00:00:01 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your guide to the White Tail Woods presented by First Light, creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First Light Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host, Mark Kenyon. 00:00:19 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Podcast. This week on the show, I'm joined by Brian Lemke of The Deer Society to discuss his double booner twenty twenty three season, the lessons he learned along the way, and his favorite late season protactics. All right, welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, brought to you by First Light in their Camel for Conservation initiative, which I love, love seeing him give them back to the National Deer Association and making good things happen for deer deer hunters. And today on the podcast, we are talking to a deer hunter who's had some pretty good things happened to himself this year, talking to Brian Lemke. He is the co owner of Almandai Productions. He is the host of the Deer Society podcast and a frequently seen hunter on the Deer Society YouTube channel. You know, diehard deer hunter from the Upper Midwest, and he has wrapped up or has just about wrapped up and absolutely banner hunting season. This year. He has killed his biggest buck ever, not once but twice this season and broke that magical one hundred and seventy inch mark both times. You know, it's it's not every year that that happens, not every lifetime that that happens for a lot of people. So I want to have Brian on the show to talk through this season, talk through those hunts, talk through the kind of unique circumstances in each one. One was one of those hunts that goes on for years, and one of these hunts was in some ways a surprise, and you know that's how hunting goes sometimes. So I wanted to talk to him about how these came together, what he learned along the way, the tactics, the strategies, the approaches he took that led to this extra special season, And then I wanted to wrap it up with a discussion around the late season. You know, for those of us still trying to fill a tag at this time of the year in December or January, what are some of those things that can work that can help you close the deal and wrap up your year on a high note. So that is the game plan today. I think it's a it's a fun conversation. We cover some good stuff. I think you're gonna enjoy it, and I think it's a perfect way for us to head into the holidays kind of on a lighter note. Right, We're gonna hear, We're gonna hear some fun stories, We're gonna learn some things, but mostly we're gonna celebrate hunting season. We're gonna celebrate this great fall that is now kind of edging towards the end, which is always bittersweet. But as we approach Christmas in the new year, I think heading into with a smile on her faces is the way to go. So well, that all said, and without any further ado, let's get to my chat with Brian Lenkey. All right with me now on the show. First time guest. We've got Brian Lemke. Brian, welcome the show. 00:03:20 Speaker 3: Appreciate it, thanks for having me on. Yeah, I'm excited. 00:03:23 Speaker 2: I'm glad we're doing this, glad to connect. We haven't really got to talk at all in the past, but I've been checking out your work for a number of years now, watching some Dear Society videos, listening to some of the podcasts, and I've enjoyed it, and so you've you've been on the list of like, hey, I got to get a hold of Brian someday. So glad it happened, and appreciate you making time to do it. 00:03:45 Speaker 3: Yeah, I appreciate it, man, And have obviously seen and listened to a lot of your guys' podcasts and you do a great job. Definitely a fan and yeah, fortunate to jump on here with you and have a conversation and feelings mutual. 00:03:58 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, there's there's good, good things to talk about today, because it seems like you've been having like a season for the ages. Is this ranked right up there at the top for you? 00:04:09 Speaker 3: Yeah, it does. You know, it's it's crazy to think, you know, growing up as a little kid, you know, started hunting. I grew up in Pennsylvania. My dad got me into hunting and been hunting since a little kid, you know, watching all the old school guys, you know, the Michael Waddell's and the Buckmasters, and you know, it was always a dream of mine to you know, hunt big deer, and not just hunt big deer, but be in the industry and all these things. And then you know, you look at you know, Pennsylvania, we didn't have giant deer. I mean, I can remember my first year was still still super out of his little nine pointer, and you know, you grow and your goals changed as a hunter in different things, and always had dreams of shooting a deer of a certain caliber, whether it's a booner or you know, a big one, and have had, you know, a lot of opportunities over the years to shoot some pretty good deer. And I can remember, you know, growing up as a kid, it's like, man, I'm by thirty years old, I want to shoot a deer that's one seventy year bigger. You know. Then the years go on and go on, and I'm thirty four years old, and you know, it's something that you dream of your entire life. And fortunately in Minnesota finally was able to shoot my first year. It was over one seventy a booner, and then a few weeks later go to Iowa and shoot another one. So to say it was a dream season is kind of an understatement for me. I mean, I'm fulfilled, definitely. I've made a lot of memories over the years, but as far as deer hunting wise, it's definitely go one to remember. 00:05:32 Speaker 2: Yeah, So I think there's a lot of us that grew up in a place like Pennsylvania or Michigan like me, or other states like that, you know, down the southeast Northeast, those regions where we watched TV. We watched the hunts in the Midwest, and we see these big, giant bucks and then we're thinking, man, I want to someday kill a big deer. But you know, maybe that's not around. It is more and more of these days in many states, but maybe we're not seeing one seventies in Pennsylvania all the time. Definitely not in Michigan all the time. 00:06:00 Speaker 3: No doubt. 00:06:01 Speaker 2: What what do you think it was it for you when you first made that switch to at least trying to target like older deer. And I'm not sure when when that was for you or if that was right away, but I know for me, like for most of my childhood and teenage years, it was like, I want to kill any buck that was like was a challenge that I hadn't figured out. And then it wasn't until I was like twenty one, I think when I decided okay, three and a half year old, I want to try to kill a deer like that, and that required a huge shift in everything I did. When did that? If you had a shift like that, when did that happen for you? And what were the things you had to change or saw the most success with once you changed? 00:06:40 Speaker 3: Yeah, you know it's interesting. So, you know, started bowl hunting when I was twelve, and was fortunate shoot a deer when I was twelve with a ball and thirteen and again just we're talking little little deer and it was so happy. And fourteen and then I think I was It was a fall of when I was fourteen or fifteen. My dad had always wanted to go on and outfit at on his entire life and finally saved up enough money and thought I was at the age and kind of experience level that he could take me with, so he booked a hut at Bluff Country Outfitters in Buffaloky, Wisconsin. I know you've been there, you know, Tom and Laurie and Shane and absolutely unbelievable people people. So went up there and ended up shooting I probably a three and a half year old one hundred and thirty five inch year and was like on top of the moon. I thought I was a rock star. I'm like, I am fricking Michael Waddell. This is it, Like I am the man, you know. So in doing that, just built a really good relationship with Tom and Laurie, fell in love with their place and the people in the Midwest, and actually started coming up here in the summers to Wisconsin and working for Tom and just learning as much as I could. So, you know, it was one of those things where he would like ended up going to college in Madison, Wisconsin, and I'd come up all summer and work and then he'd let me on some but it was just spending time around Tom and Shane and Lori and those kind of people. I started learning as much as I could, So I think, you know, kind of at that point is when that gear kind of switched for me. My goal has changed a little bit. And I think the number one thing is, you know, I mean I became obsessed with deer hunting, and just you know, for me, it was more than just like even killing the deer, it was filming them. I mean, Shane and I were going out every night and filming deer in the summer and just seeing those bigger deer. I think what's got to change is just that that level of patience, you know, like you know that that want to if you want to shoot a bigger deer or have a different goal, you have to be willing to put the time in. But you have to be willing to you know, pass a smaller deer to have an opportunity at a bigger deer like that, because typically you know you're going to have opportunities that before, you know, you had take in a heartbeat. So it's just kind of switching that mindset. And I was fortunate enough to be around it, and for me it was like, Okay, I'm going to learn as much as I can about white tails and big deer and just engulf myself with it. And you know, it's it's transitioned into to where I am now. And you know, for me, it was never really about you know, maybe as a kid is like I want to shoot this big deer and scoring deer and whatever, but you know you mentioned it earlier. I think it's that transition into you know, shooting deer of older age and understanding what that quality deer management means. And you know, I think that there's now that I've been around enough deer and filmed enough, dear, you know, I that's what I do for a living, is film, you know, filmed enough other people shoot deer of a certain caliber, and man, I think you could walk up to one hundred and seventy inch deer, and you could walk up to one hundred and fifty inch eight pointer that's just massive and gnarly, and like they're even a different caliber of deer, even though one scores more than the other. Like you walk up to a deer that's that's old, and just like you pick them up, and that's a different feeling, like a different level of even appreciation. You know, I think you should appreciate all deer you shoot. But when you get to deer of those upper age structures, there's just gnarly warriors. That's a that's a different game. 00:10:14 Speaker 2: That's pretty dark special. Yeah, that's for sure. I've yet to lose the sense of awe of a really old deer even like like you said, like even a smaller scoring deer still gets me way more fired up than a young, high scoring deer. There's just like the body you just see that big bowl walking through the woods and the way that all the other deer react to them, and the way they can carry themselves in the woods and the things they do and the savviness they bring to the table. Just man, I I've yet to get sick of it. 00:10:48 Speaker 3: Well, that's that's why white tail hunting is so awesome. They're all so unique, you know, everyone is so unique, and like I look at it. You know, I like to do a lot of shed hunting too, And it's like when I pick up a shed and it hits me with a shed more than like when I pick up a lie or not a live deer but a harvested deer for some reason. But you like, you pick up that shed and you hold it in your hand and you're like, man, think about what this this piece of bone went through, Like you know, whether that deer is two years old or a year older, five years old, six years old, Like a deer grew this thing on his head right, carried it around the entire year and then shed and here you are now with it in your hand. It's like, how crazy is that when you break it down and think of it? If you know, it's cliche to say, you know, if only the thing could talk, But I mean if you could learn so much from that. It's I just think that's the coolest thing in the world. 00:11:36 Speaker 2: I just sit there and spin them around my hand, just like stare at it, looking at all sides and thinking about those very same things. I'm right there with you. I could just spend like an hour just yea daydreaming, no doubt. So I tried to go ahead. 00:11:51 Speaker 3: Oh god, I was just gonna say, I try to tell my kids about that. My five year old, you know, he's at the age he's he's got a dog or we have a dog, and you know, go out there and shed. 00:11:59 Speaker 2: Hi. 00:11:59 Speaker 3: We're on my Minnesota farm this this past winter and we were shed hunting and we walk up and there's this little spike shedhorn laying there. And he runs over and he picks it up, and I'm like, dude, how cool is that? You know? And he's looking at it, and he looks looking at me and he's like, this isn't it shed Dad? And he throws it back on the ground. You know, It's just it's funny. But like, you know, you try to instill that in your kids and in the next generation, you know, just that appreciation how cool that is, you know, to just have the opportunity to enjoy that that kind of stuff. 00:12:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty done. Great. So Sticker ten, right, that's the name of that first buck you killed this year, right, So that was your first, your first booner. It's funny you mentioned the booner before thirty. A hunting buddy and I had a bet to see if we could each get a booner before thirty and and he did. He got his on his thirtieth birthday. And then on my thirtieth year, I shot a buck that I thought was and I was like, I did it, shot the buck and walked up in the absolute giant and then we scored it and he ended up scoring one sixty five. And for a half second afterwards, I was disappointed. And then that's when I realized, like, it's so silly to get worked up about a number, right, because it's such an incredible deer no matter what it scores. So that was a moment for me when I realized I had to, you know, get back to what we were just talking about, just the impressiveness of the animal's self, regardless of whatever numbers attached to it, regardless of what anybody else thinks. But all that said, it still is pretty durned cool to kill a deer like that, no matter what. So the sticker ten no doubt, give me the story how to go down? 00:13:38 Speaker 3: You know, it was crazy. So there's a piece that I lease here in Minnesota with a few other buddies and we've had it now for I think five years, and I've had a lot of success on it. It's a really good piece. You know, we kind of all worked together put in the work and it's been good. But low pressure approach, like we all you know, going there with the right wings. We don't don't over hunt it. And you know, I guess it was two years ago now, I still had a tag lead season and was hunting with the muzzloader. We had snow on the ground and I was over standing beans and saw just a ton of bucks and I think I ended up seeing like nineteen bucks that day. It was awesome. Nothing that I wanted to pull the trigger on, but some really good deer that we're three and a half years old, that you know, No, we wanted to make it till the next year. So anyways, fast forward to the next year and this deer shows up on trail camera early and he I mean, he looks like a giant. He's huge framed. That's where he got his name, Sticker ten. Just a big frame ten pointer and he had that year he had matching stickers on it, just on one side. He had two stickers coming off as G two. A clean ten, big frame. And so got talking with Lance and some other guys and he's like, man, that's that deer from the year before. So we started looking at pictures and we matched him up and I had actually filmed him, Andrews filming me that day, had actually filmed him that that day, late season. So he was a three and a half year old ten pointer, nothing super special to him. Beautiful deer, but just young, clean, you know, not a deer that I would even, you know, think about really even matching up looking like this. But we broke him down and like, man, that's him for sure, just same frame. But he, I mean he put on a top. And I think that there's deer out there that that just have it, and there's deer that don't. And you know, you can have a deer that gets old and gets gnarly and massive and all this stuff, but never reaches that that big frame, high scoring potential, and I think this year it was a parent that he had it. So we all sat down, We're like, okay, what do we do, Like, is this the deer a deer that we target he's four now, yeah? Or do we try to let him go? We have pretty good neighbors, but they you know, their their standards aren't necessarily as high all the time. And we're like, well, let's try. Hey, we we can't see what happens if we don't try it, So we're gonna we're gonna all agree to pass this year. So lo and behold, this year becomes one of the most killable deer on the property all year. Of course, I mean like I had to stop looking at my reveals because like there's places I wouldn't even go and hunt because I'm like, I don't even want to see him. I don't I don't want to put myself in that that scenario. So a few encounters with them, not personally with some of the other guys had encounters with them, passed him all year round. Fast forward to late season that year, I was tagged out on another deer. Uh my business partner Adam was trying to shoot his first buck, so he that's another kind of long story. But Adam has produced hunting content for a long long time, you know, over ten years. But he's never hunted, didn't grow up in a hunting family, never hunted himself. And he's got two young boys, five and three. And he said, you know what, he said, I've seen all the good that hunting does for you and for the people around and the values that teaches, and I want to get into hunting so I can pass that down to my boys. So cool, will you take me? Will you take me? And I'm like, heck, yes, I'll take you. So, you know, we start hunting and he's got limited time. We hunt a couple of times and we have a couple encounters and late season it's just like the time that, okay, we get out there so we can talk about some of the strategy later on, because I think it's kind of cool. But we crawled into this blind and I actually I got a picture on a cell camera like seven hundred yards away of stick or ten right, and he's coming that direction. Well, we were sitting over standing beans and I'm like, I'm like, dude, we're going to see this, dear, And he's like, well, what are we going to do. I'm like, man, I said, I would love for you just to shoot that deer. I said, I hope we don't see him, to be honest with Yeah, I said, because you know, we all had an agreement. Sure enough, it was like ten minutes later outcome sticker ted right into the field and he was hunting the crossbow and stood there and fed for fifty yards and I had fifty yards for ten to fifteen minutes and we just watched him. Got some epic footage of him. 00:18:18 Speaker 2: Wow. 00:18:19 Speaker 3: And it was just a cool encounter, like to just see him on the hoof like that and know that he was probably gonna make it. So kind of kind of a twist there. But anyways, he makes it through the year, sheds on our property to the guys at least with picked each picked up one of his sheds. So it was like, man, success, it worked. You know, we got him through. So you know, the next year, it was like, hopefully he was gold to keep his home. 00:18:45 Speaker 2: I got ask him, I got the time out in here and ask you a question leading into the is the coming year that year killed him at five? 00:18:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, so the coming year would be the show. 00:18:54 Speaker 2: Okay, So one of the things that I've been curious about as I've listened to you tell some other stories on the Deer Society podcasts and stuff, and you just shared a couple examples of this. You guys hunt with multiple guys in the same property. And I've always thought I've done this on a small scale with one other buddy, but I've never had like a pile of buddies all on the same property, especially when you've got like a target deer. I've always or I've wondered, how do you do that in a way that doesn't become just tough, Like I know, when I have on a target deer, I'm trying to figure them out, and then once I have an encounter, then I'm like right back in there after them. Or I'm super strategic with where I'm going and what I'm doing. But when I've hunted a property with a buddy, it's kind of like, you know, well, let's flip a coin to see who picks where today or who's gonna hunt war. And you're trying to be fair about it, and you're trying not to, you know, be a jerk about anything, but it would seem really hard to be able to like make a strong play and a deer when you're constantly have to shuffle around with other guys or where you're stepping on toes or I'm sure you're trying to do this in a way that's not ruining your friendship. So how do you How do you do it? 00:20:00 Speaker 3: Man? I think it's hard, and I think that there is no great answer to it. I think that you have to, you know, find a group of people that are like minded and understanding and understand that. Look, sometimes you might get them, sometimes somebody else might get them. And it's hard. Like I'll be honest with you, we talked about at the beginning of the year because we knew that was going to be a target. The target and there's a other good deer on this property, but like that was the one. And you know, we talked about, okay, do we split up the property into three sections? Well, that's hard to and you know, so and so put in work over here and they might not get to benefit for it. So like that that was an option that was thrown around. When it came down to it, it was like, look, you know somehow and it's way easier said than done, right, But like we have to all be on the same page and say, look, you know, we got to work it out somehow. Maybe you go and hunt and then you get first picked tonight. And if we're going to hunt next Tuesday, well then you get first pick on where you're gonna hunt. And I won't say that I have a great answer for it, because I don't think that there is one, but I think it's you have to put yourself in the mindset of Look, it's a team effort, as hard as that is. And you know what, I'm gonna be happy if Lancer Kyle gets them, and you know if I get them, great, I think they'll be happy for me too. Again, Wait, that sounds like a perfect environment or scenario, and it's hard to feel that way, but you know that's just it. So you know, I think we all have a pretty good understanding of you know, what stands we can hunt, what stands we can waiting for the right time. You know, a lot of us are busy, so like a couple those other guys are filming or guiding during the fall too, So it's not like any one of us has the opportunity to just go in there and pound it every day. Like I might have this week and Lance might have next week or you know, so it all works out in the end, I guess, is the simple answer. 00:22:02 Speaker 2: So if you have it sounds that you kind of rotate who gets first pick to some degree, right, But what happens if you have an encounter, like if you're in hunt multiple days in a row, and so today you have a close encounter with the sticker ten and now tomorrow you had and you had first pick that night, so you had first pick, you picked a spot, you almost killed him but didn't quite come together. You of course want to be right back there tomorrow or wherever you think he's going to be. Do you get do you get like a Mulligan and get to go in again because he had the close call and you kind of have like that, or or do you guys have to rotate? 00:22:35 Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'll tell you it kind of happened this year kind of bit. So you know, I think it's yeah, if you if you have an encounter with a deer and you want to go back in there, it's like, I'm not going to say no, don't go back in there, like like I think you should, and I'll tell them the story Lance was super close to killing this deer a few days before I killed him, and I would have been super happy if you did just worked out that I was there and shot him on that day. But yeah, I mean, if you have an encounter with the deer, I think it's it's only right that you go in there, you know, back after them, and you know, we try not to step on each other's toes, and you know, it's it's what it is. I've accepted the fact that's the hard thing about group hunting, you know, you accept the fact that, hey, that's part of it. I couldn't lease this piece just on my own, and neither could they. So that's that's part of the give and take of the whole deal. 00:23:21 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I got to believe that you more than make up the possible downside of the hunting being a little bit more challenging. I'm betting you make up for it with the fun and the camaraderie you have getting to like do all this stuff with your buddies, right. 00:23:37 Speaker 3: Absolutely, definitely, you know, sharing that intel back and forth, like you know, early season, those first couple weeks of the season, it's like, man and the half was Sticker ten it was like, okay, where's stick or ten? You know, I'm running five ten cameras, Lance Kyle, They're all running cameras. So it's like, you know, in the morning and sending pictures like okay, where was he last night? Yeah? And that deer the cool thing about him. I actually kind of changed his name right at the very end of Waldo because that year traveled more this year than really any other deal that we've had on that farm. I mean, he was north to south, to east to west, all over the place. 00:24:12 Speaker 2: So I guess, let's let's hear it. How did it? How did that year five come together? 00:24:18 Speaker 3: Yeah? So he started showing up in velvet looking huge. I mean he was. He was a giant. He had made that that next leap and turned from sticker ten into really sticker twelve. His main frame six by six had matching stickers. He actually had a little pigtail drop time, split brow times like, I mean, he was he was the man. And you know, it was one of those things where we were just getting intel and you know, he was there all the time, but he was all over the place. We this this particular section is like four hundred acres and it kind of splits up, like we have the north section, the middle section, in the south section, and a lot of time the deer on the north side, stand north side, south side, deer stand on the south side. Well, this year he would be on the north side in the evening, south side in the middle of the night, west side in the morning. It was crazy. There was no rhyme or reason what he was doing. So, you know, I just started trying to understand, you know, what he did the previous year, So like, where was his core area? Once October came, where was it? And breaking that all down, we're sharing intel. Kyle actually went and it was one of those deals where this is kind of a good example. So you know, early season opening weekend, that deer was there. I don't think that he was going to be super killable yet. He daylighted maybe a couple of times. But Kyle, he had time to hunt. He's like, guys, I'm gonna hunt opening opening week you know, is anybody else gonna hunt? And I think Lance was gone. I said, man, go hunt, I I can hunt. I'm not gonna I'm gonna stay out of there, like go get him, and he hunted. Didn't end up seeing him, but like he had quite a stretch there where he hunted, and the deer was around just pretty nocturnal. Yet so finally as we get into and I had maybe hunted once before, kind of that mid October time, and I'm a big believer in scout more than you hunt, so like, I try to get my cameras, let them do a lot of the intel and scouting for me, but I try to stay out of there until those windows are kind of right. And I don't mean to say this arrogantly, but when I go and hunt, like I legitimately think that I have a chance of killing the deer, right, So I don't trust me don't always get them, but like when I'm gonna go, like I want to put all the odds in my favor. So anyways, this deer, we start seeing that he moves kind of to the northwest side of our property, and it's kind of what he did last year around that mid October time, kind of started to shrink his core area down. And then it was like boom, We're getting pictured on in the same spot every night, you know, every morning. It wasn't during the daylight, but ended up going in at this point crops are starting to come off, and I hung a new stand kind of in the in the middle of this. We call it the deep middle field. It's it's kind of a big field. Right in the middle of the property was corn. It just got cut and hung us out there, and I'm like, this is where I think, you know, we can kill this deer with a north wind. We had a bunch of stands on the other side of the timber that we can help on the south wind. And anyways, lo and behold. I never had a picture of that deer coming out that way, but I just knew that. I figured he was going to do that because he did that a lot last year. 00:27:39 Speaker 2: It's so sorry. I was going to ask, why is it just based off of that historical pattern or was there something about how that terrain set up or something. 00:27:47 Speaker 3: So basically, yeah, so basically it's a it's a big drainage ditch and we never go in there. It's all sanctuary and it's probably I say it's a ditch, I mean it's it's a significant section of tim We're probably oh three hundred and fifty four hundred yards wide, but just a big ditch with egg on either side. And he usually goes out to that north side, but I know when he comes out to that south side, like he's got to be coming by there somewhere. There was a big scrape there. A lot of dolls were coming out there, and I know that the previous year I got a lot of pictures of him coming out that way. He was coming out more on the other side, but we can't hunt that side with a with a north wind, so it was tough. I just knew we needed to have something on that other side for that north wind. Well, Lance was coming in to hunt and across that field probably two hundred yards away, we have a groundbline there and Lance was coming down to hunt. I think it was Thursday. He's like, I'm going to go to that groundbline and I said, well, I said, just hung this other stand. I said, maybe you should go sit that other standing. It's close to the timber. And he's like, well, I'm gonna go and kind of observe and see what happens. I said, okay, you know, I said, I I may go in and hunt that other stand Friday. It was gonna be Friday morning and see what happened. So that was kind of the plan. I didn't hunt that Thursday. He goes in there Thursday night. Guess who shows up walks right under that stand stick or ted. So he sees the deer and he comes out and he actually called to him, and that deer just stands up bully walks four steps towards him, and I'm like, I'm watching the video. I'm like, oh my god, that dear's gonna come, you know. After he's showing me, and a dough ran out behind him and he ended up circling and chasing that dough off. Well, so he's like, well, next morning, I want to go back in there. I'm like, yeah, go back in there. And he's like, I know you were going to sit that stand that you hung and it's just across the field. He's like, you can still go sit there. And I'm like, dude, we got plenty of ground here. You go hunt that deer you know this morning and whatever, like you saw him go on him. Well, he goes and sits there. Sure enough, that deer comes out, walks right under that stand again and comes out and he sees him and ends up following a door. So it's like, oh, at this point, I'm like you know, man, I wish that, you know, you have encounters this deer, like I wish that you could shoot him. And on the other hand, I'm thinking, like, man, I knew that deer was going to do this. It's just a gut instinct, like he should have sat in that standard or I should have been there. 00:30:23 Speaker 2: Whatever. 00:30:24 Speaker 3: Well, he had to leave that evening go back and take care of some family stuff, and so I went and jumped in that stand in the evening and had a guy that just started working for us names Patrick, and he was filming me and sitting there and we see this buck chasing the doo below us, and he's like, man, that looks like a good deer, and I said, oh, that's Wide nine. It was a deer called Why nine, and he's just a big name, but he was just this five and a half year old heavy He's one of those deer that's like super impressive. I mean, he has basis for days, kind of short times, but like just a gnarly old like big face. So he asked me, He's like, if that deer comes out, you're gonna shoot him. And I'm like, man, I don't know, I said, I you know, game time decision, I said, maybe. Well, he ends up coming out in the cornfield, probably one hundred yards away from us, and right about that time, a doe comes up the trail right under us, and I'm like, we're about to find. 00:31:27 Speaker 2: Out off your wheel, so decision. 00:31:30 Speaker 3: Anyways, that deer turns and here he comes bline right to us, and we're that standing I hung was in a big oak tree. We weren't very high off the ground, probably twelve feet off the ground, just the way the limbs were. And he stops at fifteen yards and starts making a scrape on the oak tree that we're sitting in, and I had my bowl there and I'm a release on it and I'm just looking at him like God, And for whatever reason, in that moment, any other day, I probably would have shot this year and I didn't. It was just like I didn't feel it. They turned and he walked down the trail and Patrick looked at me. I'll never forget and he says, what are you doing? And I'm like, man, I don't know. I don't know. But then it was like boom, here we go. The next morning went and jumped right back in that same stand, and it was interesting because this deer. So I was going in the gate, going the gate on the south side, and it's a hike to get into the middle. I'm going in the gate and I just pull up my reveal up quick, and I look and there's sticker ten on the far east side of the property, like way far east side, Like well, I'm not gonna go and chase a picture, like I know where he's been, where he wants to be. I'm still going both my plan. It wasn't an hour half hour after daylight that year got all the way around me. And I'm talking this is probably seventeen hundred yards ish. That year got all the way around me, ended up coming out my west so on the complete other side, comes out in the cornfield, and here he came. I mean, he just came across that cornfield. He was cruise and he checks some does on the way and ended up shooting him at like I think he was like thirty nine yards out in that standing cut cornfield. And that was it just fortunate. You know, a lot of intel, a lot of history played into that. Going with the gut. I think waiting for the right time to hunt him was kind of crucial. Like I didn't. I didn't need to go in there and burn days just to burn days, Like I wanted to wait and let him do what he was going to do and become killable before you go in and try to kill him and then just I mean, there's obviously a lot of luck involved there, me being the one that was there, and and the deer showing up when I was, you know, when I was there. 00:33:44 Speaker 2: So did that deer teach anything after hunting him so hard this year and watching him the year previous and and all that history. Is there anything you can take away from this? Yeah? 00:33:55 Speaker 3: I think, you know, one of the main things is big deer. And I've noticed this several other other big deer, and not just ones of shop ones have filmed big deer like that that have a core area that you can hold their habitual so they will do the same things over and over again. Like I look at a lot of yearly historical data, I pay a lot of attention to intel. Well, my cameras are telling me. But like from four to five years old, that deer did a lot of the same things. I killed another big deer a few years back, like to the te you know, it was like when the rut hit. He was in this same spot for five days. Like I think those bigger, older deer figure out what's safe, right, and they just learned that after doing it year after year, and they'll continue to do those, you know, same things. So I think, you know, looking at that historical data if you can, I think is really really crucial. And then you know, not over pressuring your deer before you go in and he becomes killable. Some deer become killable the first week of the season, right, you get him on a pattern whatever. I thought this year potentially would be killable, maybe the first week, but he just wasn't. He was nocturnal. He was coming to food, but just at night. So it was like, Okay, wait till the time is right and then go in there and kill him. 00:35:12 Speaker 2: How do you keep track of that historical data? That's something that I personally geek out about a lot, and my buddies give me a hard time about the spreadsheets I make trying to keep track of all that kind of stuff. But I've always thought, like, how do people keep the cell in their head? Are you are you one of those guys that can just store it up there, or do you have to write it down or put it somewhere. 00:35:31 Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, so that's an interesting question. Like I learned from Tom uh Interbow over there, who's got thirteen million yellow note pads with notes of what this dough did back in nineteen seventy two, you know, with the wind direction and all that stuff. So yeah, I do that. I'm a big one of keeping. Like I make sure, even though I'm running cell cameras, like to go get those cards after the season or whenever I can log all that day to try to organize it the best that I can right at the moment. So when I excuse me, when I go back, you know, I can say, okay, look here's kind of what that deer did and make notes. You know. Fortunate for what I do. Like, we film a lot of our stuff, so like I can always go back and look at footage too, and you know that stuff's all really organized some big server system here, so you know, it's easier for me to go back and kind of compare footage to trail camera and that kind of thing too. But I don't have a long list of stuff. It's you know, I guess a lot of it's up here and just you know. I guess I'm always thinking about it. 00:36:34 Speaker 2: So yeah, man, speaking of the uh, you know, storing all of your trail camera pictures and logging all those I've had, I don't know, you'd call it just a folder system of all of my bucks, like older than two. I usually save every buck that's like two or older. Since two thousand and nine, I think I've had them all on my computer, organized by property by year, and I've kept that going so fourteen years or whatever it is. And last week I was I ran out of space on my computer, and so I was clearing out some old podcast files and different things like that, and so I wiped a whole bunch of stuff like that, stuff that I didn't need anymore, so i'd have some you know, space in the computer. And then the other night, I was looking for a camera picture, looking for some picture that I wanted to reference back to him, like why is my trail camera folder not coming up? Where's my trail camera folder? And I somehow deleted my entire trail camera archive. It's gone. 00:37:34 Speaker 3: That is brutal. 00:37:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, oh my goodness, I yeah, that's devastating. 00:37:41 Speaker 3: I'm glad. 00:37:43 Speaker 2: Like the only silver lining is that the last two years, all of my camera I've used only sell cameras the last two years and then use them partially for the last like probably three or four. So I have a lot of that stuff still in the cloud. So at least like the recent dead like deer, I'm still hunting. Now, I'll be able to look back on and and get that stuff. But still like all the pictures I have of all these bucks over the years that you sometimes go back there and look or I need a picture of this deer, that deer like it's gone. 00:38:12 Speaker 3: Man, that's brutal. Yeah, that's a good lesson. Back it up. 00:38:15 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you know, so, yeah, I do know, and I just didn't didn't follow follow the advice I would have given. So, man, anyways, start a new catalog. Yeah, so you killed stick or ten your first booner, and you're flying high and then you go to Iowa. How did how did this buck in Iowa come to be? It looks like, am I right that that buck's even bigger? 00:38:51 Speaker 3: Yeah, it looks and then and there maybe substantially, Yeah, yeah, he's they're actually pretty close, to be honest with you, score wise, the buck in Iowa is kind of that next, next level up, you know, kind of what we talked about. I mean, you you hold stick or ten and he is just big. He's big framed, he's just that beautiful stack tie and he's got it all. And then you hold this Iowa deer and he's just heavy, gnarly like probably you know, I don't know exactly how old this deer was, you know, for sure five could be six, easily seven, you know, like in that that upper eight structure, but super massive heavy. The only thing that I think the reason that they score real similar that year in Iowa actually had pretty short beam. So like he on the one side is one beams right beam was only eighteen and a half inches, and I think this other one was twenty one. But again, he had it all. He had a big inline time and that deer, I you know, it's it's interesting, kind of a different story. I don't have a lot of history. I didn't put in a ton of time with that deer outside of of killing him. So I was hunting with some friends of mine down a big Buck outfitter or big Buck down outfitters in Iowa, and I've known those guys for quite a few years, and one of the shows that we produced Love the Grind, those guys hunt down there quite a bit and hunted down there this archery season, and they were going back down there. Trey's wife Kira was going to be hunting, and I had the opportunity to go down there during the first shotgun season and hunt with all those guys. So you know, I was pretty excited still, like you said, flying high from this this other Minnesota buck. I mean, my season was made already. And there was a deer that that Jeff from Love the Grind actually had had two encounters with during the bow season and talking to Corbyn somebodies down there, they're like, man, this deer is still there, and like he is, he's there, and I think we got a good chance at him. So, you know, the week before the season sending me lots of tru camera photos and this year is like he's all over the place. He's you know, here mid days, three times a day in the day, ladies there and he's going to this food, big food source, a big standing beanfield, and I think, you know, there's probably still tail end of the rout there. That's why he was moving during the day a lot. So I was like man, I was getting excited, you know. 00:41:21 Speaker 1: And. 00:41:23 Speaker 3: Probably three days, four days before I got down there, deer quit doing it, Like he absolutely changed his pattern, wasn't shown up on the north side of the farm anymore. And they're like, man, what what happened? Where'd you go? And I think it was just, you know, he was at that point where you know, temperatures were mild, didn't need to drive him to food. He wasn't you know, really focused on dos anymore. Well, the south side of the farm is big crp tall grass, just some little creek bottoms, and they said, maybe we need to shift our focus down there. Well, set up some cameras. Boom, there he was, and he had shifted from the north side of the farm down to the south side of the farm. 00:42:07 Speaker 2: How far is that? 00:42:10 Speaker 3: Oh, you know, probably, you know, not super far if you look at like a section, you know, north side south side, but I bet probably from where he shifted his core area was fifteen hundred yards. Yeah, so not a super long ways, but like from him religiously doing what he was doing to now not doing it at all anymore, and just in those few days and they said, okay, well here's where we got to change. They went in there, put a blind on that CRP. You know, it's kind of backwards, so like you're switching. You're in those December months and you're thinking, Okay, got to start focusing on food. Well, now we're shifting away from the food. And it was one of those deals, like, man, we got to kill this deer in where he's feeling comfortable. He's living in the CRP, nobody's bothering him. Just and we got down there and I remember climbing into the blinding to get light and it was like there wasn't a lot of timber around it all. There was some across the road, but it was just like these little tiny creek drainages. And man, we saw pile of deer the first day, I mean a pile. Didn't see him, saw some bucks, a lot of doughs, just working through the CRP. You could tell they just felt comfortable there. Second day we went in there. We were in the morning, in the evening, and it was the second evening we were actually watching some deer out the right side of our blind and I saw him spun all the way around Connor, who's filming me. He looks down to the left and say, hey, there's a buck coming down the creek and this is probably an hour before dark, and he's like, it's him, it's him. And sure enough, I turned around and I'm like, I don't see him. Where is he? He's like, he's right there, He's right there, right in front of us. And I'm like, Connor, I don't see him. 00:43:54 Speaker 2: Wherethy right there? Right? 00:43:57 Speaker 3: We're running some secondary angles in there, and it's cool, Like that's kind of the coolest part for me is just watch this interaction back and forth. And finally he was just in one section where the blind, you know, the corner of the blind was there, and I peeked out to the left and there he was, and he was coming and kind of had to wait for him to get clear because he was behind some crp and then it'd be open and whatever else. And yeah, made it and made a shot. I was shooting a custom muzzloader from Elevated Arms. That was a sweet, sweet gun, and shot him in one hundred and eighty seven yards, I think, And that was kind of end of that deal, you know. It was. It was interesting because I had seen a lot of trail camera photos and videos of that deer and you know, some of he looks like he's you know, one sixty. Other ones he turns, he looks like he could be two hundred. So there was a lot of and when I saw him, you know, it was like I looked at one side and that was it. Didn't look at him again. Everybody's like, how do you look? How do you look? I'm like, I couldn't tell you. I just know it's him. And I remember walking up and there's a group of us that walked up there, and it was like, man, that hit me like a freight train. When I walked up there and picked them up. It was just like, you know, I was so appreciative this season I already had, and then to have this year now holding this year, it was like am I dreaming? Somebody pinched me because it was like this year is a whole different even caliber than that one. And you know, then it was like, oh my god, this dream season. Everybody saw me and I'm like, look, everybody, just calmed down. I want to appreciate this one for what it is, you know, like I don't want to take away from that one or take away from this one. It was just, man, I still kind of surreal it didn't really sink until I got back here and started getting back in the in the swing of things, and it's like, man, it's been an incredible year for sure. 00:45:40 Speaker 2: So when you look back on this whole season, and you kind of talked like, you've had this progression since you moved up to Wisconsin and started taking it more serious. And now over the years you've gotten deeper and deeper and deeper, and you've killed a lot of good deer, but you still hadn't crossed that, you know, that pinnacle mark that so many of us kind of obsess over, and then you did twice. When you look back on this year, is there anything can you attribute this success you had this year to anything different that you did? Is there any step that you've taken that you think was like that thing that got you over the hump, or or was there was this really just hey, this was your year and you've been doing the right things all these years and this just happened to be the year that it all lined up just perfect. 00:46:24 Speaker 3: You know, that's a good question. I think it's a combination of both. I think it's one. You know, I think I obsessed this year even more and I've done this for years, but like obsessed over you know, the strategy and looking at on X I mean daily and pictures and like just trying to build these strategies and take you know, eliminate as many variable as I can and take it to the next level. I won't say that I did anything more crazy than that. I think it. You know, I think I had the opportunity at two deer that we're of that caliber. Not saying that I've never chased a deer that big, but I mean not one that sticks out that's like, man, I had an opportunity to chase that dear. So I think the deer we're there. 00:47:10 Speaker 2: You know. 00:47:10 Speaker 3: It's the old adage you can't shoot a booner or two hundred each year if you don't have one. So I think that all lined up this year. And I do think the other thing too, is and this is even outside of hunting kind of an awful one, is just building relationships, like you know, building relationships with not only people that you have opportunities through so like you know, building those those friendships in Iowa and you know, with love the grind, having that opportunity to go down there and hunt, building the relationships with the people on my lease, you know, having the Deer Society guys over here, JJ and Brian and Chris, like man sitting down and looking and going through these strategies almost daily and what did the deer do last night? And you know, getting those different opinions. So like, as much as I was the one that shot these deer, there's so much more behind the scenes that I that I look when I look at the rack setting there, like, those are the relationships and those strategies between people that that I think was a big standout for me this year. 00:48:11 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's such a great point. And so I have a hard time convincing my wife of this. But I'm trying to explain her the value of my mounts or keeping the euros and all that kind of stuff. She's like, I just don't get why you need these all over the place. And it goes back to what you said, Like, when I see that animal again, it brings back not just the hunt, but it brings back everything that was going on. It brings back the relationships and the friendships and the ups and the downs and all that stuff just comes flooding back to you every time you stop and look at it, and you stop and look at them so often, and it's it's pretty special, how you know, something like an animal can capsulate encapsulate so many other things too. 00:48:55 Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt. And then you know it's again talking about cliche things, but like you know, talk about in anything in life, enjoying the chase and enjoying the process. You know, like when I look at the deer they're on my wall. I hardly ever say that deer scores one fifty or that deer. It's like, man, remember that, remember that hunt, Remember that everything that went into that. And that's why you know it's hard. I guess it's easy for somebody that's tagged out to say to somebody else, like enjoy the process. Who still has tagging their pocket or is having a tough season or whatever, But like, man, that's that's what it's about. Like you gotta love the for lack of better terms, love the grind, love the strategy involved in it. I can tell you, like when I shot stick or ten, like it was a bittersweet moment, like it was one of those things like man, I don't get to look wake up in the morning and try to figure out where he is or like it was like it's almost like this connection or this this intimate relationship that you have and it's like you kill him and that's the goal, right, But then it's like, man, you know, you almost miss that, Like I missed the It's like right now I'm tagged down Minnesota. I wake up and I'm like, I might look at my cameras. 00:50:05 Speaker 2: I might not, but I love that, you know, Yeah, that's true. It's a weird thing when you realize like, oh, I didn't I didn't obsessively check my cameras already. When that when that deer's gone, it is a little different. So so let's let's imagine a different scenario though. Let's imagine you didn't kill the stick or ten. Let's imagine he was still out there right now and you still had, you know, a few weeks this season. What would you be doing at this time of year to try to kill a deer like that? What's your late season approach that you would that you'd be leaning on now? 00:50:38 Speaker 3: Yeah, So you know, it's interesting because this year, like right now in Minnesota, it's mild, you know, we have no snow, Mild temperatures typically late season, Like I'm going to focus one hundred percent on food for the most part. Now that food a lot of times for us is standing corn, standing soybeans. Standing soybeans can be absolutely lethal this time of year and can be one of my favorite times to hunt if I still have a tag, just because those deer they get back on their patterns. You know, they're going from betting to food. So you know what I would be doing is finding where the food is and really hunting evenings waiting for those those deer to come to me. Now, I think talk about food, you know, it's easy to say, well, standing beans, standing corn right now. I don't think it's cold enough where we have the temperatures here that are driving deer in the daylight to standing corner beans. I think there's when you talk about food, there's a lot that's overlooked. Like I think woody brows, deer feeding in the woods right now is a huge thing. Like if you have any kind of downtree tops or hinge cutting or or anything like that, there's a lot of deer utilizing that right now. I shot a deer with in Buffalo County shoot there's probably twenty ten over at Tom's and it was January second. I'll never forget it, and it was a big a point and I shot him in the woods. Now he was going to a food source, but wasn't getting there till night. Got in the woods and that deer was feeding on what he brows. It was negative eighteen degrees. We had snow, but it was it was a matter of getting in there and understanding where that deer was feeding in the daylight. So I think that's that's really the key to any late season hunting right now. Understanding that these deer aren't doing a whole lot like they're resting, they're recovering from the rout. They're going from bedding to food whatever that food source is. So if you can try to understand that and then get in a position where you know they might move in the daylight, you know, I think that's that's your best option. It can be hard, I think, you know, like last year, I want to go back to that encounter a stick or ten. So we had snow last year, it was cold, and this was the last days of December and our season goes out December thirty first here in Minnesota. We had the farmer leave an acre and a half of standing beans and all he did, though he didn't he didn't give us the option of where we were leaving it. Like he was going to leave one head row and that was going to be it, and he left it right along the wood edge, so it was going to be hard to hunt with a bow. Like you could try to get in the middle of it and put a tree standing in the middle. But like south wind, you're blowing into the woods into the bedding, north wind you're blowing out into the beans. And it was like, what do you do? So Adam had a tag and I'm like, man, I know there were deer coming there. What do I do? We had like five days left of the season, and I said, you know, the only option is I don't like this option, but the only option is to go and put a ground blind right in the middle of the field. There was nothing else there. Put a groundline right in the middle of the field, so we can hunt it with the north wind, stay you know, south of the beans, be able to shoot it right in the middle and hope the deer put up with it. No, I'll never forget, you know, I had my doubts. I'm like, you know, I'm all for hunting in blinds and things like that, but like putting a groundline out in the middle of nothing, you know, snow, and going and hunting it. I said it one afternoon, we went and climbed in it the next day and man, we had that was the day that we saw stick or ten. Andy came out and fed at fifty yards and it was like, man, it worked and it didn't bother him. Now, I'm not saying that that'll work every time. And you know, I think it's there's something too when you set a blind like that. I think they honestly feel more comfortable if you put it right out in the middle of nothing and you're like or you try to half ass brush it into the woodline like they they feel like almost like you're hiding from them, you know, or like go ahead. 00:54:45 Speaker 2: I was gonna say, it's funny you bring that up. I had the exact same scenario that time. I went and hunted with Town and there was a little food plot he had, but there was not a blind on it to hunt with specific winds. I was like, Hey, I think I'm gonna go in there and put a pop up up. And so I was kind of describing to him, like you're asking him like, hey, you know, is there a fencer wrong along there where I'd be a you know, kind of brush myself in And he's like, oh no, don't brush yourself in. Put it right out in the open. Like, ah, that doesn't sound like a good idea of Tom. It's like, no, trust me, they're gonna be more weirded out by you kind of brushing it in than if you just stick it right out in the middle and they'll just assume it's kind of, you know, farmer stuff. And so that's what we did, and they, you know, all sorts of deer came out and weren't bothered by it at all. So that was a very interesting Like you said, I'm not sure that would work every time, but there certainly seems that there's something to it. 00:55:36 Speaker 3: Yeah. I think, you know, as we get to the end of the season here, like if you have a tactic that you think you should try, man, you might as well try it because you're gonna run out of time. But I think the big thing is thinking outside the box when you think of what the food source is. Don't always necessarily focus on corn and beans obviously that they're the big ones or braskas or food plots whatever. But you know, if your dear aren't coming to there, try to figure out what they're doing. I mean, you're in, You're in your last ditch efforts, so you know, focus on that. We do have a little flurry of a second rout that comes in. You know, if you see any of that on your cameras, definitely getting get out there. But you know that it can be really hard late season, Like if you don't have a buck that that you think you can go after, you know, it's like, you know, must give up. And what I've done a lot of times, Like there's a streak a few years ago where I think it was like five years in a row I didn't shoot a buck, not that I didn't have opportunities, it was just like not the right one or something happened, And you know, it can get hard towards the end of the year and you're gonna eat another tag. I think late season is also a good time if you don't have a buck to go after a buck to shoot, like get excited about something, go shoot some dose or or something like that, Like you'd be amazed. Like I still get excited going to shoot dose. You know, if like I didn't have a buck to shoot, Like man, go out and get excited about you know, find what the does are doing and go shoot one and enjoy that with you know, the people you hunt with, or just for yourself. So you know, I think it's that's a lot of mindset. You know, towards the end of the year can get grueling, can be one of the best times, I think to get out there and hunt. If you have good weather, if you have a food source that that you know de you're going to can be one of the best times. But you know, it all just depends. 00:57:25 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm right there with you on the dough thing. Like it seems like even even if I do have a buck tag in my pocket, if it gets to the last week or two of the season and there's not like an incredible reason to really really really focus on that buck, I'll usually just just shift to dough season, like, hey, it's time to just do some management and relax a little bit and have fun with it, Like go into it with a target rich environment. All of a sudden, it totally changes the way you feel when you go on that hunt. When you know, like man, I'm there's just a really good chance I'm gonna shoot a doe tonight probably, you know, invite the buddies out or take the take my son's out, like that is so much fun. I took my son out last night, and I've got a couple of friends coming up tonight to do the same thing, gonna mentor a new hunter tomorrow, like, and that's all so much easier when you're shifting to those doughs and and can just enjoy that. So it's a very good idea. 00:58:18 Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot of excitement that occurs around that, you know, like even you know, for for guys that that's the thing to shoot big box. It's like when you go out and you know, like I'm going to shoot a dough, like you can't help but not get excited about. 00:58:30 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I still get fired out. Yeah, something I'm curious about back to kind of tactics when you're after and I guess this could be a buck or dough. But I've heard you and and Mike and JJ and those guys talk a lot about water throughout the year. Is that something that ever you think about in the late season. I mean, that's not something I typically would think, but I'm curious if that does fall within you guys, you know, set of tools. 00:58:57 Speaker 3: One hundred percent. I think water all year around it super crucial. I have seen over the years so much success over little water holes, and I think, you know, it's easy to understand why water works early season when it's hot and that kind of thing. Throughout the whole entire season. I think they just get better. Like during the rut, water holes are can be killer even now, Like deer still need to get water right and it becomes tougher for them. So if you think about it, like right now out there, it's as much as it's mild, like a lot of the water is frozen. So like if you have you know, brassicas, there's some of those, plus that those some of those plants hold some water, you'll find more deer on there. Water can be killer late season if you can find an open water source. That's the hard thing though, is most of the water sources are frozen. I do know some guys that will go in. It's like it's almost like they're duck hunt. You know, guys going in, they'll break ice and you know, little pockets and maybe ducks coming in land. But I know guys that will go out and try to break some ice. Now that's hard because a lot of it freezes back overnight. But if you can find an open water source late season this time of year, man, I think again, it's understanding what the deer need, like, they need water. So if you can find an open water source late season, heck, yeah on it. 01:00:16 Speaker 2: Yeah makes sense. Are there any other off the wall late season things you're trying or would try, or any other thing we haven't covered. That's like tape, one more thing they have in your back pocket. 01:00:29 Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's a good question. I guess one of the things that you could try. And I am like, if you talk about talk about calling, I guess I am not a guy who does a lot of calling. I will call very minimally when I have to, but I don't do a lot of calling. I think there's a certain window, like pre rout where it can be game changing. But I am a guy that will do a little calling early season and even late season. Now, you have to be careful when you're calling like that late season because it's not like I'm going to go and bang horns together. But I do think, say you're hunting a food source that's close to bedding, right, and you know there's a buck in there potentially because they're not going very far, but he's not moving until just after dark. I would not be afraid to go in there, and as it's getting close to maybe like that last half hour, last fifteen minutes, you know, take the black record, take any kind of call, like rallying horns, and just tickle them together, because what you're doing is you're not challenging him. Well, all you want to do is convince that deer that hey, there is other deer out there in the food plot. He's laying there like he's going to get up. He's probably hungry. It's just when if you can convince him for even a second to get up two minutes earlier and think, hey, there's deer out there, you know, it's creating this illusion that hey, I maybe it's even convincing him a few minutes early. Not be careful. It's just think about what you're seeing. That's when people ask me, how do you call? It's like, well, I call based on what I'm seeing out there, what are the deer doing? And that's how I do it. That time of year. But like you'll see little bucks out there just kind of tickling around, messing around. Try it. You know, at that point, if you can do anything to get that deer up two three, one minute earlier before you know, shooting light ends. 01:02:26 Speaker 2: I hope you know, might help. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great point. And I do think sometimes we discount how important just that little bit of social confirmation matters to a buck. Just enough, Hey there's a other deer out here, and they're feeling safe. The coast is clear. If you're hearing some bucks sparring, that means the coast is clear. If you a little if you hear a little contact grunt, you know, Okay, hey it's safe enough that there's a couple other deer out there, Maybe I'm gonna start edging my way. I mean, that's uh, that is important stuff. Yeah, no doubt so, Brian. If my five year old son, who is nuts about deer hunting, wanted to go on YouTube tonight and watch one of your guys's YouTube videos there that you've produced for Deer Society, or really, I know you work on a whole bunch of things. Where would you send us if you were going to send us to one video that you've worked on or that you are in that you think my five year old will get a kick out of. Give me one recommendation on that, and then and then give me the rest of the resume of things we can be looking for ways we can connect with you and your work. 01:03:38 Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, that's that's a that's a really great question. You know, there's one that pops out, but I you know, I don't know if it it would resonate yet with your five year old, it would resonate with you. There's a film we did a few years back and it was called Love Dad, and it's on Deer set of YouTube channel, and it was a film based on the premise of me going on my first meal deer hunt and it was an Alberta and but it wasn't about me shooting this deer. It was a letter to my son. So that's how the film progresses. So you know, it opens up with you know, me writing this letter and it says to my son Barrett and at the time he was just born. That was here he's born, and it walks through this process of the hunt. But what hunting has taught me and how it's molded me as a person, and like the lessons I've learned and failures and all of these different things. I'm pretty passionate about that one just because I think it's well produced, but it's it's really from the heart, you know, and and it meant a lot to me. Now, my son's five and and took him turkey hunting for the first year this year. And you know, I look at him when I was writing that letter. It is just a little baby. And now he's five years old and teaching him those traditions. So I think that's a pretty special one. So you could try to try to have them watched that one. It's it's pretty cool. It's a good message there, and and uh, I think I think maybe you'd enjoy watching it with them, So that'd be the one that I recoon. 01:05:12 Speaker 2: All right, that's the one. So so then plug everything else? Where can we see the other videos? Where can we get the podcast? Anything else you want folks to know about. 01:05:22 Speaker 3: Yeah, so a lot of our content, some of the film content, stuff you'll find on the Deer Study YouTube channel. A ton of stuff out there, really great hunting there, too, lots of different stuff, some some engaging off the wall stuff, so entertaining stuff there. Also host the Deer Study podcast that's obviously up there on the dear Stety YouTube channel as well. And then as far as other almond I stuff, you know, we produced Love the Grind TV which is on the Sportsman channel, do the post production for uh for being the Help with Thrick and Julie, and then do a lot of other films and and things across the board, working with just different brands and and and people within the hunting industry as well as outside of it. So kind of more of that stuff is all over the place. You can check out almond I Productions on Instagram and Facebook. We try to do a good job keeping up with that, don't always do the best, kind of get get lost on focusing on our clients there, but definitely gonna get get better at that. But yeah, so almond Ie Productions and stuff kind of all over awesome. 01:06:28 Speaker 2: Well, Hey, you're doing good work, man. I'm enjoying it. I appreciate the effort and hard work you guys put into it, and I'm glad that you had a heck of a season. Congratulations. 01:06:38 Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate it very much. Again, I appreciate the invote or invite to be on here, big fan, you guys do a great job. You do a great job and and really enjoyed the conversation. 01:06:48 Speaker 2: Thanks man, I appreciate it all right, And that's a wrap. Thank you all for listening, Thanks for being here. You know I say it every week, but I really do mean it. I appreciate you being a part of this community. It's been the privilege of my life to get to hear from you, to share these stories, to learn alongside of you on this journey. It's been I don't know fifteen plus years now for me and ten ish years on the podcast, and it's been a wild ride. So here's to another great year coming up. Hope we all have a wonderful Christmas, happy Holidays, have fun with your friends and family, get out there. I hope you get a chance to fill another tag or two before the end of the year, and until then, stay wired to Hunt.