Peterson: I think we don't talk about that a lot.

Like I've got a good buddy of mine, we're actually sharing a lease this year, and the lease is just good. It just, it's always got big deer and actually gets better as the gun season opens up and deer get pushed in there and I see him, he doesn't have to scout super hard there because he knows what's gonna show up and he knows if he puts his time in the right way.

There's no reason to go out and blow him out or booger him up or whatever. He's got the formula for that spot, so it's just easier to hunt and he's got it figured out. And so you could look at it and be like, man, he's taking the easy way out. 'cause he's not doing all this work, but he's actually just working smarter.

And I, so I think sometimes that happens where you get to a point where you like either learn a spot or you just get to a stage in you're hunting where you know what you need to put in and what you [00:28:00] don't. Sometimes, you think you have to be doing stuff all the time or have to get 25 trail cameras out there, but in the back of your mind, I probably know where to go and what to do this season for the most part, it might be a difference of who's living out there and who should I target.

But I think we kinda get to a space where we know a lot of what we need to do and so some of the extra stuff just falls away. Yeah. 

[00:28:22] Dan Johnson: Yeah. And I love knowing what deer are in the area. I should say I was gonna say, Getting velvet trail camera pictures wa is one of my favorites, but I think I should change that sentence too, was one of my favorites because if it was really important to me, I feel like I would've done it already.

And honestly the more I think about it and the more the years go on, it's more to the point where trail camera images just aren't important to me until they shed their velvet and they start getting into this early season routine where there's a redistribution of bucks. And the food sources change a little bit, the, especially in [00:29:00] ag country, when the corn goes hard, then things will, then it kind of changes when the acorns are dropping, when the velvet stripped.

And so it's just an i importance level. Do, do you have trail cameras out right now? I 

[00:29:15] Tony Peterson: do, but I. I have a, I'm filming a show in Minnesota on the opener, so I'm starting on the 16th and then I'm taking my daughter to Wisconsin for bear and deer right after that. So I have, in the middle of September I have 10 days in a row where I need to be on something.

Okay. And so I, I've got stuff out right now, but I'm, I was thinking when you were talking, I'm like, my, my best strategy for trail cameras probably would be to put 'em all out on September one. Yeah. And use that two weeks to get information. 'cause like you said, there's, there are things changing and you could see this, I've wanted, a couple states where I used to focus on velvet bucks and like September one openers a lot.

Man, you can watch those deer [00:30:00] change in real time from day to day when you're, if you're glassing 'em out west on the river bottom and they go from velvet to hard antler. And sometime in the first 10 days to September, Things change. And that buck, like in, in a lot of places when you're, if you're running cameras or you're glass in that time of year, when they go velvet to hard antler, if you see them hard antler doing something, then it's time to get excited.

Yeah. Like that then it's a different deal. 

[00:30:25] Dan Johnson: Yeah. How long is that? Have you ever been able to identify how long that period of time is from when they go out of their velvet routine? They strip their antlers and then go into, how they say summer pattern versus fall pattern, and there's a switch there, but I've never heard anybody dig into the details of velvet pattern versus hard horn pattern.

Do you see a big shift in, let's say bucks in [00:31:00] general when that, when that ha happens and goes down. 

[00:31:03] Tony Peterson: Yeah. Not in general, but in specific books. Yeah. It's a total, at least in my experience, it's a total crapshoot on who's gonna stick to that summer pattern. Once they go hard, hard antler versus who's gonna just bail or who's gonna show up.

It feels there. It just feels like there's a shuffle out there. Yeah. And some of 'em stick to it, some move out, some come in and things just change, and it's, it corresponds with, like you said, the food sources are changing too. Some places you've got brows coming on strong. Some places you've got mast coming on strong.

Yeah. It's just a, it's a different thing. And they're figuring out who's top dog then. If you start looking at. Even images right now, or I've watched some bucks recently over in Wisconsin that are they wanna fight. Yeah, they're in velvet, but you can see 'em, they want to fight and they're just, they can't, they won't risk it yet.

Yeah. And there's just all these things that change, so it's who makes it through that shuffle [00:32:00] and is still, like in play. Yeah. And I think we don't I don't think we understand 3% of what actually goes on. Maybe in the first, maybe from like August 25th to September 15th would be that, like Yeah.

The biggest window you'd get, but the first 10 days of September, that shit changes. 

[00:32:19] Dan Johnson: Yeah. I, dude I agree a hundred percent. I'm not sure. All I know is that there, there is the redistribution of deer to home ranges and usually on, on my main farm, I haven't been able to. Pinpoint it quite yet on the new farm that I have.

But on the main farm there, there's a ton of deer. A ton of really big deer in the summer. And if I was to base all my everything off of just summer trail camera pictures, I would say, oh my God, I'm gonna have, three Boers on my property. All, it's gonna be amazing.

But then I start really paying attention into trail cameras that are on [00:33:00] travel corridors or pinch points throughout that period. And those bucks just disappear. Now I'm not saying all of the big antler deer disappear, but there is a redistribution. I feel like they stop being friends. You mentioned it, they fight and then there's an this is my turf.

Now you go have turf over there, or some deer will leave. And then go establish turf somewhere else. And I just, I would love to have you seen those collared deer little maps where they show the dot moving all over the year and then in November hits and it just, it goes all over.

I wish I had that type of data on past deer just to see what they did, man. Yep. 

[00:33:40] Tony Peterson: That's, I've been thinking about this a lot. Even like my most reliable bucks that I've ever found that I'm like, I'm gonna go kill that deer opening night. They're not super consistent. Yeah. Like they, they're, they can be pretty consistent, but it's, I'm never like 1000% confident I'm gonna go [00:34:00] in there and they're gonna be there because it, it's often enough where they're not, it's kinda like a rutt hunt where you're like, this is the best funnel on the property. It's November 5th, I'm going in here and it's going to happen. And then some days you just have a terrible haunt and you're like, I don't know why do pulled them away, whatever. But there's just a lot to it that we don't know. And that immediate preseason situation gets pretty squirrely.

But it's also fun. It's like when you see somebody stick around or somebody new show up, it's, I don't know, man. I like that stuff a lot. Yeah. 

[00:34:33] Dan Johnson: So you mentioned, I believe it was in, in the last episode that you had some scout you were in, you were getting ready to go do some scouting, and then before we started recording, you said you've been scouting your balls off lately.

Yep. So talk to me a little bit about where the, like where this scouting took place and why you're focusing on these areas. 

[00:34:56] Tony Peterson: Part of it's been in southeastern Minnesota. On a couple [00:35:00] private places where I'm just trying to find a good one that I can kill early. And I'm trying, so that's like a, everybody knows that, right?

I'm on alfalfa, I'm on beans water where I can find it. Like e evening sit stuff. But I'm also devoting some time to figuring out some morning spots because I don't want to, I don't sit out mornings and so I'm like, these deer that I'm finding, is there a way to sneak in and kill 'em in the morning? And so that's like more of what I'm focusing on for scouting.

'cause it's harder to figure out than just okay, there's bucks come out into the beans. Where do I gotta set up to kill 'em? And then the other thing is, I've been in North central Wisconsin a lot. And I've got a couple different goals there, right? The girls will be hunting some of our private stuff and I'm like, I just wanna find two patentable bucks of whatever size Yeah.

That I could get them on in addition to some of the bear stuff we've got going on. But I'm looking for I finally have a [00:36:00] window. For the last couple years I haven't been able to do it 'cause I've had to film. But this year I can hunt up there on my own. My, like I don't have to worry about that bss.

And so I'm like, where can I find a big one on public up there? So I'm doing, I'm all over the map and it's, anything that I've haunted up there in the past and killed bucks on public private has changed because that winter last year, it's, it made the woods so gnarly and so difficult to get through that like any travel pattern I might've had before, which is usually what I'm hunting in that, especially in that big woods stuff.

It has totally changed. So it's like walking into a new woods that's 10,000 times harder to walk through than it 

[00:36:39] Dan Johnson: was last year. And what was the reasoning for that? Like a bunch of tree kill or something like that? 

[00:36:46] Tony Peterson: No, it was super heavy snow last year. Like any, if you go into the woods it's all the little poplar trees are bent over, like u-shape, right back to the ground.

But they didn't die. So it's like they grow,[00:37:00] so they're leafed out on the bottom and then it knocked down tons of trees, tops of pine trees, whole trees. And so it's like a different world though. It's really hard to describe, but when you walk in there, it's like a it sucks.

Yeah. It's so different. And so I know there's gonna be a. Some edge stuff. There's gonna be some patterns that I like. I have to figure them out now. Yeah. Because what I counted on before if you had an old logging road that healed off of some bluff or something like that, it's that probably won't be what they're using anymore.

Yeah. And so part of it's kind fun 'cause it's like a new challenge. Yeah. But part of it is just 

[00:37:41] Dan Johnson: frustrating. Yeah. I believe that, man. So we had a a big de ratio come through Iowa several years ago, and it just broke trees. It knocked down, it knocked everything out if the tree limb was even questioned, in [00:38:00] question in strength it was coming down.

Big trees tipped over, and so the first year it was just like a lot of deadfall, but now all that sunlight's getting to the forest floor and the property used to not have trees in it. It used to be. Not all of it because there are some pretty mature trees in there, but it used to be more cattle pasture where it was all cattle ground and so that, that sunlight got on there and so now it's just a multi flower rose and honeysuckle just nightmare, basically.

But I will say this, man, I don't care if some of that stuff is invasive dear, love hanging out in it. And again, I had to, I lost the property ultimately, but the goal was to just to try to find the new edge, try to find the thickets that they were betting in, try to find where they're crossing into the ag.

And again, it was frustrating for me because I put all my time and [00:39:00] energy into this landscape that has now changed. And so it's starting from scratch. Yeah, it's al 

[00:39:08] Tony Peterson: There's always something like that. Yeah. Hey, can we back up a second? 'cause you said something earlier that I was gonna, I was gonna comment on and I forgot.

Yep. When you talked about having that property where your summer pictures, you're covered in bucks, by the time you're October one open at opener happens down there, things are gonna be totally different. Like the velvet pictures that you get don't necessarily do you a whole lot of good by the time you get on them. Yep. I don't think a lot of hunters think about that. Especially if you hunt a small property. As an example, I just got permission to hunt 25 acres by my house and I thought that I've been toying with this thing a while and I didn't think it was gonna happen.

And it did happen. And I got to walk it with the landowner. And I know that doesn't sound like very much, but in the suburbs it's a huge wind for me. Yeah. It's seven minutes from my house. It's got plenty of deer in turkeys. And so anyway we're walking through this place and he like, I'm like, oh, is there water here?

And he is yeah, I'll show you the [00:40:00] pond. And there's a bunch of cool features there. But I started looking around and I know the general area. There's like a sod farm next to it and then there's an actual farm with some ag on it to the north. And I was talking to the landowner and he was telling me about the deer he sees now and it's all do and fawns.

And I'm like, I bet you don't see too many bucks in here throughout the summer. And he's we never see bucks here in the summer. It's not until mid-October. And it's, 'cause those bucks are summering, in the, in that situation, five properties over, even though they're only, half a mile to a mile away.

Yeah. But if you were running, I don't have any cameras out there yet, but if you were running cameras there, you'd be like, this place sucks. Because there's no bucks here. But guess where they're gonna go when the people start hunting those farms? The leaves start falling down, the crops start getting picked, they're gonna be like, we're going to a safe place that is these smaller parcels that somebody lives on.

And a lot of them don't get hunted. And so that goes both ways. So if you're doing a lot of scouting out there right now, and [00:41:00] you, especially if you're limited to a small property, a lot of times what you see now is not what you get during hunting season. Yeah. 

[00:41:07] Dan Johnson: A lot of people talk about pressure and how pressure affects deer and their behavior and all that stuff, but I think there's also something natural, if that's the word that happens with deer when fall starts to get here.

And even in a very low pressure state on low pressure properties like here in Iowa, compared to other places like I I see just deer in general, becoming more aware of their surroundings. In the fall, and maybe it's just something that, that's been taught to them for gen, just generations of hunting and watching a do go the air's getting cooler.

That means it's hunting season however a deer thinks. I, I don't think they think like that, but just watching their, 'cause yesterday I sat and I watched, [00:42:00] which I'm gonna say is 150 inch, 10 pointer right off the road, mill around in the c r p field at about 70 yards from me. And he just looked up at me and then he went back to feeding and he looked up at me and then he ultimately walked off.

But my experience is if that happened to me in October, gone, regardless of the hunting pressure around. Yep. I don't know, I don't know what that means per se, but it's definitely something to think of when. Eh, when you start talking about pressure, and if that's the case, I just think certain deer are more are more jumpy than others.

[00:42:43] Tony Peterson: And I think when you look at a situation like that, though, it's very hard to imagine. So you think, okay, you see that deer on a place that doesn't get hunted and you know it, right? Yep. And so you're like, wow, he's really calm now, but he wouldn't be in October. Why? Yeah. It's like maybe half of his [00:43:00] half of his home range might be on a place that gets hunted.

You know what I mean? You don't really know, but they also do just seem to get less tolerant. And I think this is a totally wild theory, but when I do a lot of photography in the summer, especially in northern Wisconsin, you're driving down a gravel road and you see a deer on the edge of the road.

You pull up there so often they just jump into the woods and they stop five, 10 yards in there and they stop and look. Regardless of size. And it's like they just know they're in the cover and they're probably not as visible. And I think that in the summer they're just more confident. I can just get away.

If the, if he gets outta the truck, I can get into cover in a heartbeat, three bound and it's over. They don't have that same feeling once the leaves fall. And things get a little more open. But I, dude, I think we just don't, I think we don't understand their daily lives at all. Like I was listening to one of Rogan's podcasts the other day where he was interviewing a dude who spent a ton of time in the jungle, in the rainforest, in the Amazon.

And he [00:44:00] was talking about anacondas and they're studying them and how they operate in that world. And he was, he said something about how older Anacondas sometimes figure out where the salt licks are in the jungle and then they go there and they wait for pry or something, slope or something to come in and you think about a snake learning and I don't know how big their territory is.

No clue. But they learn where a little, natural mineral lick might be. And understand that if I go there and I wait, these animals are gonna show up. And so that's like part of their hunting ground. Then you think about a deer and what they know. I don't think we have a clue what's really going on out there.

I 

[00:44:42] Dan Johnson: think that's more binary with how they think or senses, right? So if they smell something or taste something, they know they can identify things that we can't, right? They can't lick the dirt and go, Hey, is this is this gonna be where other animals that I can hunt go? What they've done is, and [00:45:00] this is, it's like conditioning through, just just re repeating the same thing or finding success over and over again and that.

The polar bear, I I listened to a a scientist talk about a polar, the polar bear, and. What happened was, and this is through like there, there used to not be polar bears, thousands and whatever, throw a number out there. But what happened was is that one time a brown bear, more than likely gave birth to a white baby.

Not necessarily albino, but it had a lighter skin color. As that lighter skin color or a lighter fur color it was able to hunt more and it got more success. So it was able to reproduce and pass it to genetic on over and over again. So it had white babies. And then guess what? Those white babies.

Started becoming more successful to eventually an area that's probably snow covered. These d [00:46:00] these bear are becoming better predators. Meanwhile, the all of the bear that had brown had to go somewhere else to find success hunting. And so that's just how, basically what he was doing is explaining how genetics works and how it played its role in evolution.

It's natural selection, man. Yeah. Natural 

[00:46:21] Tony Peterson: selection. There's so many examples of that out there. Yeah. There's, I know that people get all worked up over this and like evolutions of theory, it's not in the way that you're saying it. Yeah. Like it's, we it's been proven a million times over in different ways like that and they, I mean we, what I don't wanna get into trouble here, but it drives me crazy that I.

We could fight against the argument for natural selection, say there's no proof like that. And yet we, we accept without question, that I can artificially select for certain traits in dogs and in five or 10 generations give you a dog. That's totally different [00:47:00] than I started with. Yep. That exhibits the genetic traits that we want for, and then you think like nature can't do that.

Nature's not forcing those. Like 

[00:47:09] Dan Johnson: of course it's, yeah. Yeah. It's just that man has the ability to shorten that timeframe. What could take a thousand years can be done in, like Bri, I'm not a hundred percent sure on this, but I really think that the way genetics works and how they have it, if you wanna spend the money you can take.

A sperm, and you can take an egg and you can break it down and look at genetics, a gen, the genetic coating of it and say, I want this baby to have blue eyes. I want it to have blonde hair. I want it to be lean in lean in body makeup, and I want it to be six foot eight. I think they have the ability to do some of that stuff now.

They're working on it, 

[00:47:53] Tony Peterson: and it, yeah they're working on that in a whole bunch of different ways. I interviewed a dude for my dog podcast [00:48:00] who is like an at-home crispr enthusiast with his dogs, and there's like a whole kind of underground culture of people who are trying to do that with their pets.

Yeah. Which is wild and not government funded, not with, multimillion dollars worth of resources. It's pretty wild. Dude I just it's not out yet, but I've got a foundations episode, a Wired hunt Foundations episode out or coming out called creepy crawly cuddle puddles.

But one of the things that I researched for that was ancestral phobias. Whether you're scared of snakes or spiders or what is the heights? What is the thing that really does not work for you? Yeah. And they've done research on this with mice where they will expose mice to a cherry blossom, which has a very distinct smell and a stressful situation.

So it didn't like a panic inducing situation, so it didn't specify what that was, but I'm assuming it could be anything from showing them a video of a snake [00:49:00] to, putting a something that they would be scared of. While there's this olfactory. Situation going on with the cherry blossom, and then they test cherry bro.

Like how do they, what's their metabolic response? Like the offspring to smelling cherry blossom? Okay, I see where you're going with this. Yeah. These mice have babies that have never been exposed to the panic inducing thing that their parents or grandparents were exposed to, but what's their response to smelling that cherry blossom?

And for generations, it's straight fear. Wow. Which is freaking wild. But you think about why I hate spiders. I hate 'em. Yeah. Like they're my thing. Why do we have those? I'm not, I live in Minnesota, dude. I don't have, they're spiders are generally not a threat to me at all. Yeah. Anyway, I think that shit's fascinating.

[00:49:56] Dan Johnson: Yeah. And that all comes back to deer hunting. These deer are [00:50:00] learning, they're adapting. They know maybe it is stress related portions of the fall that in vitro these, these animals, they're getting chased all through their first trimester of their, for the most part they're struggling the first trimester.

And so when they, when that stress continues on certain times of year, every single year like you said, they're gonna be able to figure that out. It's gonna get passed down to generations. And it's almost okay, I can smell the difference in the air. It's time to start getting worried a little bit more about things.

Yep. 

[00:50:39] Tony Peterson: I think about that stuff. If you take that Northern Wisconsin I keep talking about, they've got. Bears, bobcats, coyotes, and people, essentially some wolves too, depending on where you're at. But I'll bet you, even though they might not be able to acknowledge it very well, those deer understand when bears are a threat versus [00:51:00] when people are a threat.

Yeah. If it's June and those fas are on the ground, the number one thing they gotta worry about are bears. Yeah. If it's November, if it's Thanksgiving weekend, the number one thing they gotta worry about is 600,000 gun hunters out there. Like I bet. I bet they're aware that stuff's coming.

Yeah. 

[00:51:18] Dan Johnson: So after that side conversation what else are you doing right now other than heavy scouting to prepare for the upcoming deer season? 

[00:51:36] Tony Peterson: Shooting. Yeah. Staying in shape, working out a lot. Just just trying to transition into the mode, the fall mode, and a lot of it is, how this is, a lot of it is just, okay, I gotta come to grips with my schedule.

I gotta get that shit laid out. 'cause somebody's gotta watch the kids. Somebody's gotta get 'em to school when I do this, when I do that. And so a lot of it's just like this mental thing [00:52:00] where you're like, okay, on this trip I need this camping gear on this trip. I need this. This is gonna be the timing.

What am I gonna, what am I gonna focus on the timing of this trip versus this one? Or if I don't kill a bear, or Lila doesn't kill a bear, or whatever right away. Like, how do we, how do I work this into my schedule to make sure we have our best chance before that season closes? Yeah. And so a lot of that stuff for me is just thinking about it.

Like how do I make this work the best way I can and be as efficient as possible when I know there's a million variables that can screw up my plans? 

[00:52:33] Dan Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense, man. You brought up fitness. I was thinking about this as a topic of conversation, 'cause I know you work out a lot.

I work out a lot. What would you do if you couldn't, like how would you change if you couldn't work out anymore?

[00:52:53] Tony Peterson: I would change for the worst in a lot of ways. Yeah. I think I would, at this point in my life, I would always try to figure out a [00:53:00] way to make it happen. Yeah. Whether it's something I gotta do in the pool or whether it's, at the gym or whatever. However, I gotta do it. I'm gonna keep doing it.

And I'll tell you, I had a situation recently that really opened my eyes 'cause it, my, my thing. As bow hunters, we think about oh man, what would happen if you were out wake boarding and ripped your bicep muscle off your arm or something? You can't bow hunt like, okay, you cross bow hunter or something like that.

But the fear is like getting an injury where you can't hunt, but an injury where you can't work a out to me is the same kind of fear. And I, yeah. So I've had this issue, I've felt like I've had a hernia for a long time and my wife's yeah, you probably got a little, you just gotta be careful with it.

And I've never had a, like a real problem with it. I've always had to be really careful about some kind of lifting, like deadlifts and squats and stuff. Like I, 'cause I could feel it. Yeah. Three weeks ago I was doing abs at the gym and I was on an incline bench and I was like halfway up and I coughed and that sucker 

[00:53:57] Dan Johnson: popped.

Oh my God. 

[00:53:59] Tony Peterson: And [00:54:00] I will tell you what, I've had a couple injuries in my life that just went Here's straight focus. Everything else is gone. When I almost ripped my knackers off on that fence post down in Oklahoma, that was a time where it was like everything shrunk down to that moment.

Yep. When I felt that pop and I had to push my intestine back in through that muscle, I was like, holy shit. And yeah. 

[00:54:27] Dan Johnson: Never 

[00:54:28] Tony Peterson: had that happen. I know it's, you wanna talk and it's it didn't like, it wasn't like overly painful, but it was a very uncomfortable feeling. Oh my God. Very uncomfortable. Oh my God.

And so I can't even remember where I was going with that. Anyway, I, it was a reminder to me, and my wife's a pt, so she's yeah, dude, here's your options. And everybody's go get surgery. And she's You don't wanna get surgery if you don't have to. You never wanna get cut until you need to get cut.

Yeah. Essentially is her thing. And of course she's a pt, so she views it that way. A surgeon would be like, [00:55:00] come on in, bro. Yeah. But it's, she was like, you have to think about you're breathing when you lift and you have to think about how you're doing this stuff now. Yeah. And so I've, in the last couple weeks, I've had to like, reinvent what I do when I'm at the gym because I don't want to feel that again.

And there's times where that happens where the, your guts will get stuck out and pinched off and the blood flow and it's, it can get I've learned all about it and 

[00:55:27] Dan Johnson: it all sucks. Yeah. If you were a pig, we'd just smack your, take you by your back legs and smack your head against the barn door and then put you in a burn pile.

I gotta tell a story about the most pain I've ever been in and. It was it stemmed from a rugby accident. So in rugby it's like a mixture of football and soccer. So the pace is soccer, the intensity is football, right? So you I got tackled. I was running the ball. I got tackled. [00:56:00] But a guy came up behind me and pushed me sideways.

So I was and if you don't know anything about rugby, you, once you get tackled, you have to place the ball down. And then a group of your own teammates come and it's called a ruck, and they ruck over top of you and push out the they pushed the other team off of you. And that Este establishes this new line of scrimmage and then a guy will come and pick the ball up.

I placed the ball between, instead of laying down in a fetal position and then placing the ball and letting guys come over top of me. I was out of position and placed the ball between my legs, and as my teammates came over me, one of them stepped on my genitalia and basically put all their weight on my nuts, and it went like this and it popped and it felt like I got racked and it hurt, but that's not where the pain came.

The pain came about two [00:57:00] weeks later when I'm working my job, working my college job, and all of a sudden this needle type pain. And I want, you want to talk about someone, a lot of people say, oh, I felt like I was getting stabbed. This hurt more than getting my finger cut off. Did I?

And it just, it sent sparks through my whole body. And so long story short, what happened was the vast deference what ultimately gets cut in a vasectomy, there's two layers in it. And so the top layer ripped the bottom layer. The inner layer was protruding out of it, it got infected and then swollen and everything.

So ultimately they had, I had to have the surgery where they pushed that back down in and put a stitch in the top layer. And that my friends, was the worst pain I've ever been in my entire life. 

[00:57:55] Tony Peterson: Yeah. Gnarly. Gnarly. 

[00:57:58] Dan Johnson: Yep. So [00:58:00] just a lot of, just a lot of side stories. That should be the title of this episode.

Yeah. Dear and side stories, 

What was I gonna talk about before I interrupted and derailed this? Oh, whatever. Working out people are pretty much used to our conversations by now. People love them. All I hear is, dude, I love when Tony's on, I love when Tony's on and I get these people who are just like you're so authentic.

I really appreciate that. And Hey, we're authentic humans, buddy. I like it. 

[00:58:30] Tony Peterson: I like it too. Yep. 

[00:58:33] Dan Johnson: You are, you're, you've done a lot of scouting, but you're also in the process of is you are now or you're starting to bait for bears? 

[00:58:43] Tony Peterson: I'm not yet probably in the next two weeks. Okay. 

[00:58:46] Dan Johnson: All right. 

[00:58:47] Tony Peterson: It, where we're hunting is almost two and a half hours from my house.

Yep. And my buddy has land over there, so he's got a tag too. So we try to do every other weekend once we start baiting. 'cause we can't bait every day. Yeah. It's just, [00:59:00] we, there's just no way to pull it off. But if you can get enough consistency where at least every weekend that food's showing up and they get a little bit conditioned to checking it.

Yeah. But then it seems to work pretty well, but it's, you, have you ever hunted bears? Never, man. It's a weird deal. We've got guys like Clay Newcomb, who's, bears are like his thing. Yep. Yep. They are not my thing. I love baiting them. I think that part of the hunt is my favorite part by far.

When they start showing up and it's just like a, it's a cool feeling walking in there, knowing. Like they, they're not that far away and they know you're there. Like I just, I like that. I like having a proximity to 'em. 'cause they're just, you don't see 'em very often, but hunting them just does not, it is not my thing.

Yep. 

[00:59:45] Dan Johnson: Jim Shockey had a video once where he was taking a boat along the ocean out in Western Canada and then he would find a river that, or a stream that would come off the beach and then he'd get [01:00:00] out and he would walk up those rivers and basically still hunt the, with a bow. He still hunts them.

And I thought, dude, that would be so cool. But there's something about I don't know. And I've had people say it's one of the best. It's it's, they love it. They love sitting in the tree stand. They love baiting sitting over bait and hearing them come in and you can hear 'em click and pop and roar or whatever it is they do and they're vocal and things like that.

But for me, like artificial bait, like maybe if it was a, you found a dead carcass in the woods and you're like, I'm gonna sit over this 'cause this is my best chance. But when guys are bringing like loafs of bread soaked in honey and lucky charms and things like that, there's some like I can't talk shit on it 'cause I've never done it, but I just don't find that style interesting at this moment.

[01:00:53] Tony Peterson: It's tough, man. 'cause it, in so many situations, it's really the only way you're gonna do it. Yeah. Like it's really the [01:01:00] only way. And I know everybody's who hasn't done, it'd be like, go find some acorns or something. It's it's just not like that. Yeah. It's, I hunt and bear country a lot.

The amount of bears I've actually seen incidentally from a tree stand is maybe two. Yeah. It just doesn't happen. And that's hunting places where you would think they would be and you're hunting around 'em. So it's like a necessary evil. But I'm the same way. I like the process.

I just don't enjoy sitting there that much over a ba it just, I just don't, I will say this though, if you do the work and then you're sitting there and you hear one or see one coming in, you forget about that shit pretty quick. And you're like, this. It's pretty cool. And for me this year, I'm just excited to get my daughter on the process.

Oh yeah. Like I, I don't care about myself. Like I'm not, I prob I won't hunt them right away. I'll take her and I just, I don't care about killing one myself that much, but I'm enjoying the process of getting her involved. And I [01:02:00] know sitting there with her, she's gonna lose her mind. So we have a bear or her mind if we have a bear come in.

[01:02:05] Dan Johnson: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Makes a lot of sense. It sounds like we both, really what it sounded like was you got your life together and I don't type of conversation. 

[01:02:16] Tony Peterson: That's a lot. That's total smoke in ears. My life is a shit show. 

[01:02:23] Dan Johnson: But you got some scouting, you got some bear hunting to look forward to.

Man I'm just, I leave for Florida on Saturday. And so when people are listening to this, I'll be in Florida, but then that Sunday I'm making like, I'm just gonna, I'm making it happen. I'm going to go put some trail cameras up. And what, 

[01:02:44] Tony Peterson: Hey, hold on. What's in Florida that you feel the need to head down there in August?

Oh, 

[01:02:49] Dan Johnson: me feel the need to head down there in August? Yeah. Or you mean the other people? 

[01:02:55] Tony Peterson: How did you come to be where you're ending up in Florida in August. Okay. 

[01:02:58] Dan Johnson: This is how it went. [01:03:00] I want to go to Florida. And my response was, I don't care. And then she bought the hotel and bought the tickets.

So we're going to Clearwater, Florida, right on the beach, and we're going to potentially go to Bush Gardens to see, I don't know the I I'm in one of these moods about it where I'm gonna go and I'm gonna have a ton of fun with my family, but I don't like, I don't care. I like, it's not necessarily the location per se.

Yeah. It's the people that I'll be with and I'm okay with it, man. It's gonna be fun. 

[01:03:36] Tony Peterson: Did, does your wife know that Florida is there in February and March 

[01:03:39] Dan Johnson: too? Yeah, she does know that. She does know that. Oh, okay. And I think she knows that. But so we looked at the 10 day forecast and it's and I know it rains in Florida almost every day, just like storms come through, but the 10 day forecast made it look like it's gonna rain the whole time we're down there.

And I think it would be cool [01:04:00] is if there's actually a hurricane coming, but I don't think there is. 

[01:04:06] Tony Peterson: I don't know. Are you gonna fish down there at all? Probably 

[01:04:10] Dan Johnson: not. We are gonna go on a seashell 

[01:04:15] Tony Peterson: cruise though, you know what you should consider doing at the very least. Okay. Do you own any travel rods that you can pack in your, you should get one.

And a very limited assortment. You can find fishing down there, especially in the summer on the beach where there'll be like glass minnows pushed up and there might be tarpon and snook and other stuff close to shore that you can catch. Yeah. But I don't know. I have several travel rods now.

We go to Florida every year and man, you can find some good fishing just messing around on the beach or some of the canals and it's like a matter of packing, just a little bit of extra stuff. And then your kids like, I, I [01:05:00] don't know. I would at least consider it. Then it gives you an option. That's pretty freaking fun.

[01:05:05] Dan Johnson: Yeah. It would be cool to catch like a 200 pound Goliath grouper. I would set 

[01:05:11] Tony Peterson: your sights a little bit lower. Okay.

Why not a 17 foot great 

[01:05:17] Dan Johnson: white if we're exactly. And so we're, we've, we gotta play this low key because my boys and my daughter, they've never been on a plane before. My daughter's gonna be fine, but my boys man, they might get a little, come take off in landing, or if we have to fly through any type of turbulence, there is a good chance that my oldest boy comes apart.

And just real. Yeah. Oh he could get freaked out by this whole thing. How old is he? He's eight. Eight. But yeah. But to be fair to him, he had some P T S D from that de ratio that came through. The, when he saw the tree blow over in the house and he sh saw the neighbor's [01:06:00] lawn furniture basically levitate across our yard.

He got really freaked out about that and he's just now coming out of the, I'm afraid of all thunder and lightning stage. Yeah. Yeah. 

[01:06:15] Tony Peterson: That sucks. Yeah. 

[01:06:18] Dan Johnson: Thanks for the compassion, Tony. 

[01:06:20] Tony Peterson: Me, I don't dunno what to tell you other than to maybe toss him a quarter of a Xanax when you're in the airport or something.

[01:06:28] Dan Johnson: He sleeps for three days. 

[01:06:30] Tony Peterson: Level him out a little bit. He might not care too 

[01:06:32] Dan Johnson: much. I think if we have our devices and we have headphones, they should be okay. Yeah, you'll be, he'll be fine. Yep. So that's what I'll be doing. I'm looking forward to getting back and deploying the cameras and starting to take Intel and do some tree stand work, but, It's summertime, man.

We're I'm really, I don't wanna, I don't like to rush things, but I am looking forward to school starting again so I can start pounding [01:07:00] work again and start like just getting ready with no distractions throughout the day. 

[01:07:06] Tony Peterson: Yeah, I get that. 

[01:07:08] Dan Johnson: Yep. Tony Peterson, I appreciate your time today. Thank you as always, and we'll talk to you when we talk to you.

Yeah, buddy. Thanks for 

[01:07:16] Tony Peterson: having me on.

[01:07:21] Dan Johnson: And there you have it. Ladies and gentlemen, huge shout out to Tony, man. I really appreciate every time this guy comes on like I said, it's really fun talking with him. So kudos to Tony. Huge shout out to tethered wasp, vortex Code Blue Woodman's Pal, and Hunt Worth. Please go out and support the companies that support this podcast.

And if there is, if you guys have any questions about the products or you're looking for a discount code, like I have a discount code for Vortex that I can give you. But you have to go to a third party website to use it. So hit me up or if you have any questions about products that I use or that sponsor this show, hit me up on Instagram.

And I think we'll just cut it short there.[01:08:00] Good vibes in, good vibes out. And if you're gonna be in a tree where your damn safety harness,

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