Bear Grease - Ep. 323: Costa Rica to Alabama - The Interesting Life of Pablo Esquivel

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

On this episode of the Bear Grease Podcast host Clay Newcomb interviews self-proclaimed hybrid of a Costa Rican and a redneck, Pablo Esquivel.  Pablo shares about his life growing up in Costa Rica with a love of the outdoors to the process of his immigration to the United States, gaining citizenship, and finding a passion in whitetail deer hunting.  He talks about the follies and successes in his journey to become a better hunter and the impact that his hunting mentors have had on him. If you have comments on the show, send us a note to [e-mail] Connect with Clay and MeatEater Clay on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and YouTube Clips MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. First Lights fieldware collection is made for the work that happens long before opening day and continues when the season ends. Products built for early mornings, full days and real use. Hard wearing where they need to be versatile where it matters. No shortcuts. Just gear designed for the work that earns the season.

Built to perform, built to last. Check out. First Light's new field. Worldware gear at firstlight.com. The next thing I know she stands up, takes up running, and I end up unloading 12 shots. Well, 11 more shots after that one. Four.

Pooh, pooh, pooh, four more in the chamber. And it looked like somebody's popping field mines. Because, I mean, you can see the ground just exploding all over the place. Boom, boom. I don't know what's, I don't know why am I amazing, man. I spoke with Daniel about it. He's like, when was the last time you saw? this thing and I was like, what are you talking about?

He's like, when was the last time that you shoot at a target? And I was like, do you mean a deer? You know, he was like, came to find out, you know, that apparently they're not like dead on the money from factory. And you have to slide him in. I'd like to introduce you to a man who claims to be a hybrid between a Costa Rican and an Alabama redneck. His name is Pablo Esquivel.

and he might be the most interesting man I've met since Johnny Johnston. He started with a slingshot in Central America, and today he's what I'd call a true student of the white-tailed deer, and he's on his way to becoming an accomplished southern deer hunter. His refreshing perspective on America and our hunting and just living here in America is framed by the strict anti-hunting laws of his native country, and is exactly what I needed to hear. I have no doubt that you're going to enjoy Pablo,

and I know that it's going to give you a new perspective. I really doubt that you're going to want to miss this very unique episode. Then I came to realize, you know, a lot of people win the lottery, but this was my lottery. This was going to change the rest of my life. And if I'm not careful, I'm going to drop the potato like everybody else. and I will not have anything left. It was up to me to make the best out of it

because the tools and resources were there for me. So are you going to go after them or are you not? My name is Clay Newcomb and this is the Bear Grease podcast where we'll explore things forgotten but relevant. Search for insight in unlikely places and where we'll tell the story of Americans who live their lives close to the land. presented by FHF Gear, American-made, purpose-built, hunting and fishing gear that's designed to be as rugged as the places we explore.

In case you need a geographic refresher, Costa Rica is in Central America on the Central American Isthmus located between Panama and Nicaragua. It's less than 20,000 square miles and about the size of West Virginia. It's a tropical paradise with over 800 miles of coastline. on the east, the Atlantic, and on the west, the Pacific Ocean. I'd like for you to meet 36-year-old Pablo Esquival. This is the start of his life story. My name is Pablo Esquil. I was born and raised in Costa Rica.

That's down there in Central America, for those who don't know. Beautiful place, fisherman's paradise. You know, I was born in a small town. I would say with a perfect balance, have your forest, you have your rivers, you have your volcanoes, you have the beaches, everything was like really nearby. Luckily, thanks to God, we had no internet, we had no cell phones. So it was all about being outside, running around. Man, and we're kids. We're like seven years old, eight years old.

So you go and start looking for everybody else. So you just go knocking on doors. Hey, so-and-so at home, hey, we're going to the river. You want to go? And, ah, so we meet on the corner in an hour. And next thing, you know, you will have 10 kids. And we all start trucking together through the mountain. And as we go, we used to pick up, like, fruits and maybe dig for a few roots and edible, things like that.

That we were just, like, gathering alone, made it all the way to the rivers and spent all evening out there making a small fire cooking whatever we were fishing and then just coming back home and you know the time to be back was before the sun's down i don't know why they nobody has watches nothing everybody knew we have to be home but we're fixing to get a whooping so if if we try to compare costa rica and the states you know there's multiple aspects and in factors that they might have an influence on the outcome of these response, right? And one of the biggest is that, well, we cannot compare apples to oranges. You know, it's two different things. But you're going to have, like, like what we said,

you have a clear division between the high class, the low class, and then the people the struggle, right? Where would you have fit in that? Oh, we were on the bottom. Like, now, once again, don't, don't think about, like, just because you're poor, you're living. on this house made out of cardboard boxes and you're all dirty and all that stuff because no man like a lot of times people associate poverty with dirtiness and laziness one thing is being dirty and lazy and another thing is just being poor of economical resources you could be poor economically but you might be very rich mentally and it's just a matter of time before everything is going to flip You know, we venture a little bit more for longer periods of time on the forest.

We start going into the rainforest on bicycles and things like that, just trucking along, having fun. But somewhere along that road, somewhere between, I was a teenager and a kid. Somebody, I don't know who or when, I cannot recall, they introduced me to a slingshot. we didn't have, you know, hunting is illegal, right? It's still illegal up to this day. And owing a gun, a firearm at the time, I don't keep up with the latest news, but at the time I know the system was designed literally to make you fail

and see how much money can you slide underneath the table to get a permit. Now, like I said, it's been several years since I was departed from that place. and everything has changed and I bet you the loss has changed as well the only thing that hasn't changed is the culture of no hunting but having a sling shell was kind of like a the only gun maybe a weapon if we can say it like that

so I was introduced to it and then in blowguns and the blow guns I do remember the blowguns because we were like in third grade it was nothing but a small piece of the carting rat that you're using your, you know what I'm talking about? Okay, one of those, like at one inch in diameter, right? Man, you will dig out some clay, just regular clay, because it was clay everywhere.

We used to make the pellets with our fingers and keep them in our pockets, right? So you will keep him wet, like nice and moist on a plastic bag, so the clay didn't dry up upon you. And you just pulled him out, man. And it was funny because you will make him like, it was like a muscle memory. You will just roll them up and it will be the perfect fit for that aluminum pipe

and man, just aim at it, then blow as hard as you cool. Any kind of bird will not stand a chance. Like within 20 yards, yes, there was solid hits,

man. Because, you know, then palettes are like semi-wet, like they're not fully dry. So when they hit, they actually mushroom a little bit. At the time, we have no idea

about ballistics and we were putting them on place, right? And we had the slingshots and we became pretty accurate with him. I was good at it. Don't get me wrong, but I had friends, man. When we were kids, these guys were like legit snipers and I'm not making this up, man. These guys will hit like an aluminum can at 40 or 50 yards with a slingshot. It was just like mind-blowing. But for us, it was like three or four guys.

We were able to sneak upon this animal. And it was like, everybody's going to release at the same time in three, two, one. Blum, somebody's going to hit him good enough that we're going to be able to run and finish what we started, you know. What do you hunt? So there's a bunch of Costa Rica. That place has 2% of the total biodiversity. of the world, just in that teeny, tiny country. So, like, seriously, there is so many things.

There's one that is called Pisote. It's like a raccoon. It has almost the same colors, but not quite. But kind of somewhere along, elongated nose. So there's another small mammal call, down there it was called Wattusa. It's like a big rat. if we can say it like that, there was another one that was called tepe squinty and those, you know, they dig holes and they live on the ground

and they just come out for feeding and all that, and pigeons. Well, I call them pigeons, but those are doves, you know, the purple ones, everywhere. And, man, anything else that might cross our path on our way to where we were going, it was becoming prey. So around 2005, you know, my mom comes to the States and she said, you stay where you at, keep doing what you're doing, we're going to apply for your documents. And we're going to come back and pick you up and all that stuff. Well, I just kept on with my life.

Deep down on me, I did not expect this to happen to actually go through. So I kept doing my thing, got done with high school. you know, you will get jobs here and there, like temporary jobs. I went out there on the coffee fields and worked on the coffee fields and it was a nightmare, man, everything is going to bite you, sting you. And, you know, but it's what it was. Working in small, like retail stores or just in construction in general, small time frames, you know, because I wasn't like a really happy about it.

And then this opportunity came along to go on sport fishing on a, community college. So my goal was becoming a captain from a sport fishing vessel. Down there, that stuff is tremendously big, right? So, and I love fishing, you know, so they go hand to hand. So I got into it and I started doing the sport fishing, man, everything is good. So at the time, it's been already three or four years since he's gone. And I'm still waiting on the papers.

then about a couple years go by, then she calls. And she said, boy, we have an appointment of the U.S. Embassy. Again, once again, 100% honest. I just thought that we were going to go inside. Somebody was going to talk a little bit. And then we're going to come back out. And she was going to live. And I was going to keep doing my thing.

Next thing you know, like three days later, I'm jumping on a plane. I'm 21 fixing a bit of time. 22 or knocking on 22. Jumping on a plane. Towards the States. Pablo's mother had married an American and she got Pablo a meeting with the U.S. Embassy. And afterwards, he got his legal documentation as a permanent resident, which years later would lead to his U.S. citizenship, which he has today.

But let's go back to those first days in the United States. The pictures that you get down there to the States is, like, like what media sales you write, the big cities, big cities. That's all. Ah, so I'm going to Alabama. Hey no big cities in Alabama. So we left Costa Rica, landed in Houston, Houston to Huntsville, made it home. And on my way back, I was like, where's the city? You know, like, I really want to see all that. No. Made it to my step, that place. Walk up in the morning, having breakfast with my mom and him. My first time on the U.S., my first morning, man, and in September, I'm looking around. It's so pretty.

She said, hey, come over here. We've got to talk. Right? So I was like, ah, my stepdad is like, ah, boy, listen, we're going to be, we're going to set in some standards right here. You got 90 days to make this happen. And I said, what is it? He said, you got to get a driver license. You got to save money to get a car.

You have to get a job. and you need an apartment. And of course, you have to learn English. So I just, I laughed at my mom, to be honest. I just kind of like, I give her a smirk, you know, and she said, like, he's not joking. Like, he's being dead serious. So, man, I wasn't shocked.

And on the inside of me, I was like, dude, this is, like, this is impossible. I mean, like, seriously, this is just out of this word. Well, that day, later on that night, we went eating on this place, the Mexican restaurant. And it clicked. I was like, oh, man, yes. Like these people speak Spanish, and they also speak English. So, and you know, I didn't speak any English at all.

Like none, not even your basic stuff, nothing. And it started with walking in the restaurant next day after we went to eat. right walking next day I told my mom can you can you take me out there so I walk in there and I look at the manager and I said man I need a job I said I do anything you want I will clean the dishes I do the floors but I need a job right now and I said then I was very clear about this I said I do not speak English he said man I like that attitude I'm gonna make you a waiter and I was like dude I literally just told you I don't speak English

He's like, no, don't worry, I'm going to push you with this girl. She's going to teach you. And little did I know that day, but God will, I was standing in front of my wife without even noticing, right? She didn't like me at first because she said that I was really stubborn. Well, of course, man. I don't know. I don't understand. Like, I don't know what she's talking about.

And she told that within a couple hours, I was going to be like well trained and ready to go. And no, it was like a whole month that I was struggling, man. Like it was, it was complicated. My first check, man, on the restaurant, my first check. It was like, I want to say it was like $310 bucks in a whole week. And I did six days. And I look at it, you know.

And my step that was like, what was my mom? So I'm like, and I was like, and I was like, like, this is like, this is my money, right? He said, yeah. And I was like, man, how much is for a Lamborghini? He was like, like, 250,000. I was like, man, I was feeling like the richest men in the world, you know, like, I was like, yeah, 300 bucks a week. It's going to be a matter in all time. Then I look at the back and he says, deductions. And I was like, what is this? You know, and he's like, that's your taxes. And I said, but what do y'all do this? He's like, what are you talking about? You have to pay taxes. And I was like, says who? The government.

And I was like, but who told the government you got to pay? Man, I was shocked because I never seen that before. And then I realized right there like, oh, boy, yeah, if you want to make it happen, then you got to go out. So my break was a two-hour break. And throughout that time, I had a dictionary and the driver license manual book with me. And I was trying so hard to make. sense out of it to try to translate it because it was I mean it was it was there or not because here's the thing I was I could go back it was always a chance it was always an option just just go back but then what I was going to say it I just I came back because it was hard you know what I'm saying I guess it's kind of like a pride maybe if we can say it

like that so I just couldn't give up and it was the first time in my life that I was actually like fully committing with heart and soul to something because you need greed, man. There was a lot of days. My first year was a nightmare of a year. I couldn't understand why I was pushing myself and why I was pushing this the way that I was doing it. What I was doing this for? Then I came to realize, you know, a lot of people win the lottery, but this was. my lottery. I just won my lottery. This was going to change the rest of my life. And if I'm not

careful, I'm going to drop the potato like everybody else. And I will not have anything left. It was up to me to make the best out of it because the tools and resources were there for me. So are you going to go after him or are you not? Life in America continues. Pablo works. He gets a car. He works hard to learn English. But remember the girl that helped him learn to wait tables and to speak English? Here's the story of how all that went down. I'd say this is a very personal story, but it paints the picture of the challenges that Pablo and his wife have overcome. So got with my wife, man. And this is going to be, I'm going to, I'm just going to throw it out there. This is what happened. Okay, so I like her.

And I was like, listen, honey, I really like you. Do you want to be my girlfriend? And she was like, my dad doesn't let me have boyfriends. And I was like, what, are you five? Good dad, good dad. I was like, what are you? Five. I was 21.

She was 19. I said, where is your dad? She said, my dad is sitting right there. And I said, hold on a second. Can I go get this straight? So I would go walking straight to him. And I said, hey, sir, nice to meet you. I introduced myself to him

and I said, man, I really like your daughter. I would like to see if I can get permission from you to go out on a date or maybe, I mean, just to the movie theaters. You're more than welcome to come out with us. And the dude didn't say nothing. Like, he was dead quiet. And I have no idea what's going on. I was like, what am I missing?

This is a cultural thing. like like this is a yes or this is a no and I I just I didn't know so I waited in there for like a good 45 seconds to a minute not a single word he was just looking me straight on my eyes and I was like good like and so I came back and she was hiding on the backside of the drinks machines she said what did you say and I said nothing she was like oh my God I'm in trouble I was like what like what do you mean you're in trouble you know so he left man and i was like that was the most awkward thing because i had the courage to go talk to you and now you don't talk to me anyways a couple days go by man i'm just going to have to say the way it is a couple days go by she hasn't

show up the work and i was like what's going on with her right the third day she comes work She comes to work. So I said, what happened? She said, my dad had one too many drinks and got mad at me because, you know, I've been talking to you and he just kind of like to slap me a little too hard. So I said, no. I said, you want to go with me today? Like, she said, where? And I said, I don't know.

Would you like to go? And she said, yeah. Man, the only thing that I need was a horse and a sombrero, you know, the regular hat just to make it like the old Western style. Somebody from the restaurant don't give her dad my phone number. So the dad is calling me below enough. And I said, listen, man, calm down. Let's talk this out like, man. What about if we meet tomorrow in Walmart?

Walmart's parking lot and we speak like me. He said, I'm going to kill you. Whatever. I show up to Walmart next day, man. And the dude jumps out of his car. flashing a 9mm gun running towards me. And I was like, man, listen, I thought that I was talking with somebody with different manners. You know, like I said, just go ahead and put that thing up before they call the cups.

Because if you're trying to impress somebody, that's the wrong impression. I say, would you please settle down? So the guy does. Well, the dude starts crying. You know, he starts crying out of nowhere. And I'm like, now he got more awkward. Like, now it's weird. Like, what's happening?

Well, that's my little girl. And now you're taking my little girl. And why, wow, wow. Let me give you the blessing. And so I'm lost, right? I'm not following what's going on. So he grabs me, you know, the Hispanics, you know, they do that. Like, like they cross on the chest and all that.

He does that. And, dude, I'm not making this up. He grabs me by my face and kissed me on my mouth. And I froze. Dude, I froze on time. And I said, that ain't, hey, oh, no, why was that? You know, and my wife, and my wife is there looking at me all for, she's like, I'm sorry. And I said, man, that ain't no blessing.

I said, what's wrong with you? And I was like, what kind of blessing is that? I said, that ain't no blessing, you know? And, well, it just kind of like kept going on and on. And it was a cultural thing because me, even though the word Hispanics, he was a little bit different. So she is from Mexico. They are both of them from Mexico, and I'm from Costa Rica. So, you know, there's a cultural thing that I didn't even know that we had.

Right? And as far as I know, all my Mexican friends, they said that ain't no blessing. That kiss was no blessing. Dude, I'm still that. I would never forgive that on my life. Pablo and his wife have been married ever since. You can tell a lot about a man, by the way he talks about his wife. when she's not there. And I can tell you that Pablo goes on and on about what a

wonderful woman that she is. But the story rolls on and the next chapter begins when his mom and stepdad moved to the country out in rural Alabama. On blood trails the stories don't end when the hunt is over. They just get darker. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bed and there was a full of blood. Oh my God, he doesn't have a head. Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors. Where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce,

and the truth gets buried under brush and silence. Indications were he should be right there, but he wasn't. This season, we're going deeper. From cold case files to whispered suspicions, from remote mountains to frozen backwoods. Each story begins in the wilderness and ends in darkness. Because out here, there are no witnesses, no cameras, just fragments and the people left behind trying to piece them back together. He's not an honest person. He's incapable of being honest.

Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season 2 of Blood Trails premieres April 16th. Follow now on Apple, Iheart, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. I have to find a way to keep my head busy, right? So I was like, man, I really would love to do some hunting or something like that. Well, my step that gives me a BB gun, that old trusty Daisy, right? You know, the regular pump, baby gun?

Yeah, man, man, man. Then I'm having a blast. And I'm talking to him and just communicating with him the hunting that we used to do, right? Well, he doesn't understand much what I'm saying, but he knows that I'm somewhere along that line. He said, what about if you go ahead and take your hunter education course. So I was like, what is that? He's like, so you can get a license and you can go hunting. And I was like, what are you mean?

Now he did get my attention. He was like, you know, there's public land. And I was like, how? I don't understand it. He was like, there's a piece of land where you can go and hunt. You don't have to pay as long as you can comply with the state and federal regulations. and I was like, how do I do that? Man, don't deal, right?

I'm a hunter education course, everything else. I'm running out there in the woods. So Pablo is going to do some hunting. And when he got to America around 2001, it was in the peak of the outdoor television era, and he watched a lot of it. He saw Big Buck after Big Buck get killed on the edges of cornfields, as these shows often highlighted.

the best places in America to hunt, which was the Midwest. Little did he know that public land hunting in Alabama was going to be a little bit different. But he also picked up that scent was a big deal to these TV hunters. I do my first hunt, right? Got ready. I'm ready, man. And I go to Walmart. And I told, this is what I told the lady.

I said, dear scent, that's what I asked her. I said, deer sent, you know, on the hunting section. And she was like, what? Like, deer pee? And I said, yeah, I guess I was really excited. I don't know. So she gave me that big bottle. So I go jumping my truck and running straight through the woods, man.

And I start spraying with it. And I'm gagging. I'm having a bad time. And I'm like, this crap is stout. You know, like, but in my mind, I was like, you just got to do what you got to do. Well, so you've sprayed yourself with your ear. Yes, I'm spraying all over your body.

Do estrus all over, like Cologne, just going out of it. And I'm gagging. I'm doing everything. And I was really like cover up. Well, little that I know, these guys were spraying sand killer. And my English was so broken and I was so ignorant that I thought that it was doestrous or anyways, you know. I learned the hard way

because I came home and my wife was like what is that smell? Get out! But the grace of God, thanks to the good Lord, I didn't kill anything because it would have been a mess. I don't even know if I was in season. Like I said, I'm just out there, man, going at it.

Most likely it was bog only and I have a firearm on my shoulders. Like he was a perfect resolution. for a disaster, but it didn't happen. So you got to remember I went three years, three whole seasons, without seeing a deer, nothing. And I go here in Alabama and this public, making a fool of myself, making a fool of myself, doing blinds in the middle of the fields, and I never saw a deer. For three years, Pablo hunted public land in Alabama, and he never saw a deer. For three years, Pablo hunted public land in Alabama, and he never saw a deer,

but he learned as much as he could about hunting and a lot of it from television. But one fateful day, things changed. I sit down that day, I'm climb up. And I'm hunting a place that I've never been before that I have no clue why I picked up that tree. Anyways, there is a deer. Like, I can actually see a deer with horns.

it's my first buck and the first deer that I've seen on the U.S. since I started hunting three years ago. I'm self-taught with a bow as well. I wanted a bow really bad. I guess it just kind of like connects with the slingshot kind of thing, right? So you taught yourself how to shoot a boat? Yeah, man, I smoked my forearm so many times. Oh, man, I hurt so bad.

And I shoot so many arrows like through the side of the house. and God knows where else. Because, you know, trying to side up a bow with no experience, it's complicated, right? Thanks to the good Lord, man, because I sent some broadheads, just shoot, disappear, you know. And I was like, good deal that there's no neighbors down yonder because it could be, anyways. Go with my boat, man, and the thing starts walking my way. So I'm losing it. I never experienced this before.

Yes. I'm on public in Alabama. I'm losing it. Never experienced this before in my life. I got bug fever. Well, I don't know that it's bug fever. I think I'm having like a seizure attack or something.

I don't know what's happening, but I'm just shaking, trying to put the release on and trying to draw it. And I'm like, I released and I miss. Like, Killeen, clean miss. I thought that he was dead because he took off running. And I seen the arrow on the. ground clean, no blood, no, I mean, there ain't no telling how far away I was from that

year. I was devastated and I'm not going to lie. I'm going to be 100% honest. I cry, man, and I cry like a kid because he hurt so much, man. I was like, I have worked so hard. I don't put myself through so much. And now that I had a chance, I blew it. Like, immediately, myself, I blew it. I don't know how to explain it. It's like I have done everything that I have, like that I having my power to make it happen. And yet I'm short-handed. Well, about three days later, my wife is like, so you ain't going back to the woods.

And I was like, no, I'm not hunting again. I'm not doing that. I say, I'm not hunting again. That's just stupid. I'm not doing this. I don't know how they do, whatever they do, but I don't understand it. It's probably not for me. And she said, what if you just go and walk in the forest and maybe clean your mind?

And I was saying, I'm not doing that, period, you know? She goes to work. I was off the whole week. And it was about lunchtime. And I was like, you know what? She's probably right. I'm just going to go and walk. And I grabbed my boat.

And I went walking, went to the place where I missed that book. And I was so upset still. You know, I was like, I cannot believe. I said, I'm just going to sit for this. Didn't even have my climber. Walk about 100 yards south. Sat on the ground. And I was playing with dirt and sticks.

With a log behind me, a previous head in front of me. I remember this like if it was yesterday. Well, it's getting that time. Sun is going down. You start having a little bit of gray light here and there. There is a drainage to my right. And I can feel something pulling. like a light breeze.

Well, that was the thermos kicking in. I have no clue about thermos, right? So I'm sitting by the drainage. My scent is being pulling away. And I heard some noise. And I immediately assume on my head, I said, that's the squirrel. And I look up. And that buck is walking towards me, Clay.

Like literally towards me in a straight line. Well, then I'm realizing, like, I'm having a heart attack right now. again, I cannot get my bow. I don't know where my release at. I'm fumbling on the ground while sitting down, fumbling on the ground, trying to get my stuff together. Then I raised my head up and that buck is maybe 15 yards away looking straight at me, bobbing his head up and down.

Like, what is that? And he's about to build. Man, I don't remember seeing the PIP side. I don't remember nothing. I just remember hearing that. distinctive, where he hits, boom.

That thing takes up running and piles up. Man, now if you talk about bug fever, I mean, I was shaking, I was sweating,

I was seriously thinking, like they're going to find us both dead right here because I'm fixing to die today with him right there. I'm having a heart attack and I have to get out of here. So I got out.

I literally just got out. walk all the way to my truck. I'm on public. Now, have you seen the deer go down? I saw him. I saw him going down. So you really think he's falling down? Yes, because I seen him tumbling.

So I said, he's dead. That's what I said. I said, he's dead. Them guys on the TV shows, when they tumble like that, they're dead. That's what I'm thinking. So I've run out. So you've watched enough hunting TV to know this is when they're fist pumping and saying, he's down.

He's going down. I called my wife. and I said, honey, I just kill him, and I'm super pumped. And she was like, are you sure you kill him? Instead of being supportive, you know, she was like... That's what all wives say, even when you've done it so many times. That's what my wife says now. Man, and are you sure?

She got on my head back, and I was like, you know why? She's probably right. I probably didn't kill him. He might just trip over and tumble, and then he stood up well. I said, I'm going to go look for him. At the time, I didn't have Onyx or nothing. like that. So now I'm in the dark looking for the spot where I was sitting on where I shot that deer. So I'm with the light man. And it's just a night man. There's a blood trail about

this big that I just keep walking over. No, I'm blinded looking for that bug just walking over the signs. So I stopped man and I'm about to cry again and the thing is dead maybe from here to the door. I'm a small A-point, two and a half-year-old A-pointer. My first deer ever, a buck, and I kill him with a bow from the ground.

After three years of trial and error, he finally killed a buck. And this is when things started to change for him. He had a desire to learn more, but he needed some help. I was working on this small town doing a concrete job,

and the gentleman shows up He said, hey, son, do you want to make some money Saturday? And we pour some concrete for this gentleman. And I said, yeah, absolutely. So we got done pouring the concrete, doing the finishing and all that stuff. Suddenly my step that calls me, he's like, son, let me show you something. Takes me on the back, Mr. Tony's property on his shop. And he opens the room and there is state records from the 90s.

Bo State Records from the 90s. Big deer. Big books. And I'm blown away. And I was like, man, where did you kill him? That's the first thing I said. The guy's here? Yes, he's there with, and he just is smiling.

So I introduced myself, shook his hand and all that stuff. And I said, do you sell him? Because that's what I first thought as well. I said, he probably sold these things. And he laughed even more. He was like, no, no, no, I don't sell it. This is throughout the years what I have been able to harvest. So I was like, where did you kill him?

He's like, oh, right out there, you know. And I was like, oh, my God. Well, I have to go back to work because we're finishing the concrete. So got done, man, came back home, and I was blown away. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. And I was like, my goodness, the size of those bugs were phenomenal. I'm going to give me one disease. That's, I mean, we're talking.

talking about like a one hundred and seven inch bucks right now the season goes by no success so i go until rick rick do you remember that gentleman that we talked to mr tony meyers he said yeah i said do you remember where he to live he said oh i don't know i said does he still living in that place he said i don't know now i said well i know how the country looks like because i was one who pour it. And I had a really good visual of how the house it is. Something is going to happen. I'm going to find Mr. Tony or I'm going to end up shocked. So I went all the way back and I was like, this is the house. Man, and I pull up, knock on the front door, nobody came out. And I was about to give up. And I said, no, hold on. I remember, I remember we walk on the backside. And I was like,

ah, here we go. This is risky. Yeah, fixing to catch a nine or a 38. You know, that's what fixing the dude. Walk on the backside, knock on the door, Miss Donna, his wife. She comes out. She's like, can I help you? And I was like, hey, you know, I don't know if you remember me. She was like, no, I dug, but Donnie is hunting. He'll be back later on.

I waited for Mr. Tony outside, man. And then he came back in. And I was like, Mr. Tony. He was like, hey, buddy, I remember you. Amazing. And then we start talking. and he just kind of like started giving me a different point of view

because this man, you have to remember, this is a grown man with the experience of a five-year-old on the woods. He said, do you know how to read a map? No, sir. Do you know how to look for your feet trees?

I have no clue what is that. I have no idea. So he's like, ah, so this is a white oak. This is a red oak. then that's when I realized like if I really want to get into this I'm going to have to go for it so this guy is in this is the second time you've met him you were doing concrete at his house yeah second time that you've met him and he's like really opening up to you yes he's like

brought you into his house yeah man that's the that's the craziest thing ever mr. donnie took me in like literally and so you're standing back around all these bucks that you had looking around and he was like buddy I need you know understand that's the first thing that he told me. He said, this has been a lifetime of hunting and I've been very lucky, very blessed. He said, you, you're going to kill one. He was trying to be optimistic with me. He said, you're going to kill one. But you have to understand that this is a process and he has to be respected. You cannot rush it. And I was like, okay, we are into something right here. That's when he took me straight into basics.

feed trees. I have no clue what a feed tree. So I end up buying a book. This is trees and bushes from Alabama. So I could get familiar with the species because I have no clue. Got done with that.

He says, do you know anything about the mating season? The rut? And I was like, not really. Hey, let me stop you. Yeah. I want to go back. And I'm going to, I think it's like to me the the social dynamic of him inviting a stranger into his home yeah i think that i think that's really cool you've you've also entered into like almost a secret society almost that maybe

you're not even aware of no that people would be secretive often yeah about their success and how they hunt and i think that's probably less today than it's ever been because of the internet and it's like but at the same time, this must be a pretty extraordinary guy, I would say. I bet if you would have done that 10 times to 10 different people that had big trophy rooms with whitetail deer, and you walked up, knocked on their door, nine of those 10 would have been like... 10 out of 10. Get out of here. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, this guy, this guy is special. Mr. Tony, Mr. Tony, he's nothing but a good old country boy. You know what I'm saying? Like he's a Christian, a great man. And I guess he's so in this younger man. Maybe he saw something that nobody else did. I don't know. I don't know how to explain it.

Now, how old were you at that time? I'm what, 26, 25, 26, somewhere in there. And at this time, is your English pretty good? I mean, it hasn't never been pretty good, you know. You know, I'm fluent enough where we can have this kind of conversations and all that. But, you know, I'm always going to have an accent. I just don't know how get rid of. I won't be able to get rid of them.

You know, that's what it is. And I guess Mr. Tony sees this desperation on my face. So Mr. Tony go ahead and gives me his teachings a little bit out of time, right? while introduced me to some other local agents like Mr. Jamie McKay, Mr. Michael Perry. Then the ball keeps rolling. So he starts introducing into his friends that he thinks can help you. Yes. I cannot name everybody on this list, you know, because this podcast, it will be two days long.

But it was like a snowball effect where everybody was trying to help me a little bit. And trust me, Clay. I never wanted a free ride. But I really wanted to learn the only thing that I was like I was craving, like desperate for the knowledge, but especially was on the woodsmanship. And you have to remember, like we just mentioned, you know, topography and seasons, completely different habitats. I was coming into a brand new place. and I was like, they are reading in between the lines, and I don't even know where the line begin.

Like, I don't even know where the lines start, so I need to understand how to get this straight. So my thing was the knowledge. That's what I wanted to know, especially when they were like, oh, man, this white oak is fixing a drop. And I was like, what is it going to drop? And what is it going to drop? I was going to drop acorns.

And what about the acorns? It's a very valuable source. of fuel, nutrients, some people's going to argue that it does and it doesn't, but the deer is going to eat. And how do you hunt these places? Well, access routes. And what about access route? Then you got funnels, you got thermals. What is a turmoil? On blood trails, the stories don't end when the hunt is over. They just get darker. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping that there was a full of blood. Oh my God, he doesn't have a head.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors, where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried under brush and silence. Indications were he should be right there, but he wasn't. This season, we're going deeper.

From cold case files to whispered suspicions, from remote mountains to frozen backwoods. Each story begins in the wilderness, and ends in darkness. Because out here, there are no witnesses, no cameras, just fragments, and the people left behind trying to piece them back together. He's not an honest person. He's incapable of being honest.

Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season 2 of Blood Trails premieres April 16th. Follow now on Apple, Iheart, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is pretty phenomenal that Mr. Tony and these guys, gathered around and helped Pablo like they did. They literally took him into the woods and started to teach him how to hunt. But he wasn't looking for a handout.

He wanted to learn so he could go do it on his own. So all the while that he's being mentored, he's out trying to kill more deer by himself and he's coming back and reporting to his mentors. And gradually, he starts to kill more and more deer. But this next story really gives a date of point. on what it's like to start from zero. I never own a high power rifle in my life, nor a gun in my life ever, rather than a baby.

So Rick and my mother, for a Christmas, they come home, they're like, some, we got a present for you. This is Remington 77306, and I'm losing my mind. I'm static, like, I can't believe. This is what you're going to use for hunting. I said, great.

Well, thanks to the good Lord, the first few seasons that didn't kill anything, because apparently, you know, you got to follow some state rules when it comes to, like, seasons for rifles on this area and all that. Thanks to God, never happened. Then I learned, like, I was like, oh, okay, keep having issues throughout the years, man. I keep missing. Man, what happened, you know? Just kind of like we're straight up honesty.

right here. So I get with Daniel Williams and I'm talking with him. He's like, go right here in this spot, man. It's a lot of good action. So I get to it. There's a good scrape. I mean, war out. I said, great. Climb up two hours later, three hours later. Five those came up and, man, I let him go boom. You know? Good. She piles. She didn't pile up. She just kind of like hunch over and lay down on the side. So it's good. She's dead. So I take Dan. And I said, Daniel, I just shot a dough. He was like, what are you doing? What are you doing?

What are you doing? What are you shooting those for? This is the rot. You know, so I was like, God. You know, he's right. Dang it. There ain't nothing that I can do about it now. But next thing, I know she stands up, takes up running, and I end up unloading 12 shots.

Well, 11 more shots up to that one. Four? Boom, boom. Four more in the chamber. and it looked like somebody's popping field minds because I mean you can see the ground just exploding all over the place boom boom I don't know

I don't know why am I missing man so I said whatever and I spoke with Daniel about it he's like when was the last time you saw this thing and I was like what are you talking about he said when was the last time that you shoot at a target and I was like do you mean a deer you know

he was like came to find out you know, that apparently they're not like dead on the money from factory. And you have to slide him in. And so he's at, okay, let's hold on a second. When was the last time that you cleaned this thing? And I say, how you clean him? The rifle, keep in mind, he's been with me for 10 years, nonstop missing and shooting, right?

So we look at, like I said, man, we look at the barrel through the light. He pulls the bolt down and look, and he looks like, entrance of a coal mine. They just cover up with all kinds of crime and dirt. So that day I learned a very valuable lesson that it was like you have to take care

of your guns. And so we went to, well, got it clean, got it all and go to the rifle range. And at 100 yards I was not hitting the paper. Like there's no telling where the thing was. So we backed it up to 25 and I was hitting

like on top of the paper. That is a funny story. And I mean, how would you know that a scoped rifle didn't come from the factory sighted in unless somebody told you? I think there are a lot of things that we take for granted. But Mr. Tony, in a big crew of generous Alabama men, continue to mentor Pablo and the lessons start taking root. So this is a new piece that I've never been to before. And you have a trail, man, and a walk all the way. Well, there's a dead end and there is a swamp.

And I'm talking about like cat tails, you know, head high, privilege head, and you name it. I was like, let me just venture a little bit into it. It has to be a way through because I could see way down yonder on the backside. I could see the trees, like big trees. So I was like, that has to be solid ground. I didn't have onyx at the time and I didn't know how to get to on the other side because it was no road access

from the other side. So I said, man, I'm just going to power through and I start walking on that swamp. Well, out of nowhere, there was a trail, a small trail. Something has been going through here. I don't know if it's raccoons or whatever, something has been going through here.

Now, keep this in mind. It's a wetland, right? And I have hunting boots, not rubber boots. Suddenly I'm all the way up to knee high on water. So I'm walking all the way up. The trail gets a little bit wider. And I just kept walking.

I was like, let's see how far I can go. Bow my hand, backpack on my back. At the time I'm already introduced with the saddle, being more comfortable and all that stuff. So I'm walking with my whole gear thinking I'm fixing a set up this evening. And suddenly it's getting a little deeper. Now I'm like halfway through my tides, right? So I was like, man, hold on a second.

Let me see how deep it is right here. And as I'm kind of like a feeling with my food, man, next thing, you know, I'm completely submerged. Like I'm submerged and I don't know what's happening. And I got my bow on my hand and I'm trying to reach out out of the surface. You're completely underwater. No, I'm underwater, like, and I'm jumping just to gap some air. And I was like, if I let go my boat, it's going to disappear. If I let go my pack, it's going to be disappear.

Man, I don't know how I was able to grab a tree, like a stick that it was just out there. And I was able to pull myself back to shore. I said, okay, that's not the way to go. And this is the crazy thing. You will not notice that. Like I said, it would just a hole rather. Beaver hole, right? Yeah. So I learned how to like go around it, keep walking. Man, I sat for the evening.

I was going to come back home because I was soaking wet. And it was cold and I was like, heck with it. Man, it's what it is. Might as well, let's go ahead and sit down this evening. See if we can see something. Well, a spy comes out. And man, I truly climbed the trees. No, I sat on the ground. Yes, because I was like I said, sucking wet. My phone was dead. I was just there. A spike comes out and I drill him, kill him with my bow, man. And I'm pumped. I mean, I was like, let's go, you know. Soaking with, I'm cold.

Forget all that. I just kill another book, right? A spike. Some people would say like, no, let him go. No, kill Spike. I'm not a shame. I will kill a spike. It's like everybody used to say that I was on the SPAC management university, you know,

because I just keep racking up with spikes. I think this story shows Pablo's grit to keep hunting, even though he was soaking wet. Not many people would have done that. That was a few years back. Here Pablo tells us more about his mentorship, things start to get serious when he starts talking about his perspective on America and human nature.

Well, the season is over. now it's time to scout do some scouting and start walking along that mountain mr michael perry and daniel williams too let's let's all go hands down you know let's go ahead and start looking for for the signs that you're missing and and that's when i actually start like learning so these guys are taking you yes on public land on public this is when i generous people no absolutely like and the worst thing is that at the time i didn't understood how much or how big this was. Yeah.

I was just like an sponge observing everything that they were saying. That's what I wanted. I just wanted to know how, what do you guys do? How do y'all get so good at? And all these things that I feel that what I believe is they just kind of like took my game from like being on zero all the way to being maybe like in a low, intermediate. immediate where I'm at now, where I kind of understand what I do and I kind of see the things that I didn't before. This is pretty much the result of everybody else that has helped me

in one way or another navigating my ways through the woods, you know, like to the point where, we're like what we say downside. If you can kill them down south, you can kill them anywhere else, you know, to the point where now I'm applying on out-of-state tags, where I'm expanding my horizon, where I'm able to like keep living this dream, man, that I just don't want to wake up from, like, that I open my eyes every morning and I'm like, yes, thank you God. With everything we complain about,

with everything that we fuss, we are living somebody else's dream life. somebody else would die for live where we are living, you know. And unfortunately, there's a lot of entitlement. And a lot of times people don't realize, like, this is the greatest country of the world, like, in every single aspect. And we have to be able to be more thankful for the things that we have. And quit asking for everything the way that we do.

Because now I'm on the same boat, you know, it's going to be able to be more thankful. And a lot of times I try to pull that e-break and remind myself, this is where you're coming from. And this is where you are. You got to remember. You know, and then I come back and just kind of like I realized, like, yeah, it's entitlement is contagious, you know. Human nature is so interesting because we quickly calibrate to the circumstances. It's almost like people need to have a problem. Yes.

You know, so it's like if you're living at this level and your problems are really existential, like a lot of poverty and no jobs and maybe no food, you're discontent. And then it scales at every level. So I'm not just talking about me too. I mean, if 20 years ago you told me where I was going to be now, I would be like, No way. Yeah. But then now I still have problems that I think are big.

But what I'm hearing you say, and with your story, it's so poignant, is that you've lived in two worlds that were so different. Yeah, because I get a different perspective than nobody else has. We're never going to have enough time to, you know, thank God for the things that we do, the things that we have, right? But on these cases, look around and look the way that we live. What a privilege is to have a job that you can complain about. What a privilege is to open your closet and not knowing what to wear because you have so much. This is the perspective from an outsider that now I realize all this stuff and it's like a reminder for me all the time. What a privilege not knowing what to eat because there's so much that we can eat and we can choose, right?

Once again, Clay, with everything that we complain, we live somebody else's dream life. And we do not appreciate what we have because we take it for granted. And I'm including myself in that category. Man, I'm not making enough money. Man, I don't have the newest truck. Man, I ain't killing the biggest book. So I feel that sometimes we just got to stop for a moment. Just stop and look around.

and just remember that there's always somebody on a very, very bad shape compared with you. You know, just be more grateful. That's it. Just be more grateful. Last year, Pablo had the best deer season of his life. He tagged out on bucks in Alabama on public land and traveled out of the state and killed a buck in Mississippi.

And a couple of those bucks were really, nice like 120-inch type deer. Pablo is an incredible guy. What an incredible story. I'm so grateful to him for telling it to us. As we close, I'd like to throw out some food for thought. When I think about Pablo's story, it could be siloed into a single conclusion

that his life was made so much better because he moved to America, kind of seeing it as this place saved him. And from an external framework, it did. He has a nicer house, a nicer truck, more upward mobility. But as valuable as those things are, here's the big question. Is that the most accurate way to gauge the human existence? Is it gauged on a quality of life that is simply driven by economics?

If so, America is the greatest nation on earth. But I think to truly evaluate human life, we've got to look at a bigger, more complex question. I recently heard somebody say that wherever there is economic prosperity and blessing, spirit shrivel, but where there is poverty and suffering, spirits grow. I think Pablo's roots gave him something that is very hard to get unless you've been near the bottom. I can't thank you enough for listening to Bear Greece, Brent's This Country Life podcast, and coming up real soon, Oh Lake Pickles, Backwoods University. Thank you all so much.

And if you enjoyed Pablo's story, please share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review on iTunes. Remember, keep the wild place as wild because that's where the bears live. First Lights Fieldware collection is made for the work that happens long before opening day and continues when the season ends. Products built for early mornings, full days and real use. Hard wearing where they need to be versatile where it matters.

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