The MeatEater PodcastSteven Rinella talks with Ryan Callaghan, Brody Henderson, Randall Williams, Seth Morris, Austin "Chilly" Chleborad, Phil Taylor, and Corinne Schneider.
Topics discussed: How Steve's dying but "not contagious"; Randall having a hard time shooting a flintlock; southerners always beating northerners in MeatEater's Turkey Calling Contest; new spring gear from First Lite, FHF, Phelps, and DSD; and more.
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You know what was humiliating for Randall? What? Oh, that's a turn the machine on? Phil? Oh, it's been on scoot Yeah.
Yeah, get ready for a lot of that this set.
I'm gonna start off for telling me about I'm dying. What's that? No? You know what. I can't work up any lugs. Even when I work one up, like watches, what are we doing?
You'll know you get when it starts.
Listen.
Even when I work one up, it's like it's like I'm drawing it up from my balls.
Man, it's like coming from deep down, you know.
I just want the suits at meat Eater to know. And we're all out at work. Steve wasn't contagious, like we got sick somehow.
Listen man, it's not my fault. I told everybody I'm sick. There's like you got you know, I got hemmed over here.
I don't think if we get sick, it'll be your fault.
Tough ship, dude, listen, I'm pulling it. I'm pulling that flam up for my nuts.
I can't. I don't believe.
But it hangs up, It hangs up around my stern.
I can't get it up.
Getting old.
I don't have the strength you Yeah, so yeah, the looky bucket, there's nothing that if you gave me a looky bucket, it's a dry bucket.
Phil, Do you want to start this sober? We're good? I think we're good.
They do have met Oh.
I was to say, what's humiliating for Randall's Randall, as much as he's like a gun nut and everything, what kind of gun you're making right now?
Uh?
It's a I'm converting a H K U s C to U M P H.
Yeah means well, I hope it's I'm gonna get out in front of this. It's not a flintlock.
What was humiliating for Randall's Randall trying to shoot a flint lock? You can't get used to He can't get used to.
The fact you got wait a second, most can't.
Yeah, yeah, I mean I if you're gonna shoot a flintlock for the first time, I highly recommend you do it while being filmed by two people with Steve looking over your shoulder.
It just makes it for a really nice experience.
It's hard for.
People to get over the little explosion in their face.
Yeah, I uh no, we're going.
I need you to fill out the frame because right now Seth and called lonely over.
There are you saying? Renal wouldn't have made it as a mountain man?
Jesus, you've been fun.
Yeah, I mean I could see leaving that day other than being totally humiliated. I could see how it would be interesting to like get used to that and sort of train that into your brain. Like if I if I had access to one and a little bit of time, it'd be fun to.
Get better at it. But yeah, it's it threw me for a loop.
It's key to have your system dialed. Where as you pull the trigger, the things going off. Yeah, you don't want to hang fire.
The first two shots. I didn't even need to look at the target. I said this rifle was pointing in a completely different direction by the time it went off.
So I got some stuff to share. You guys want to try something interesting? Sure, there's a So there's these dudes I know I've bought.
There's these dudes I know up at uh they live there in Cake, Alaska, and they make.
You're here sage brush dry you know that dry bag. I have sage brush dry dry.
Bag, like a real They make a really nice rubber eyes like it's like a submersible dry bag, like a dry bag dry bag. Anyways, they sent me. I've bought bags from them and they sent me. That's black seaweed they make.
M M.
Try that. Yeah.
And this is saka salmon they make and dry bag. You just you just eat it, yeah, right out.
It's good. It's interesting. I'm gonna get into that. You know what we were doing that that I hadn't done before I was fat.
Yeah, cran would get a kick out of this because it's kind of Chinese, you know.
Cooking up the.
Just like taking the kelp, just grab kelp out of the ocean. Were you there when we were doing this? Seth salty, but just taking kelp out of the ocean cutting it like noodles.
No, I wasn't there. I don't think it's the easiest thing in the world. Dude. You take kelp out of the blue part. No, no, the leaves, just you find them whatever floating around.
My kids arise, dragging and boating and them I was yelling at them about it. Just cut it into noodles and just steam them and put butter and salt on a damn.
That is good man. It's like you don't need to bring any kind of vegetables up there. Do you like that seaweed? I don't, guys, I think it's good, delicious.
Hey, I'm sorry.
I'm saying this with the most love I can. I can muster.
You need.
Even when you think you're close to the mic, you're never close enough to the micro. Yeah.
Wow, I'm getting close and I'm chewing my.
I can feel love. It's like from a producer. I mean like producer or producer. You know, it's a real hit.
Who's got a knife. Probably this stuff out of here.
Oh, oh, don't use that.
God knows where it's so care the good folks up.
Yeah, it's good, isn't it.
It's delicious and it's like kind of it's purple.
See when I retire, I used to think that you don't like it Chili.
I feel like I'm.
Here.
It's not disgust.
It's not disgusting, but it's like ice. Think.
When I retire and move up to my shack, I was like, all I need is like butter and gas and vegetables.
But I don't even need vegetables, gas and butter. It tastes like fat, like like a raw fat. Look at what Brody's making, a salt.
Sea flavor that has like a little bit of like bacon fat kind of.
Corey, can you come into a mic here and tell everybody what's going on now with what your problem is? What's your problem?
Corey?
Well, I don't think I have a problem.
You do.
You gotta have it be that now the Northern the Northern people get beat by the Southern people at turkey calling.
Oh well, there's a lot more enthusiasm coming out of the South, I'll tell you that much. We got a Turkey calling contest coming and it's my job to coordinate all these videos for this contest. And all three of our Southern participants they were done weeks.
Ago because they get because they get excited about this kind of stuff.
And it's already spring. Well, that's true.
I mean that's a good point too. Yeah, it's snowing out here right now.
Yeah, you could be ice fishing if you risking it, or skiing, but we're not turkey hunting yet.
No, no, and then how are you going to film this contest on them?
On your phone? Are you just using Phil's camera here?
No, it's a completely pointless How long look for turkeys?
Right now?
How long can mine be? I mean, just three rounds?
Make them just fifteen seconds?
No, no, no, this is a way long. I'm only doing one round, but you.
Got to do a little intro like here's round.
One, Okay, round two? That's not like that, though, I can cut it up.
Okay, Cory's just trying to do his job over here, because here here's my complain about the annual turkey calling contest. Is my complain about the turkey calling contest? Is it just like it's like it's set up for Southerners to win?
Do you know what I mean?
Why don't you have a contest who can talk the most? Like Abe Lincoln? There's something about I know, there's something about that, yo, that like lends itself.
To turkey calling, spot and stalking.
It's like like there's like the Southerners are always super good at turkey calling, and then you gotta have them on the northerner guys to play against him, and he's not gonna win the right twang.
So maybe we should have an element like they got.
There's just there's so much more. I mean, like life in the North is just it's more complicated.
There's more going on, and you can't just sit back and luguriate in calling turkeys.
A Southerners are born with a call in their mouth.
And they don't have to worry about any kind of bad weather, you know what I mean, Like here, you gotta be you gotta be on your game, man, ice.
Cold, hurricanes, tornadoes.
That doesn't count.
No, No, they call turkeys right through those hurricanes. They just sit on their porch like calling turkeys. And we're like, you can't go out on your porch a lot of the times a.
Year here dangerous.
It's dangerous. You freeze to death. A barrel get you.
So there's down there, nothing to do, yeah, you know, and thinking about this Cory. So here's round one and thinking about this. I want to set the mood near.
Don't be playing turkey videos in your computer right, Oh, I need to do another thing.
One of the best movies ever.
I'm playing Civil War, you know, to set the North South thing.
No, what I was gonna do because I can't beat those guys do all their crazy sounds. But here's here's I was sticking this morning. I was sitting there thinking about this, and so I started listening to like, why don't we compare.
To what turkey sound like? Ready?
Watch, here's a real turkey. You guys know Jay Scott, Jase got outdoors. Okay, here, Jay Scott, here's a real turkey. You can see the turkey in here. Okay, raspy round one. Huh, here's a real turkey. Here's a yankee. Here's a real turkey Yankee.
Now, if that's not phenomenal turkey calling, I don't know what is. Are you ready? Yep? Okay's going right now, good man.
Diaphragm select is really important. So you want to get the one that has the least amount of coffee cup residue and seeds and stuff, and you gotta.
Suck where's that that pack of diaphans?
I've used all three of them at once.
He just stacks them in there.
That's a gobble.
Thank you? Are you going right now, Seth? No, I'm not part of it. You're not part of it. He'd probably win. He should be part of it.
He might beat the Southerners, not me.
Hey, fine with that, Yeah, I need But did you really use all those?
I didn't.
But he's he's he's healthy. I'd be worried about the inverse of that transaction.
But shot, what do you mean, what's your best shot? Gobble? Everybody else down south is doing? Oh I didn't, I haven't. I didn't know that's what we're doing.
Do your blue jay crow call?
I wish I had it with me. If I had it with me, Well, no, no, no, no, that's not my that's not.
My blue jay call. I don't have it with me. I didn't know that that's what I needed.
He can't see. Let's cough.
That would be good of you got a car door you could slam, you should.
Cough the parking lot. What's that she got in the parking lot and slammed the car door. Or we'll go like this, or just going.
Here, we'll try this other that might make him goble. I don't know, try how Oh like, no, I can't do that? Are rolling?
This is so clear? Make clear? And a loogie might make.
Would be uh there you go? Hm where are we now? You've got oh, I can't do a gobble? Hold on? That was great? Yeah as Robert, I like holl Robert Abernathey does he goes break like? Hold on you're gonna? Was that good? Huh?
Whoa?
Wow?
You do one? So just wow, Brandon, why do you hate turkeys? Man? I don't hate him, I just uh, hold on you hate them? Yeah?
Okay, I think again.
Please, I'd like to ask everyone to direct their attention to the television if if you would mind just for a second year.
Oh yeah, there he is the real deal.
The face says it all. So Corey filmed. This is from Meat Eater Radio Live a couple of months ago when Connor Smith, who works at our store, who's Alissa Smith's son, is well, brought in his pet turkey broke in and you had a comment about him. You were like, he's got hollow bones, He's nothing like me.
Yeah.
For the audio listeners, ran that was a clip from an old Radio Light episode when we brought in the turkey and Randall was staring into its eyes like he was he was looking at the devil himself.
We just don't have anything in common.
Why, yeah, why do you feel that you won't hunt turkeys? Randall?
Oh, I'd love to hunt turkeys. Oh okay, Uh, how have you not gotten around to it? Because you're a spring bear hunter.
Yeah, I like to save up my time for spring bear and uh yeah, I don't know.
I just never really figured it out.
You ever see a turkey walking around when you're spring bear hunting?
Yep?
And I've run after him. I've chased I've traced a couple of turkeys up a hill when they cross the road, but trying to.
Shoot at him.
The idea, that's general idea both him. Yeah, No, I just haven't haven't taken that step yet. Okay, maybe if you got me out there so you'd go, you would go.
Oh yeah, I'd love to.
I'd love to have a little turkey hunt. Put a turkey in the freezer. I like eating cows turkeys.
Yeah, it's about It's the greatest thing in the world. Man.
Yeah, I'm eager to eager to feel that joy for myself.
One day, but he didn't.
Never want to hunt bears again.
That's what I found.
I found that over the years, over the years, my spring bear enthusiasms declined.
Uh in favorite turkeys, I could see that.
You know, the thing about turkey hunting you can picture too, is you can picture that you'd be a hunting turkey's like.
As an old ass man. Mm hmm.
I was telling my wife. I was like, after we retire. I was like, listen, I'll make a deal with you. We'll spend half the time, half the time doing just what you want to do, half the time doing just what I want to do, fifty to fifty split and when we're visiting our kids, that won't count against either of our time.
And she still won't accept the deal. How does she want to split it?
Because she knows that my time is turkey hunting. She's like, now I'm not taking that deal. I'm like, why in the world will someone not take that deal? What's a better deal than that? Yeah, like a picture that half the time you can do whatever you want to do, and I won't say.
Shit, I'd take that right now.
I'd be like, oh, yeah, that sounds fun. That's what i'd say, just what do you think a great time?
What would you be doing on her on her days?
I don't know, probably a variety of things, variety of things.
She won't take it because I want to have a camper and we're going to live in the camper and we're going to start in March in Florida, and then we're gonna every year, we're gonna head north and we'll swing to the northeast, we'll swing west, we'll swing whatever, and it'll just be like on repeat every year. We'll go to laundromats and do our clothes.
Eat turkey every night, eat turkey.
We'll go to like internet cafes and email our kids. And that's how we're gonna spend our.
You'll have the deep fat friar on a trailer behind.
It up south. Your headed out turkey hunting. Yeah, Monday, heading to Florida. Tell me about where about that?
So we're going to a guys, we're having some private down there. We're going to a guy that he he has bought artwork for my wife Kelsey in the past, and he's been inviting us to go down there and on turkeys for like the last few years and this year, we decided to go, you know, take them up on the offer, but kind of in some brainstorm into trying to collect some assets around this new Turkey best first, like decided to film the deal.
So you can let your wife have first shot. Yeah, I always do.
Are south of the Ossio line north.
Yeah, you know what I was wrong about. It's pretty high.
Yeah, it's like I used to somehow have in my head, and I think I've misled people on this is a I used to goes like the north end of Oakachobee south, but it's it's everything except the Panhandle and those counties that are up against Georgia and Alabama.
Oh yeah, I thought it was like the southern half of No.
Man, it's like you go like one or two counties deep out of the panhandles easterns and then you go like one or two counties down deep out of George and Alabama and it's all Ossiola's south of Gainesville. Maybe that might be a good way of putting it, but it's not a perfect line. But yeah, basically, you know, like once you're down in the peninsula, it's Osciola turkeys at the.
End of the show. So we're doing the We're doing Jordan's Peace.
Krinn, Yeah, we are. It's out on this feed Tuesday, March twenty fifth.
Oh it's not just tacked down to this nope. Oh okay.
So Jordan Sillers, who joins us now and then on the podcast here and writes for the website, He's got a tomorrow I guess if you're listening on the day this comes out tomorrow, Jordan has this crazy story.
He's been reporting on.
It'll be like a special drop podcast episode about a uh true crime, Yeah, about a murder or not. It's a wild story a turkey hunter in Virginia. This is a twenty year old cold case turkey hunter in Virginia, shot in the back at daybreak turkey hunting. And you wonder, like, well, how many people could have been in the woods that day.
I don't want to give too much away, but was he shot with a shotgun?
Nope, shot with a rifle. But you can hunt rifles. You could hunt turkeys with a rifle.
Okay, gotcha.
His shot in the back lodged into his heart, wasn't it.
Yes?
I think the bullet was lodged into his heart. But his face mask was lifted up. H yeah, So did he lift it up? Did someone lift it up? Did someone walk over? And you get into like, well, how many people could have been in the woods that day? How could you not find who was in the woods that day?
Wow? Like a small ass pool of people. Do you know what I'm saying? In this little Turkey hunting area, they've never made an arrest. Hmm.
Yeah, it's real, real interesting. Jordan didn't some great work on it, lots of interviews.
It's gotta be. I know you haven't listened to it yet, but it's got to be. It's gotta be that it was a he was messing with as decoy. He was sitting there with decoys. He's sitting there dead on a tree as decoys.
Are out in front of him. Hmm. A cigarette on.
The ground, But it wasn't the No one collected the cigarette and it was Why don't you go ahead and give Jordan's podcast?
Let us know what you think?
Easy to get hold of, love to hear about it.
But I don't think that what I'm saying is going to make people not go listen. I feel like I'm titillating over here.
I'm hooked.
Do you think it's like, are you like, well not, I'm not even gonna bother listening now.
No, No, I need to find all the I need to know all the details.
This day and age. It's just like you go, okay, how many cell phones were in this area right now? We're gonna start there.
It'd probably be a great place to start.
Right yeah, call on X be like, how many folks were right here?
Yeah? There was.
We talked about this long ago because we were actually gonna when we started doing the Close Calls series. We tried to track this guy down, but the we tried to track down a victim of an accidental shooting in a hunting incident, but he had died of cancer, even though he almost died on the mountain one time hunting.
But this guy was hunting an Arizona for black bears. Do you remember the story now.
Yeah, he's stocking a black bear with his bow and he's right above the black bear, and all of a sudden, someone from across the canyon shoots at the black bear with a rifle.
Okay, so it's either weapon season.
He's stalking it with a bow and someone across the canyon shoots at the bear. The shot misses the bear and spooks the bear, and the bear spooks.
Right up through him, right up past him.
The guy shoots at it again and hits the dude in the gut. Jesus bear runs off. The guy lays there and the shooter never comes over. He gets up to the top of the mountain, makes a call, starts trying to drive down, passes out, but they find him and save him. The bullet had mostly got absorbed like that, got absorbed by his belt buckle, but last rated. His insides all up, but he lives. So they're trying to find out who did it. And what they start doing is they the investigator send out surveys to people that had bear tags in that unit, where'd you hunt?
What days did you hunt?
And then did a follow up survey, and eventually they had like, oh, this guy was hunting bears that day in this area and he was out of state, and they sent investigators to the guy's house and when they explained him what happened, they, I guess, according to the story I heard, they knew he was innocent because when they explained him what happened, he vomited like he was that upset about it.
Wow, had Archie Hunter is all camoed up and he just never saw him or something.
It seems the scenes weird.
Going to do a thing about it, But like I said, the primary guy had passed away young, like died young.
So kids, go listen to Jordan's thing, follow up on.
Your shots and wear orange.
Oh, don't just take pokes a stuff and go, oh, doesn't look like I hit it. Walk over there, look for blood. Follow up and if it seems like too much of a pain in the ass, chances are you're shooting too far.
And if you get over there and there's a dead person laying there, make a.
Call, make a call.
Call nine one. Yeah, that's what I think. I don't know. When you guys listen, you'll know what to think. Jordan, I question this decision. Maybe Quinny can shed light on it. He he redacts a lot of names.
Why is he redacting all the names? Did that come at the recommendation of legal counsel.
I'm not sure I could check with him. I don't know. You mean, like other names of people who are investigated.
Like the of the characters kind of surrounding the incident, he redacts their names.
I didn't go into that with him.
Maybe because it's not being solved.
I don't know, could be.
Sorry, I'm not being very helpful.
No you're not. What's it called what will it be called?
Called blood trails? Yeah, it's called blood trails.
Blood trails. So check that out. Twenty year old turkey hunting cold case, which Giles seems like could be real solvable.
Yeah, and it's just question mark.
Well I don't want it until our listeners here out. Yes, yeah, then one of you may know exactly who it is.
Check this out the first time.
So this year I put a thing on Instagram where some guys I know, some houndsmen I know who are commercial fishermen and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but in the wintertime they like to chase bobcats with dogs and this body mind sends me a video from Mackinac County in Michigan's Upper Peninsula of a lion, a mountain lion in a try in Michigan. After that, the dn R Department Natural Resources. They went out and verified like they wanted to see where it was and what happened, and they went out and verified it right that it was legit, legit location tracks, everything made sense, and there's a lion there. And this is something that people have long been saying that there are lions in the up like how people are saying there's lions all over the place.
And for the.
Longest time, twenty years ago, you had guys way outside of mountain lion territory, way outside of cougar territory would be like, oh, I saw a mountain lion.
And it was always the same thing.
It was, no, you didn't you saw an escape pet right like this idea, that's just like escape mountain lion pets running all over the place. You never see like actual pet mountain lions, but somehow.
There are many.
Like you never like at your he's like, here's my pet mountain line, But somehow there are hundreds of escape pets even though no one has like the actual pet mountain lion. Like there's a lot of dogs running around the woods. There's a lot of dogs in people's houses, So it all makes sense.
Mountain you gotta just be better at escaping.
You got pet dogs and then you got feral dogs.
But somehow it's just all faral lions when there's no pet lions, but they're all escape pets. Long story short, first confirmation in one hundred years in the up in Michigan.
Two mountain lion kittens in a hundred years verified.
Verified, but they haven't been seen. Yeah, verified?
But then what was it they haven't yet been hit by a car?
Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, is.
That the video of them on little ones on the side of the road.
Yeah, dude, it's it's like it's unbelievable.
So probably like a while ago, one got killed in Connecticut, one showed up in Menace, and a lot of times this is lions coming out of lions coming out of the Black Hills, coming out of western Nebraska.
And if you look at it, if you go get.
Yourself a map, you can see how that sucker, how they're going. You could picture how they're going because they're showing up at Michigan's Upper Peninsula. So they're going like from the Black Hills across ended Wiscon northern Wisconsin and then traveling. And this one that I had the video of was in the eastern up, so traveling across the top of the up probably like flirting up with Ontario, whatever, going across, and it would always be the story is like juvenile males will strike out and colonize new territory or they'll want their own territory, and so they'll go and presumably they go off in these weird ass places and never find a mate, and.
Then they kind of have like they're like a genetic dead end.
Right, So when you find these way out there lions that are way out of territory, there's this thing that like, oh, it's probably an escape pet. And then if it's not that, like, oh, it's some crazy juvenile male that wandered way outside of its range, but obviously a female went And then you gotta think and that low density, how like how phenomenal must they be at finding each other?
Maybe that like I mean that female might have been impregnated in Michigan.
It's like she.
Didn't, Like no, I'm sure I would imagine, Yeah, But then like, regardless of how low density, like, how do they find each other?
Well?
Yeah, man, I mean it's like you can get dropped off in the biggest wilderness ever, right, and be like, oh, here's a good way to go find game, and you strike out on that trail and you can find a boot track of somebody else who did the same thing, Right, because it's just like how predators move.
You get about the ridge side like ship. Yeah, a cigarette button, a couple of thirty.
Six anybody else think of this.
Right where I was, right where I was gonna walk. Yeah, Yeah, it's incredible to think about. But now they're there, I bet there's a lot of guys that are pissed. There's a lot of guys that are pissed because you already.
Have extreme load deer densities.
Yeah, lower deer densities, got a lot of wolf problems.
How would they like, how would they be classified? Like if they if a breeding population like gets going in Michigan, how are they going to classify.
That's a great question. I don't know what they e condom as.
Yeah, just be a non non game species right now. But I'm sure they did try to put some sort of protect protection on them or or not right, or they make the decision that this is just not something we're going to deal with.
Yeah, because man, I don't think you look up try someone tried to find it.
I'm guessing you can't just shoot a line in Michigan right now.
I probably under the self defense and defensive property rule, you could, Oh, if it was messing up or messing up your killing your chicken.
Yeah, but I mean like if you were out running bobcasts and you treat a lion, my guess is you can't shoot it because how are you looking up what the season is? Well, if it's not listed as anything, does that mean we'll find out?
Because if right? Because like State of Wyoming, like they have a they have game species, and then they have vermints that can shot year round without restrictions.
They classify they're classified as an endangered species. Shooting them. That's probably like a state endangered.
Species, not endangered mammals in Michigan, meaning it's illegal to hunt or harass them, which includes trying to locate their den.
My man aways had a good story. Uh you know what a fallow deer is. So my dad had a spot he was hunting. This was an Illinois. He had a spot he was hunting, and there was a big.
Arboretum near there, and they had all these like fallow deer sort of as a decoratione on this arbretomy.
Aren't those from overseas.
They're a Eurasian deer like kind of white and some of this some of the fallow deer had gotten off the arboretum and we're just running around, and so my dad was calling be like can I shoot one of these deer or not? And at the time, like what they had Illinois had like a wild deer.
They had a deer. So even in your in your rags didn't say like white tailed deer, because like, you know what, what are you not trying to draw this? It was just a deer. And so he called and the best answer they would give him is like it says a deer if it's a deer. So he always had this picture of as I should find. He had this great grip and grand where he's got his re curve and he's got a fallow deer. It was you know what he used to hunt?
Man?
It was funny is and it's a good idea. He used to have a spot he'd hunt where he'd get on a highway and at some point he'd pulled off at a rest area and got the walking around the rest area and saw a bunch of deer Signsuse it was like he showed.
Me it was not too far from where I grew up.
There's a rest area and it's all just like State Land area on the highway and then there was cornfields up above there, and he would get off at the rest area and park kind of like he was at the rest area, wait till the coast was clear, and then slip up in the woods instead of tree stand at the rest area and then get back on the highway and go down to the next exit.
And sneaky little spot, sneak.
I see a lot of rest areas, and I wonder about that. Okay, Seth, you're going hunting.
We're talking about that. Randall hates turkeys. Talk about that tick prevention. I got it. My program is dialed? Wrote who wrote?
I threw that in there?
What do you do? You do you feel your program is dialed?
No, not at all. It's something I don't think about. And tell him on the ground and then I'm like, oh man, this is I'm gonna be creeping and crawling. But I'm all so I don't Yeah, I don't know all the normal things. Don't like deep. I'm always like, oh, I'm gonna get that permethron stuff and that stuff works.
I take the heavy chemical approach, and I'll tell you. I'll tell you a little bit about my background.
Don't Inhale that when you breathe it all I mean, when you spray it all over your Let.
Me tell you though, I had okay, when my boy was three, talk about all the time. When my boy was three, he had lime disease, developed Bell's palsy, so he developed the facial paralysis. A lot of had a lot of problems. I had lime disease and had to go through the intravenous antibiotic treatment where they put the pick line in your heart and a fucking hose coming out of your arm shooting those cylinders. All that shitting there every day had to be where couldn't ride my bike. Had drawn a mountain goat tag and couldn't even hunt the tag. I couldn't go down steps without holding the handrail driving down the road.
It messes with your joints so bad.
I couldn't rest on the windowsill, I couldn't rest on the center console.
Because it was like just too like excruciating. Okay, So.
All that what I'm setting up there is like the risk of using some chemical stuff isn't as real to me as is the risk of getting tickborne pathogenstable.
It's not, oddly enough, It's the way I take care of things and like a big old, deep filled canister that erodes through everything once deployed. Like that's my problem is like it rattles around in the back of the truck. Eventually, like the cap goes off and it sprays all over everything, and then you got holes in clothing or a whole spool of fishing lines. I've had tackle boxes over the years that have turned into measure.
I had it warped. I had one open up on a caribou hunt, and I had one open up on my phone and actually warped my phone case, like the phone case warped.
So you're not buying the permethrone.
No, I haven't gotten to my formula yet.
Oh you're going double formula.
I do, and it takes. It takes. It takes discipline.
You do take Wood's off.
I do permethrine on my clothes, and I do it like you're supposed to do it. I do it ahead of time, like you you know, Like I said, it takes discipline, do it ahead of time and let it dry. Okay, so I'm not wearing a shit wet and that's how they recommend it. So I do all my clothes and permethrone. Then every morning. This is the painful part. This is the part you don't want to do because it's just it's annoying. Every morning, I do my ankles and deep, I do my waistline because of chigger to hate chiggers. I do my waistline and deep on on your skin, on my skin.
WHOA, all right?
I do deep. I plaster my waistline.
I plaster my ankles and deep, and I got permethrone on my clothes. And I'm telling you and I am a tick chigger magnet. I have shut that ship down. Wow, shut it down.
Yeah, hot tip.
Me and Seth did a bunch of permethrone one time. We were watching ticks climb on us and Music Festival.
When when Sam and I were in Pennsylvania last fall woodcock hunting like our buddy's dog had hundreds of deer ticks on it like every day, and we were using I was using permethrone and it works.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's that's an area where when they do tick studies they typically come back positive.
Yeah. Oh yeah. When I got it, I got it.
Hudson Valley and I think at the time they were saying that three quarters of all ticks had the pathogen they found.
I just read they found uh tick in Montana that they believe headlines.
I really don't what kind of tick I had had to be a deer tick.
I'll have to stuff they give dogs that always creeps me out. Dogs seem to be totally fine, but the tick yeah, goes up, bites into the dog and then dies and drops off the dog to me and Seth's close, I'm like, yeah, what's the human version of that?
Yeah, I've thought about that. I mean, if someone could invent that from mosquitoes?
Rich Man. Yeah, chili, how you doing? You're just sitting down there? Yeah, I'm just yeah. People are talking. Are you gonna turn your chili? I plan on it. Yeah.
I want to go back home, back to the hills and try to get a tagger. I think my brother applied it, so if he gets one, I'll probably go back with him.
That's where I'd like to go.
What what what's your program? Not not for ticks, but just for those flowing locks you're developing. Is is it like a standalone conditioner shampoo.
Made and tail baby horse shampoo? Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, you don't even need water with that?
Well you don't?
You just throw it on there, murder on outside.
Let it dry.
He's the only guy if I if you had to get a permit to have long hair, He's the only bad issue the permit.
I think I've told a few people this story.
I cut my hair, I think once since working here, and I cut it like I trimmed up the mustache, cut the hairy real short.
And uh.
I went to the store and Steve was sitting on the couch in the store and he's working on his laptop, and he just slowly turns to me, looks at me and goes, it's a bad move, dude.
I was like, Okay, I guess I've never come to.
Harry Jili needs to look free. So that's oh.
You know, I was gonna bring our ticks when we were watching I don't know if you remember this, Seth, me and Seth are sitting watching ticks crawling our clothes and fall off like they'd pass out.
Yeah, and then we're sitting there.
Here comes to have Alina. Do you remember this? Here comes to have Alina walking along. Guess what the have Aalena's feeding on I'm not kidding you, man, he is feeding on turkey shit.
Just one ship one shit after the other.
Just we're just sitting there, real store.
He just comes along and every time he'd find one of the little turkey ship, he'd stop and pick it up.
And he was like targeting turkey ships.
Smacking his cheeks together.
I have a video of it. It's pretty smacking his lips eating turkey shit.
La. That was in Texas. You guys are going back we are week or week after right?
Okay? Who knows about the South Carolina turkey deal? What is this? Now?
I talked with some folks on this one last week, actual you know, biologists in that state.
No, man, I'm looking now. I didn't know about this.
Well, but here here's the weird thing. Okay, So this would change the regulations or it already has changed the regulations for the twenty twenty five season to where it would no longer be legal to shoot Jake's immature Tom's.
It's cut back on my turkey harvest.
So that puts the onus on the hunter to identify a wow Tom that has a beard longer than six inches and a full tail fan.
So it's the combination, right, because a lot of full on gobblers don't have a six inch beard.
Right, Yeah, and so you're like, well, why would you take that opportunity away from people? Which was my question. But and this is the frustrating part is it's like because your brain kind of goes to like, well, is it like a trophy thing, like trying to make make bigger birds, which makes no sense in like the.
Longbeards, it is the time of the year.
They're not changing the season of their turkey hunt. What they're trying to do by adding this regulation is to provide more time for those birds to breed. Hmmm, who to breed for the for By making people select for the toms and pass up these other birds, they're allowing more time for breeding, which to which I responded was like, well, why don't you just adjust the whole season dates?
Well, I remember Abernathy talking about this, or there's in South Carolina him talking about that this this push pull between start and turkey season so early, right, and guys thinking that they're starting it too early, and the the there's a lot of these lot of turkey bio just like, dude, hunt turkeys as long as you want, don't start early. Yeah, and some state like if you steal a day, steal a day up front, give them two days.
On the other end, right, plenty of estates are doing that well.
Idaho, Montana. The folks have talked to you. They're like, there's no essentially no breeding going on. By the time turkey season has started in Idaho or Montana, like it's the bulk of the bell curve of the breeding is completely done.
But yeah, they're still snow on the ground April fifteenth.
They're saying that the hens have been bred.
What really, I'm not buying that.
Yeah, don't question.
Man. They're banning killing Jake's yes, wow, Yeah.
Which is just that, like it's like not being able to kill Spike Elk, Like sometimes that Jake saves the day here.
Like I understand you're trying to preserve quality of hunt so and like it doesn't make any sense that you'd say, Okay, I got an idea, no one can kill a long beard.
People would revolt.
You're right, But I wonder if the objective was, like if you're true objective was to preserve like age class breeding turkeys, if that was the true soul objective, it would probably make you'd probably end up saying, no, shoot all the jakes you want, don't shoot long beards.
There's a lot more jags.
But people would freak out.
I would freak out, as we know here in Montana. If you go out opening week and you're like, god, there's a lot of jakes around. Go back to the same spot last week of the season, You're like, oh my god, there's so many toms around you. Magically, there's so many toms where there used to be so many jakes.
Looks like they also out loud. Uh fanning and reaping on on private.
Yeah, yep, Scannie, you can't fan and reap. No, you can't fan in Michigan or Skan.
Anymore after a few years ago.
No idea.
So for you folks at home, what we're talking about is there was a There is a strategy. It is a deadly at times, a deadly turkey hunting strategy is picture picture yourself. You drive down the road and you come through old old man Morgenson's uh pasture pasture, and lo and.
Behold ten am on a Monday morning.
There's just a giant gobbler out there with a couple hens, and he's just strutting his ass off out in the middle. Out in the middle. You're never gonna call him in. He's you're never gonna like call him over to the edge. If you crawl out there, he's gonna run away.
Well what do you do, Well, you get a big old Turkey fan and you lay down on your belly and you army crawl holding that Turkey fan up.
And there's a high likelihood, if you play your cards right, you will just crawl right up to.
That turble or he'll come running straight out and come running to you. And then you just stick your shot on which I have done. You actually snake your barrel through the feathers and kind of rest rested on the fan. It is deadly effective. Guys are even taking it to the point.
I remember there these dudes that are all over on social media and everybody always has a conniption.
But they make a hat, a Turkey fan hat. Whoa yeah, and so it's like a.
Little army helmet and they crawl around with a Turkey fan hat. Now people will look at this and bring up the very obvious point, what if someone shoots that thing?
And if you haven't brought up this point, listen to Jordan Siller's new podcast Yeah about guy getting shot in the turkey ones.
It's not only deadly for the turkey. Yeah, and then you can, like in Wyoming, hunt turkeys of a rifle. Can you still have them with the rifle? In Florida? I remember they tried to get rid of it for a while. Uh it could be you know, was it Abernathy? They get we've had a couple of guys out of and got shot hunting turkeys. I think, yeah, Abernathy got shot hunting turkeys. I know guys in Pennsylvania got shot Abernathy. He lifted his foot up to rest it on a stump, and the guy shot his leg. I think it was Abernathy.
And then he's the guy said in interviewing his shooter. He said, man, when you put your leg up on that stump, looks just like a time going into strut.
Guys got some vision problems.
I wonder, I wonder if there's been any sort of studies done on like trying to figure out what it is. It's like triggers something in their brain that like takes over a turkey's body.
The competition, man, I mean, that's all. That's what it's got to be. Plus well, when the floors to man, they are I don't think they're ever like more exposed than when they're in struct right, so they you know, they completely block themselves from having almost three hundred and sixty degree vision.
Yeah right, it's a great chance to lift your gun up so that when he turns because he can't see you.
Yeah.
Yeah. But outside of that, so it's basically signaling to all other birds. Not only is it AOK, but there's like some hot hen action over here too, and I.
Think you might be in a fighting mood.
I think that's the combination of things, right, It's like it's a signal that it's totally safe, no predators around, and something really good good's happening, and that's like the combination.
I just can't resist it.
Yeah, I was. I was deer hunting in Idaho one time, and it was a limited.
Damn sure, weren't turkyng No, that's true, that's true. But it was a limited, limited bull elk unit.
And we actually met a tag holder earlier that day. They were hunting down the ridge from us, and we found a big bowl and we went and told him, you know, it was bowl over here, and we we sort of got set up to watch the bowl and they popped out one of those like cow elk foldable decoys, walked straight to the thing. It was like on a big open hillside. We were on a big open hillside and there's a little ridge between us. They walked straight towards that bowl until they could get out of sight, and then put the cow decoy down and shot the bowl.
Hmm. And I I've never been more nervous in my life that someone was gonna fill a cow tag on them.
Yeah, And I don't think there were any cow tags. Like I kind of asked them about it. I was like, you know, are you sure there's not cow tags here? And are you sure that someone's not gonna mistake a branch behind you or anything for an antler? Like I just don't trust other people out there. But I've always been curious about it because it worked real well. Yeah, but like, yeah, it was kind of put the ice in my veins a little bit.
Yeah.
Reaping is one of those things I would never send my kid out to do. Yeah, because you it'd be like, you know, because just picture the news article.
It's just additional risk, risk verse.
Reward, Yeah, and you'd be like, man, people would be mad at you.
He did what.
So you already couldn't in South Carolina in public, Now you can't on private. I think this is going to be my prediction when I crystal ball this, I get this is gonna be more and more.
And more and more common.
Yeah, I agree.
In the meantime, I would advise, Uh, I don't want to blame the victim here. In the meantime, I would advise people as we head out into the Turkey woods to spring, just don't shoot at random tail fans or random movement.
Yeah.
Kind of one of the first rules of gun safety.
Yeah, think about it a minute before shooting at fans because it might be a it might be a reaper.
Maybe think about think about where you reap too.
Yeah, it's not it's just not especially at the public.
It's just not that smart. They give a definition.
Fanny or reaping is the practice of stalking a wild turkey while hiding behind a decoy or tail fan, or an image or likeness of a tail fan, applied to any material I would carry.
I kind of quit. I didn't really carry it last year. I used to carry in my turkey vest, I carried a fan. And if you cut a fan, right, there's a way to cut it off the turkey where you can fold it out like a pack of cards. Then it'll fold up real nice.
I would lay it out and I had a little handle, even I had like a formal little handle, and I had a way you could open it up. And I had two wing nuts on a handle. So when you put the when you put the bolts, you put these two little bolts through the fan. It would hold the fan open. Throw a couple of wing nuts on there, and it was meant to be my crawler arounder never got shot.
But you've stopped carrying it.
I did.
I did, yeah, not wanting to get shot.
And then also I feel like some of the places I hunt you can't do it. You can still do it Montana though.
Yeah.
Texas, here's a Texas turkey hunting rule. This isn't terribly earth shattering. Hunters must report harvest within twenty four hours for all wild turkeys in all counties.
What did it used to be?
I don't think you had a report. I just found that this morning.
Yeah, you had to report. Sorry, I think you had to report.
Maybe they shortened the time. When I went to the state website, I didn't see what it was before. Are they collecting data with that or they just want to know if you're shot on?
Yeah, I think it's absolutely waiting. See how many birds got squatted that year? Yeah, yeah, I don't ever recalled, Yeah, submitting a report for killing a turkey in Texas.
Here's a Florida rule coming up, or Florida. This is a your cow talk about this Florida deal.
What's the Florida deal?
The no nrs the first three days of the season.
Oh, no non residents for turkey three days. So this is a good example of states watching other states do stuff. And I think South Dakota was the first one to be like the opening week of pheasant is for resident only unless you have private property access, I think I believe.
So.
Yeah, so all all the public stuff is off limits to non residence and I know Montana actually has a bill where they're considering a version of that as well. North Dakota just went that way, I think, and those that's for upland bird species. But here's a version of it, first one that I'm aware of in the turkey hunting world. But yeah, give all the residents first crack at those times that really like to come out and straut and rub it in your face. Mm hmm.
I don't.
I don't.
I don't know that's anything to get up in arms about.
I can't.
I mean I don't as a non as a Florida non resident, I don't like it, right, But I have to be honest about why I don't like it. Because it's inconvenient to me. Yeah, I mean it's essentially inconvenient to me. But that's not how you can make You can't use that as the way to make rules.
It's three days of a five week season. Like, I think it's okay to give residents a little little bone. There.
A guy that sent a guy sent me this article and he's like, is it the end of turkey hunting in Florida?
You know it's a bubber. I mean, if you're a non resident, it's a bubber. But I mean, like, dude, if I was going to make a list of every advantage residents have over non residents, I couldn't find.
A piece of paper long enough. Yeah, you get to write it out on toilet paper.
Yeah, I mean it does not get me all up in a tissy, but.
But man, if I was if I was a resident, I'd be licking my lips, dude. I like, listen, if they came in in this state and said, hey, you know, from now on first three days the elk season, or residence only first three days a deer season, residents only, anything, anything, I'd be like sweet, because with a lot of stuff, with a lot of hunting rules, it winds up being it.
You know. I tried, like, I don't know if I don't make sense. I've always thought there's certain there's some things that are like moral, you know, and there's some things that don't have.
A moral component. They just have a it's just like a strategic component. Like you can't get morally upset about it. I don't view this as a moral thing. This is just like a luck or not. It's like lucky or not lucky. It's unlucky for non residency.
I think in Florida cap non resident turkey tags at like ten percent.
I have no idea.
I think they might.
Is it like the way Montana caps with the caps and quotations caps and quotations, Yeah, I have no idea.
What do you mean by the caps and quotation Well.
There's this idea that the math is as simple as it sounds of like, well, yeah, there can only be ten percent of all tags going to non residence per region, but it's it's per opportunity.
What what's that mean.
It means that for every opportunity in that reg book, doze cows, bulls bucks, there's ten percent of every opportunity available to non residents. And then if there's leftover opportunities, they they're open to whoever wants those leftover opportunities.
And there's ways there's certain categories of tags available to non residents that don't count against that ten percent, Like if you have like to come home to hunt program, that doesn't count. Yeah, or the like the Montana I think they called Montana natives, So if you're born in Montana but live out of state, that doesn't count.
I think like.
The college students that are here, like there, they've created all these carve outs that don't count against that ten percent number.
Yeah, No, I'm not sure what happens if if you are specific Yeah, if you're specifically going with an outfitter, I'm not sure where that lands either, but.
Yeah, it's it's it's not a hard cap, yeah.
Yeah.
And then like a state like Idaho, who's like same kind of rules. Right, there's like a whole landowner pool and a whole outfitter pool. And the math doesn't ever really work in the way that we think it does, kind of like the national debt.
There is a uh, cal we're gonna talk where you get We're to have you talk about another We're in a minute, we're jumping around for state and state.
Do we do? We want to talk about the California thing? Is it too complicated?
We should find out what happens?
It is pretty easy. So marine protected areas okay, of which many exist in the state of California, with various states of protections within an m P a marine protect protected area, going from you can still do fishing and recreation to you can't have a boat in their type of spectrum right and and no take of wildlife.
And do they move around right like they open one.
Well, that that's an idea. That's that started at at the beginning of the m P a idea. Now we're in the decatal review period of time, and that's where like the crazy politics come in because it started as this like, oh, this is going to get done really quick, and there's only a couple of people on the Marine Fisheries Commission that are going to take care of the whole thing. And people once they started to learn what was at stake and all the proposals to expand MPAs and have like the most serious restrictions like no voting, no fishing, then they were like, oh no, no, this is a big deal. So now the amount of people paying attention is a lot larger. So it's like the full Marine Fisheries Commission versus just just two members of the Commission. And yeah, it's a huge access just flat out access to the ocean issue. And it's a huge, huge access to to fishing and food issue too, and it and it yeah, runs the gamut of like, you know, are we protecting the visual like the property values of very wealthy homeowners. Are we doing so at the degradation of marginalized community's ability to go fish? Are we There's all sorts of things that this gets into, But where we're at right now is you can still comment on mp as. There's a lot of petitions out there, and it is not going to get solved anytime real soon. But you need to be aware that a lot of access and fishing opportunity sometimes even like surfing opportunity is at stake right now in the state of California. I went and dove a walk in spot last year out of big sur and it was freaking gorgeous and fairly I mean, I'm sure some people would think it's fairly dangerous, like it's right next to like a juvenile white shark area and really cool spot. But that spot that nobody was down there using except for us, is would be a place that would be closed to expand a marine protected area really.
So basically all you could do is walk up and down the beach and nothing else.
With like the most extreme level of NPA like public access beaches, right, Yeah.
I think they should ban everything butt fishing.
Yeah, And that's the thing is, there's all sorts of arguments here of like, well, we want to protect areas for kelt because the kelp forests have been in such crazy as you decline, but there's no evidence to suggest that MPAs have helped kelp at all. The fishing argument, you know, it's fishing regulations, not necessarily mp as, that are gonna have a factor in in the health of your fishery. So it's it's really interesting, but it is like your your public opportunity that's at stake there, so you need need to get engaged. And like California b h A has been really good on this as well as what is Matt Bonds All waters dot Org. Those those folks have been really good on this and they're putting out great information. Uh, and they're getting people to all of these meetings. So connect, connect with one of those groups and learn more and see where you fit in.
Who are the people that are pushing for it.
I'm gonna hit you with a bunch of quotes ready. This is all quotes from the meeting one of the meetings about this Laguna Beach expansion. Someone says, the current MPa in Laguna is a ten mile fishing closure. Wow, ten mile fishing closure, so they already got a ten mile closure, this guy is saying at the meeting. He says, the current MPa in Laguna is a ten mile fishing closure, significantly impacting our fishing area, not just for us, but for all local fishing boats as well as lobster fishermen.
While we have all.
Supported the existing MPa in Laguna Beach and have adapted to that closure, over time, we remained opposed to any further expansion, and really we were very shocked to even see this proposal at all. Someone in favor of it says, this extent extension is a crucial step towards strengthening marine protection, preserving biodiversity, and ensuring the long term health of our coastal ecosystems. A guy, another guy had this to say, we just want to make it simple for people that this is a no fishing zone. There's plenty other places to fish. That's a guy at the meeting. Another guy at the meeting.
We'd like to have one little section of coastline where we can still enjoy ourselves, go fish and catch stuff and dive and have a good time.
Yeah, because the proposed extension would make Laguna Beaches southern coast completely off limits to fishing.
Another guy at the meeting.
Don't take another healthy thing away from us, and don't take food out of people's mouths, and so like.
That quote of like, oh, there's plenty other places to fish, right, Like that's a great example of It's like, well are those places available to who just folks with a big, fancy boat, And it's this coastal access component that people are really you know, because there's so many people go out and fish on the piers, but that type of fish is not necessarily for everybody, right And yeah, So lots of lots of arguments here, and they've made a lot of good, like grassroots steps into making sure a lot of these other communities with the vested interest in fishing and public access are actually getting a seat at the at the table, which is great. O.
Can we return for a minute. This this this turkey thing the South Carolina sorry, the Florida deal. Oh yeah, proposed draft to rule language.
Okay, So the point of this was that you can let your voice be heard, and you could. You could here's an email address, commissioners at my FWC dot com. But would you this is just a question, would you feel funny as a dude from another state writing the Wildlife commissioners in Florida?
Given your two cents, anybody can take the survey.
There you go.
So here's a there's someone drafted a note here, a guy that wrote us into us drafted away. Here's some things you could say in voicing your concerns. You can talk about wild turkey populations in Florida are not in jeopardy. Okay, talk about there's no there's no concern for the resource. Hunter satisfaction was reported as good or excellent by sixty three percent of surveyed participants.
In twenty twenty three, non residents funded over half of all turkey related license costs. But they're only twenty two percent of participating hunters. Okay, So half of the funding for licenses came from twenty two percent of the hunters, and residents are already gobbling up ninety percent of special turkey hunt opportunities gobbling up. That was good? Did I just make that up? I did make that up.
I mean.
Something's in the air, spring thunder neurovirus.
I don't think I have that right now. So, yeah, you can still let your voice be heard. But I would feel very very funny writing in being like as it because you're kind of like, uh, you kind of like like all your cards around the table. You're like, hey, you know, as a non president, like, how many dudes from out of state are writing in to say I think this sounds like a fantastic idea.
I think the first three days should be for non residents.
Yeah, I got that. I got a counter proposal. How about I just get to hunt for three days? Yeah, cal, what's habitat Montana?
What's up with that? This is we're doing? We're this is nothing to do with turkeys.
Hey yeah. So basically habitat Montana it's a big.
Fund, kind of rupt real quick, Yes, sir, Bdy, watch you dump all the weeds out.
I didn't dump that out.
Pass it over, spell out. I would love to have some more.
Serving up on that.
Steve, rub your hands all over that stuff.
So we're just passing it.
I was contagious.
It's good on at salmon as a little seasoning.
Gave me the scraps from there.
Okay, sorry, habitat Montana.
Yeah, Barnett, there's the other thing here. Anyway, habitat Montana is a habitat fund, right, it's set aside specifically to address are like state parks maintenance funding for habitat work that can address like non game species specifically. So it's it's nice to have that because then you know your hunter angler dollars. You're like, oh yeah, that's just gonna go more towards game species and access easements as well. Right, So like getting habitat easements on working timber lands or agriculture ground so it doesn't get developed and gobbled up and turned into something non wildlife producing. This is something in twenty twenty I think we voted on. It's it's really the reason that there's like recreational marijuana sales in Montana because they tied the taxes associated with the sale of recreational marijuana to this big outdoor habitat recreation fund called Habitat Montana got it. It got whittled away at a little bit because obviously people were like, oh my gosh, that's a lot of weed money out there we could use for all sorts of things. So the last legislative session some cash got carved out of it, and now we have house built three oh seven. That's happening right now. It's in play right now in the state of Montana.
Just looking at scan the whole thing, it.
Would basically suck Philly.
You know.
What's that great movie that we used to laugh about, the I Take a straw and.
There you go, Yeah, exactly have you seen drink milk?
I'm a weed man.
Associated there's like a spoof on it called there Will Be Bud. They do the whole trailer on a campus, and it's all like a guy trying to gobble up the weed market on a campus and he's like.
I clear your bong rip.
Which is very appropriate because we're dealing with weed money here, right. So anyway, voters Montana came came together and said this is what we want, got whittled the way last session, and now in this session it's going. If HB three oh seven were to pass, it would remove this funding.
To what end, to use it for something different, to use it.
For something different, which it doesn't really even we don't even need to talk about because the state's operating at a surplus right now, so there's lots of money that could be used. This is money that's earmarked for habitat And then we put it in the context of what's happening with the federal government right now with the funding freezes and the fact that there is a huge question mark around federal funding that is typically available for habitat work like this state fund is very important. We're seeing a huge increase in the population here in Montana and a huge increase of the overall population that is using state lands in weed and weed apparently, Yeah, so.
We need it I'll try to explain a little bit this to our day to someone. We're having a conversation about state funding mechanisms, and I'm like, with the FEDS kind of setting the clock back to eighteen ninety five in terms of attitude towards natural resources, this is going to become even more important.
More important, and we're just seeing increased use too. So yeah, it's it's a bummer that some folks think that this is a good idea right now. Recent polling data says seventy one percent of Montana households use public lands and trails, and this is our only like state funding mechanism set aside to address this stuff, and it's been like wildly successful the way it's been used so far. We completely eliminated the state park's maintenance backlog out of this fund. So instead of you, like you're hunting in angling dollars going to things that probably folks in this room don't use quite as much as as the retirees out there. We kind of like the fact that our hunting and angling dollars are addressing the things that we want, not some of the things that are being addressed in this habitat for Montana fund.
You know, what would be helpful to a citizen such as myself is whenever you see a proposal like we're I was covering like proposals, Let you know, there should be a way that you know, like there should be a a graphic that goes with proposals, and it'd be like the fire risk.
Because you know, like like there ared is that that some.
Gal from Florida introduces legislation to put like Trump on on Mount Rushmore. Okay, okay, So what it would be is that graphic would be there, and the graphic would be like at all the way to the left, meaning this will never happen, do I mean like it's like it's someone just doing a thing to well in that case, it's just like it's just someone being like a sycophant, right, They're like they're like doing a gesture like hey, look look at me. Look how loyal I am? You know, and it's not serious, like it's not gonna happen. Yeah, it's not serious. Like a lot of Peda's work, Yeah, like Pete stuff like oh yeah, here's a billboard, here's a bill to ban people from being able to say you got your your cart before the horse or whatever, you know, like to ban any kind of animal expression. So if you could just be at home and see a bill and it would just tell you, or there's an app you could scare. You could like take a photo of legal language and the app would be like, this is like a not thing. This is a non thing. It's someone, it's a gesture. It's someone trying to make headlines.
Yeah, don't burn your brain thinking about this.
It happens. It happens on both sides that someone will introduce some sort of frivolous legislation and then you see a bunch of headlines about it because the people on the other side, I want to bash that idea publicly, and it's like, oh, let's just pay attention to more serious things, right.
It just sucks the bandwidth out of there.
And then that's when you hear people be like, now they're trying to do you know what I mean.
It's like, yeah, like Peter does stuff just to get like Peta does things just to egg.
On and hopefully get a headline.
Yeah, to egg people on.
Yeah, you know, and so they'll do a thing like this has zero chance in hell, but they'll do it because also in there they are in the headlines, and it was like that that Mount Rushmore thing, you know, it's funny.
I looked up and I was trying to picture Mount Rushmore. I was like, would you put it on the right lookers right or lookers left? But j'all just say this.
You can't room.
There's no like, no this the rock's not suitable kind of someone's got to go.
This is this is what I was looking for, Just so folks know it's not just here in Montana. Like, if you recreate Montana, you live here right in. Ask your state representative to vote no or even a no vote, but to vote no on HB three oh seven. We need dedicated habitat funding. That's the only thing that we have right now. But over in Wisconsin there's a similar bill that would would basically stop the Noles Nelson Stewardship program, which was created in nineteen eighty nine. People are really organized and aware of this one, including Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, the Safari Club have all come together to make sure the Noles Nelson Stewardship program is renewed. And there's some lawmakers over there that are saying that they're going to stop it because it's just funding that they don't think should exist.
But is there is there examples in other states where where the like funds like these weed tax funds or like lottery sales where that that were dedicated towards public lands, wildlife, et cetera, where they've been raided and put elsewhere.
Oh, I think there's there's a ton of examples. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean like look at look at the state of Missouri. Missouri is considered to have like a phenomenal wildlife funding mechanism because they have an actual state tax right but literally the year after that tax was implemented, there were people trying to shut that thing down. And every year people attempt to divert funds from you know what many people consider to be like one of the best wildlife programs in the US, but an another one. New Mexico has like a sovereign wealth fund that's taxes out of energy, which is a fund that renews itself and grows, and then that funding basically secures or is secure for like their school programs, So that that'd be a version of what this habitat for Montana fund is that is successful.
So that's baked into the Restoration Wildlife factor, the Pittman Robertson Fund. They baked into it language and it's called like so and so's twenty.
Words or something like that.
Right, there's like a name for it where it's excuse.
Me that it's like it's written into the rule that you can't pillage it.
Yeah, because anytime someone sees a little pot of money, they want to go get it.
And I'm not sure about Missouri, but like at least in Montana, I mean that was part of the that's like what people voted on, like we're gonna do weed, but the weed money is going to go here, you know. And I believe that the same is true of the sales tax in Missouri. Is that like it was? Wasn't it a public Yeah?
Total bipartisan Yeah, And it's like this is part of the deal, and then as soon as as soon as people get on the same page, somebody else is trying to do the run around behind the back and spend that money elsewhere.
Yeah.
I've always been like, like all this legalizing weed rules, I could give a shit. I don't know what was so bad about hiding in the bushes, But I'm like well, yeah, man, if you're going to use it for conservation money, then ye get a lot of money.
Still, does your theory still hold true? Like about democratic and republican states like legalization.
That legalizing weed is yeah, like the lefty states were quicker to legalize weed.
Of course.
I'm just wondering what I mean.
Isn't that just like accepted as reality?
I know, but we've kind of kind of showed that it wasn't necessarily that the case.
I think over time perhaps, but Wyoming is still holding strong. I believe they don't want you smoking weed. I believe so I'm out.
Hmmm, I drink it up.
Yeah? Who else has got something?
Someone's got it? Take me turkey hunting this season. That's my thing.
I I want everybody to know that kren is the only person in the office. We'll just put we have like internal communication thing called slack, and she'll just put out there, does anybody have any pheasant spots they want to give?
Put?
The thing is like, she absolutely knows it's not appropriate questions, but she doesn't care either. Somebody will break.
I put on the charade of just going up never killed a turkey.
Just putting that out there, but I don't you know, then.
Follow up with the director ask just sort of seed that thought.
Don't you ask some special gun you're gonna use for your first.
Turkey if I can get it back from the gunsmith.
Great one.
Yeah, when you're talking, I wasn't.
I was only I was only half listening when you're yeah, because I wanted to tease you about shooting flint lock.
Sure, what is the gun you're making?
It's a it's a very silly story, but it's it's a it's like a German imported version of a submachine gun that's civilian legals. So it's got a sixteen inch barrel and the lower unit is different. So you can get a trigger group from the real deal, make some modifications, mills some things, replace some parts, slap it in there, and then you get a little it's a.
Little little bullet, a little bullet hose and it's fully automatic.
No, no, it's just it resembles the real thing.
We were talking about breaking law for a minute. No, no, no, this is all above that.
That's a yeah, it's that's a big that's a big law to break.
Yeah, yeah, this is very self conscious, but this is just uh and.
You're going to use that machine gun for turkey?
No, no, no, It's just a silly, little fun project that I'll probably end up selling as soon as I finish it.
This is one. Yeah.
Yeah, I've never seen Cal. He's got more stuff to read. I've never seen Cal less interested.
Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean I would have more interest in talking about rewiring a camper trailer that's currently currently sitting in your barn.
We can do that.
Yeah, that's that's one more fun to me. Yeah, it's like, oh, you're buying parts and putting them together.
That's cool.
I couldn't believe how little he cared about what you're talking about.
If you shot this thing, you would care more.
Robertson dollars.
Great, you know what I was feeling, Cal was feeling complete indifference. What I was feeling is a little out of the out of the loop. Yeah, no, it's to be like that that. I'm like, am I Like, how could I not know what he's talking about?
Little jealous?
A very niche uh gun subculture. I've always been curious about about these.
When do you say these? What do you mean this?
This?
It's a it's just tell them what it is.
It's an h K U s C and the U m P is the original sort of law enforcement version. But you can do these modifications and put a folding.
Stock on it. What's miss Williams thinking? She thinks it's really stupid. How much you're gonna have into this? Let's just keep that.
That's not a great question.
Yeah, that's all.
Those are all imaginary numbers, you know.
Should what you should ask is how much does he stand to make off of this once he completes a little build.
How much you're gonna make, Reynald, I don't know.
I don't know. I think it'll be I think it'll be more than I put into it.
So this is like a for profit You're like a gun dealer.
That have certain legal implications.
So I think it's a postum gun.
Now I'm trying to convince Randall to never sell gun don't sell guns in that case.
I always regret it when I do. No, that's not true. I used to, but now I don't.
Yeah, I've got a whole I mean, sometimes I play a game with my buddy where we try to name every gun that we've bought and sold, and we have a spreadsheet going. But it's still incomplete because we can't get there. Just a weird hobby, you know. So there's some guys that are like really into cars, some guys that are really into stamps. But this will be fun. I'll have the little project and then I can use it as a little plinker at the rain for a little while, and then maybe it goes down the road. Maybe I I just keep it, maybe I hang on to it.
Yeah, yeah, I do you want to keep going?
For the record, I didn't bring this up. It's true. I'm trying to change the subject. Several times. You seem like you don't want to talk about it.
Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, it's one of those things that I'd sort of do compulsively. And I think if I if I were, if I were better able to control my impulses, I'd probably make more practical decisions with the guns that I buy and sell. But you know, it's just me and something that I live with every day. I look at myself in the mirror. I don't always like what I see.
Too hard on yourself, cal go ahead, what were you gonna say when you got bored with Randall?
Senate Joint Resolution twenty five Dash zero zero nine Protection of Colorado's public Land. So this just happened yesterday. We're very timely, right, But it is a bipartisan two Democrats two Republicans in the state of Colorado pushed through sj R. Twenty five Dash zero zero nine, which is a joint resolution that says Colorado will not support the sale or privatization or transfer of the twenty two million acres of public land in the state of Colorado. So this is in response to a bunch of the stuff that we've been covering over the last couple of months, Utah's lawsuit, which is going to be resubmitted here pretty quick. No really, yeah, so great proactive move from the state of Colorado. Again, they have twenty two million acres of federally managed land in that state and saying that they're against sale or transfer to public lands, which is great news for folks who like to go out outside and do stuff in a free America.
And so with my little fire chart showing likelihood of advancing, where does this one fit.
This one's through. It's through in the state of Colorado. Yeah.
Also in Colorado, that one we were talking about where they were going to change the language of how hunting would be used, and that got tabled, so it's dead for the year.
You know what, I figured, I had that pegged as a low when I developed my app. It'll be like a low probability. That seemed like a gesture, that seemed like grand standing.
But every now and then there's a dry, windy day, you know, prefer like figuratively speaking, right.
Yeah, do you like that? I really did, I really did. I got a gun build going on right now too, Steve. I finally sent you that guy's info. Oh yeah, and we're not going to talk about him on the show because I don't want to get him backed up too much with gun orders. Yeah, my new new flint flint lock.
Yeah, I'm not saying names.
Steve wants a percussion cap. I'm gonna go with the flintlock.
That's weak ship. I want.
Let me tell what I want. I did a call out on this and I'm gonna do another call out on it. I want a single trigger percussion cap mm hmmm, tack driver.
Without the set trigger.
Trigger I know company single yeh single trigger.
You just want like a three pound.
A three pound trigger.
I don't want that stupid second trigger on there, just percussion cap, single trigger, but a tack driver, and I'm willing to pay.
Yeah, I have yet to participate. I guess we did do, Like, Ah, where the hell were we Nebraska or Iowa or someplace trying to hunt things with muzzleoders?
Yeah? Those are modern inlines, right, I like things.
So that's but that's the only thing I have.
No.
We plus we shot secret years ago.
Yeah, oh yeah you did that with you didn't even have a scope on yours. No, No, those are shooting away across the marsh, just leveling them.
Those things come with scopes. Anyway, real excited you to participate in Montana's heritage season. Well, she's hanging with me. Yeah. Uh so I'm doing the sensible thing and building up a rifle that is going to be super awesome so I can go effectively lay the smack down this this coming heritage season with whatever tags I have left in my pocket.
What's a single trigger ahead, fifty col single trigger, fifty cow, three pound pole, percussion cap.
I don't care. That's like Timy.
It doesn't need to look old Timy. It's just it's it's Montana legal.
That's like the old barely legal the TC Pennsylvania Hunter. That's exactly what you're looking for.
Single trigger percussion.
Yeah, now with percussion caps, you still got to walk around with a plastic bag.
If it's percussion Pennsylvania.
Yeah you can.
You know you can only use flint lock.
Yeah, well wasn't. It's a it's a model that Thompson Center made. They all the ones I've ever seen have been flint locks. But uh, they make them in or they used to. They don't make them anymore. Is it still available?
Single trigger percussion? You probably have to find one somewhere. I don't know. TC is getting fired back up again, so maybe they're gonna start making them. Oh you want to know something interesting that happen to me and doctor Randall. Two things. We're in Wyoming. We're about right to wrap up, Phil.
Yeah, that's great.
Put your hand on the switch there. And we're in Wyoming.
We went so we went to these archaeologists offices and one thing that happened the minute we walked in the door. If you remember this, Randall, We walked into an archaeologist office and immediately I look in there's a giant dinosaur bone on the floor like a giant femur of a dinosaur and I said something to the effect of good lord, what's that And he said that's a rock And I said, oh, I thought it was a dinosaur bone.
And he said that's what the guy that gave it to me thought it was. And he offered it to us.
Hey, he said, if you want to get it out of here, it's all yours.
Here's the interesting part.
These guys are doing an excavation of Fort Bonneville, so like an eighteen thirties mountain man site, and they're showing us just a little like scraps of metal. I mean, there's not much there, like you how the metal was coveted, like nothing gets thrown away but a.
Bunch of little old like old. But what would have.
Been very brand new is a bunch of percussion caps. They came off this site and they looked just like a yeah, really like.
Dude, just like a little yeah, just like a like a percussion cap.
Were they fired or on fire?
Fired percussion caps? Fired percussion caps? Yeah? That that was cool.
Yeah, so you're looking at the infancy of it would have been cutting edge technology.
Yeah, that's cool.
Was it the Hawken Brothers that came up with percussion.
I wonder if those percussion caps worked.
They definitely did, man, they definitely did well.
How many of them worked to not work? Ratio? That's what I mean?
Like what was the yeah, Like, how often did you have a missfire?
I can't say, yeah, that hunt, that the Nebraska or whatever late season dealer that we did. Finally, deer steps out a little too far. Deer steps out a little too far. Oh, this one's on the right track, comes out perfect, broadside.
The bad primers, another tip, little.
Puffs of smoke and off percussions. Yeah, off percussion caps.
And I'm like, yeah, yeah.
That's why you're going to the flint lock.
Exactly exactly well. And the other reason I'm going with the flint lock too is if it, for whatever reason is something that I do not like and can't accommodate, I can always go to a percussion cap with that same rifle.
I just put it changed the lot different.
Yeah, do you ever think about getting yourself a match lock? No, the old k had a light of fire.
Then they confuse.
A wheel lock.
All right, everybody good, and we got anything else to say? Turkey week, Good luck, Turkey hold.
Do you have any Do you have any goals for your week of vacation that's coming up.
I need to recuperate. We're gonna spearfish bunch. But I'm worried about I just don't have any energy right now, so I'm worried about that.
Do you have any species goals?
No? Take what I can get. I packed my Feelae knife, so I can tell you that.
You don't want to be on that.
Pack my knife.
I gotta get better. My kid's raring to go. He's gonna be very irritated that I'm not that.
I need a day. I need a recuperation day or two when I get there.
Did he get that new GoPro?
My god, Oh he did, and he's got like a little payment plan. He did a high bank rolled the purchase. Uh he had he had one hundred bucks of the kicked in. I made him make a chart so for the next eight months, he owes me thirty bucks.
A month in interesting juice parenting. So I got that chart my office, thirty bucks a month.
You should build one with like general credit card interest rates. And here's what I could that.
Yeah, it's a variable. That was the thing about it. Milking it out of.
Him is ro getting the old camera.
He says, part of what his plan is to sell the old one to get some of his payments.
He's got a mind.
He's a wheeler dealer. Yeah, exactly. He's like Randall. He's a wheeler dealer.
Out and he should accompany Randall to the estate sales and then maybe they can buy stuff and re sell stuff.
And I can't wait to see him out there being like, the more I talk about this, I don't even think I want to sell this. It's probably better than the new one. But I suppose I could let him go.
All right, this might be my last show. It's been fun.
Thanks for a good, good run.
What number is this grin? If I die?
Oh wow, we're at six hundred six seventy something.
You believe that if I die? Well, everybody you know, thanks for listening. Can I have all your ship.
Address?
Yeah? And since Randall knows Randall, you're in charge of the estates.
Yeah, you don't have to fight everything.
I've got the app on my phone.
It'll be real smooth.
We'll auction everything off and we'll get a bajillion dollars for conservation.
Randall sent me a plan access Randall. He was showing me about an estate sale the other day and then he sent me a picture. There's two things at the estate sale that didn't sell, and it was a box of empty DVD cases and some disposable yearine collection devices.
Everything else cleared out.
I got a I got a box of bullets for real steel and a nice digital scale with my name on it.
Thanks for joining
H
