Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 091 - Bowhunting Grizzly

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

Join us for a discussion Nate, David and Tim from Bushwhack Alaska Adventures. Cam and the guys talk about Cam’s recent Grizzly bear hunt, the challenges with guiding and what Bushwhack is all about! Follow along: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronrhanes Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronhanes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camhanes/ Website: https://www.cameronhanes.com   Follow Bushwhack Alaska Adventures: https://www.instagram.com/bushwhack_adventures/  Thank you to our sponsors: Montana Knife Company: https://www.montanaknifecompany.com/ Use code CAM for 10% off  MTN OPS Supplements: https://mtnops.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off and Free Shipping Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv use code CAM for 10% off Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% your first order Grizzly Coolers: https://www.grizzlycoolers.com/ use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off GoHunt: https://gohunt.com/ use code CAM when you sign up for $50 towards the gear shop + 10% off the GoHunt store Timestamps: 0:00:00 Intro: The Guides of Bushwhack Alaska Adventures 0:05:57 How Nate Got into Guiding 0:09:21 Hunting Instincts & Guiding 0:13:01 How David Got into Guiding 0:17:52 New Hunters VS Seasoned Hunters in Big Game Hunting 0:24:35 Ad Break 0:26:36 Kip Fulks’ Involvement with Bushwhack Adventures 0:30:06 Exposing People to Hunting in Alaska 0:36:26 The Guides Thoughts on Cam’s Grizzly Hunt 0:48:05 Outro

Every step I take I move my truth Every time they tell me stop I use Every comment hate that makes my feel Gather up my energy and boom I hear them talking Saying the way that I move it's so reckless That is a part of my mind I've been blessed with Giving my blood so I am relentless

All right this is the Keep Hamerring Collective This is a Roadshow edition And I have some VIP guests here Why don't you introduce yourself straight in that I'm Nathan Mattee David Pollock Nathan Matvey, David Pollow And Tim Winslow

Tim Winslow. And we're here after just wrapping up a bear hunt for grizzly bear with a bow, these two of my guides here. And Tim, this is, I mean, you're like day-to-day running this operation, right? Yeah, yeah. I'm kind of the coordinator here and making sure everybody gets in the right spot and try to make these hunts happen. So I don't know how old you're going to.

now but when you're these guys age is this what you're doing yeah so i was i'm still doing that a little bit but the really neat thing about how we operate here specifically is both these guys have been in a tent with me when i was in their position they they they've we spent lots of formidable uh years intense together so when i send these guys out with anybody and that goes for all the guides here, they know exactly what I expect and they know how to rock a roll and make it happen. We're all kind of, we all think in our own ways, but all on the same page. It's a pretty tight family here. Yeah, I went and looked at, we went on a little tour last night.

David took me out and I looked at like, even where we were putting the daily rations in there. And it's like, I like that it, you know, it's hunting camp, but it's very, there's a process. Yeah. You know, I think you talked about, you said, formidable out there, but also formative as far as developing that process. So I would think the lessons you've learned, you've tried to impart on these guys. And, you know, what I love about that is you can have the best lessons and try your hardest. If you don't have the right guys, it's not going to happen. But with the right guys, then you have the results like you have now with a crew that is, you know, it seemingly has.

more experienced beyond their years. Yeah. Just because they're leaning on. Yeah. Maybe hearing stories or hearing from you or spending time in the field. Yeah, we definitely make it a big priority to put some pressure too on these guys. And because it's like anything, Kim, as you know, pressure either will make you crumble or to make diamonds.

And only the guys that can endure a little pressure can remain and grow. And that's why you have guys that are here that are 24 years old. that are like seasoned salty elastic guides because they put the pressure on them they've had the pressure and the way you know we operate around here man we we we don't waste any time we don't just hang out if we're not guiding we're hunting or we're training and we're doing those kinds of things that that really helped process move and also i know that that's great i mean that is that's what makes a special group of people for sure group of men But one thing I do like is there's these guys understand the history of this in particular because this is a partnership now between you and Kip

But these guys have been there and David was telling you well this used to be the main lodge Yeah, then we did that you know the dish in the bar used to be down there and like everybody knows the story Yeah, you know, so yeah that's the biggest thing is having people having the workers You know not I'm not saying these guys just works but just in general having the workers take ownership yeah over the company too. And I can tell by how these guys talk that they care. Yeah, they care about not just that hunt, the hunt we had or the hunt, any other client that goes out with the math, but also how it reflects on what you guys are building here. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Lhasa. This is where the elite guides start from, and I'm very, very biased. But they know that this is where it starts and that they do take ownership and they make sure that they have all their stuff squared away, that they're the best they can be, especially on hunts like yours can where do you can't, you can't have a guide that's not locked in. You can't have a weekend warrior guide that just rolls out and be like, yeah, I guess I'm going on a hunt. You got to have a guide that eats, sleeps,

is a total savage. And this is where it starts. I mean, this is, we're breeding, we're breeding savages out here, is that's the goal. And these guys recognize it, and they help the younger guys come up,

that we have some younger guys around right now, that they're taking responsibility over them and where they need to be, and that's what it's all about. It's, it's everybody watches out for each other. Yeah, it's not too dissimilar to kind of how the regimen works

for what, is David's other job. But yeah, everybody has to rely on each other. And it's that it's like a vetting process. Yeah. Because I'm sure, you know, you used to call these guys, these are the seasoned guys. And you said you had young guys. To me, these guys are young guys.

Yeah. There's even younger guys. Yeah. But it's that, it's that, you know, what these guys are doing in selections is called peer review. So they'll tell you if, yeah, this kid doesn't have what it takes. And so that's what you're right. That's what elevates the whole. whole game. Yeah. I'd be interested to hear. Let's hear a little bit, you know, I know,

but let's hear a little bit of your story and how you got here. Um, and this is, this is Nate. Yeah. So, uh, I grew up in Pennsylvania and I was in a hunting family. So we did a lot of hunting from the time I was very young. Um, and I kind of, about the time I was about 20 or so, I really got the bug to go out west and I kind of called around to a bunch of outfitters. Found a guy in Colorado. Moved there.

Worked at that place. Decide this is really cool. I really enjoy this. I gave Eric a call. He said, if you're serious, man, come up. Came up. He threw me out 70 miles from here.

Inside of a lake, middle of nowhere. Spent the whole summer out there. He built a cabin. He, after that, moved straight into the big game hunts. And pretty much ever since, I've been just hammering that.

Big game hunt, big game hunt, after big game hunt. I'm not, I'm not entirely convinced that Nate's biological parents are human. I actually believe that he was raising a wolf den somewhere. And so I think that's all just a made-up backstory so that we'll believe that he's like part of it. It sounded good.

It sounded good. It's not perfect, but. Nate is. I think I told you that out there, Cam. Like, I've been working with Nate since he came in as a packer. Yeah. Some of his first hunts with us were him packing for him out on the coast. And we had to teach him some things, table manners and hygiene and stuff, but he's a killer.

And those are the teachable things. What Nate has is the intangibles where Nate has there are certain guys. that are born to hunt and they have certain intangible instincts that are higher levels than other people. And Nate has, he's got high level instinctual hunting capabilities where he can go in and he can predict and anticipate animals movements that you can't teach somebody. You can teach somebody to eat with a fork and a knife, which we're still working on that. But you can't teach what he has. And that's what's really important is that is trying to really, uh, move forward and have Nate teach other guys and grow other guys in that way and really

tap into some of those instincts that come very natural to some guys and are higher levels and other guys than, you know, then trying to be something that he's not, trying to fit into a box that he's not because Nate's his own, specifically a very, very stealthy bowhunter himself. And it really shows and it really the, his pedigree speaks for itself with all the clients that he's had is the success that he's had is really due to all that that kind of some that natural ability and also just he works really hard i'm never worried about him um taking a day off i'm never worried about him standing a tent and i don't know if you've had guides do that on or try to take time off or whatever but that's not our style as like if you're hunting you're hunting

and you're all in so that's kind of a little bit about about Nate that we've spent a lot of time together and I've grown to really appreciate his skill set. Yeah, you're right that I'm not so sure hunting instinct can be taught because probably just as long as man's been around, there's been good hunters, decent hunters. Yeah. Yeah. And shitty hunters. Yeah.

So what makes a good hunter a good hunter. And some of that is that instinct and it's not, it'd be hard to verbalize. Here's why I'm doing what I'm doing. Here's what I see. Yeah. Because sometimes it's just little, you know, you just feel the wind a little bit here. And you're like, oh, I'm better, there's a screen here. And I'm going to say in the shadows here.

It's like, it'd be hard to go through that with everybody. Yeah. You know, some of it is just, excuse me. But to me, I always think of it as like, you know, it's just you're just reacting. It's like a fluid thing, you know, because I've seen people out there and they're like, get to one spot and they're like, fuck. You know, and they're like looking like, okay, now what? What should I do now? And then some people are just like, it's just happening.

Yeah. And so that's kind of the impression. I mean, David has his set of strengths too. Nathan has his sets. But together, they were great. I have a follow up real quick. So when you came out here 70 miles to the lake and all that, did you second guess what the decision to come up here ever?

No. You never. I was like, this is a spot. You didn't want your mom? No, no. not really you just loved it from the

get-go oh absolutely yeah I mean and being a packer isn't generally the most glamorous job right absolutely not it's it's hard work

it's what is that a tail like I think they say packer but it's just you do it you do everything

yeah hopefully you don't have to be told to do everything you just know yeah yeah I mean you're it's a training process

to be a guide I mean you you go out there and you do you do like the hardest parts of the guiding part of the thing, but you're, you don't really know what you're doing yet. You're doing all of it,

but you don't, you have, you have no idea because you're just like not, you're not up to speed with like everything that's going on. You know, even as packers with these guys, like it's really important for me and for everybody else is you pick up on their decisions.

And if they're, willing to do the little things from the get-go, if you're willing to do the little things right, you'll do the big things right. If you're willing to make little decisions right, you'll make the big decisions right. And being a guide in Alaska, it's all decision-making. And decision-making that can result in life or death in some cases for clients. So it's very important. Like Nate was saying, we put the screws to these guys that are coming as apprentice guides, packers. And what we're really judging is how they react to. very uncomfortable scenarios for the normal human.

And also their decision making process and how they how they make decisions under pressure because that will only, it usually just follows that suit. So if they're young and they're making good decisions, they'll keep going and they'll keep growing and we can use that. We can, you know, harness that and grow that. Yeah. So it seems like out in the mountains, it's just never, never ending problem. on. Yes, it's just like you're navigating.

Like, what's the problem set today? Okay, here's what we need to do. Yeah, because you can't predict. You can't predict the weather, obviously, as we know, it sounds so cliche, but there's a lot of other things you can't predict out there. And, yeah, I loved it. I want to hear, so David, let's hear, I know we talked about it out on the mountain, but let's hear how you got here. Yeah, I'll get there. I just wanted to touch real quick on what you were just saying. And I think one of things that makes this outfit special is, like Tim was saying, the level of judgment from the leadership top down, when Tim and Eric beforehand, when they get a young Packer and they see that potential in them, you know, I remember the first time I was late on Tim was across the lake there on a mountain, saw him flying in Super Cove, and we did a hunt together.

And when he sees, like, the potential young guy like that, our guys put a lot of work into developing those young guys out on a home. putting them in those positions to see how they make decisions and to develop them. And, I mean, that's what gives you what you've got today. Yeah, I'm from New York. We're up there. I moved up here right out of high school. And I was living in Alaska for a couple years before I got involved in the hunting industry. Just thought it was fascinating.

I never did any hunting at West growing up. And, I mean, got out west, and then you got up here, like, the scale of animals, the scale of nature and wilderness is just, you know, hard to compare anything to. It always fascinated me and I was doing a couple other things in my late teens and then when I was 20 I called about 20 different Alaskan guides getting the same feel looking for pack for work moose season coming up. Eric said the same thing to me if you're serious be here this date showed up and you know it's a culture shock like seeing how that what they

expect out of those young guys and we do put a lot of pressure on it pretty high nutrition rate with kids that show up thinking they want to do this and then realize what it's actually like um and then i learned from eric and tim and guys like them that have been in our employee for years and um it's been a hell of right i mean i'm honored to work for tim and you were uh complimenting the effort we put in out there and to me it's like no question about that kind of stuff when you work for people with your respect you're like happy to you know put in the work and um i don't know when everything goes well and it's a good hunt it's the best job in the world i mean people you know for some people is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come do something like this people dream of this for years

and i get to you know go out there and do it and go along for the ride get all that same experience and you know making it so pretty good pretty good deal to me yeah it's a couple points like to what Tim was saying too you can tell as this is another cliche but it's so telling like even if there's a little piece of trash you know I'm gonna go so just walk by it yeah these guys it's the little things I know I know we you know had to break down camp yesterday because you guys are gonna move I think but it's just get given that overview make sure all the garbage is gone make sure didn't forget anything did the same thing up on the glassing knob when we went to to go get on the blood from my bear but it's just it's that that's the kind of little stuff that I noticed

See, of course everybody wants to get their animal and have a great hum, but it's like, you know, we can't, I don't know, I just, I just noticed those little things. So when you said that, it resonates. One thing, David, that I think you're really good at is communicating with the hunter, you know, on what the goal was, you know, what the plan was, what we're going to do, you know, of course the goal is to kill a bear, but how are we going to do it? You know, it's going to be long days up here. It's going to be, you know, and I'm asking,

questions I'm talking about man so on the other side of that mountain because I'm like ready to go but uh you know just knowing the process because as a hunter anybody who comes in mostly yeah they want to do what they want to do but above

that is they want to know their guide has a plan yeah you know and that's the biggest thing because once a hunter starts questioning the guide fucking downhill it's downhill so you did your great job on not just saying but also how to

deliver it because also some guys struggle with that too talking to another man well at the end of the day you know it's far cry from like waiting tables but is customer service yeah and every client that shows up here is different and their capabilities physically mentally their experience with hunting experience with hunting out here and out west and everything we get the whole you know gamut clients so it's about you know looking at what your client

do what they want and seeing how to the best like set up the hunt for their satisfaction um and that's a big thing that we impressed upon young guys as we developed them is like you know figuring out that process reading your client reading the situation and figuring out yeah because some of it's like them informed and keep them in the game you know yeah because we'll get a guy that never you met one yesterday never been on a big game hunt and then we have you so these guys know right away and they'll assess the situation go you know what can't will understand what I'm talking about I'm going to lay out the plan that we have for him

versus a guy that's never been on a big game hunt the information that he needs looks a lot different than what you need to understand the situation so a guy that's never been on a big game haunt his first hunt as a grizzly hunt his concerns are more with like am I wearing the right clothes

do I am I going to be okay out there where yours is like hey what's our plan how are we going to go kill something with an arrow you know and so that's that's kind of this whole process these guys making good judgment calls from as soon as the plane lands and they start working, it's really important. It's, I think I told you this yesterday, but I know it goes both ways.

You know, as a hunter, when you show up, I can, I've been doing it a little while, and it's like when I get out with a guy or somebody that's hunting, I'm hunting with, I can tell really quick, like either this will be a fucking long hunt. Yeah. It's like, we'd have to buck the odds to get a kill. Yeah. Or like with these guys, we went out, you know, first bear, got in Bow Range pretty good, ended up passing it up. But after that first talk, I was like, we're going to get a bear killed.

I had to lock in. I was like, and that, and that's, and then I also judge Hans by how often are you in Bow Range. And that's, that's a tough one too, because I, because in my head, I'm always thinking about, okay, if I haven't been in Boer Range in five days, I'm going to get one chance. Yeah. I better make it whereas if you're having opportunities like we were like kind of okay then I adjust like what I'm thinking how I'm it's everybody you know you're out there glassing 17 hours you think about a lot of different things you know so you're everybody over thinks everything on the mountain right and uh but yeah I had a really good feeling on that first stock I do want to also I mention you know I hear a lot of things like people say oh I want to work I want to do what you do or I want to work I want to do or I want to work not in the hunting industry, but just like make a living doing what and you guys are perfect examples. You want to do it?

Fuck, there's opportunity out there. But do you really want to do it? Are you just saying you want to do it? Because you guys showed up and said, hey, I'll pack moose meat, which hard work, you know, where those things are killed or they died, hard to even get footing, let alone with all that weight under your back. So if people really wanted to do it, there's opportunity. You guys showed that.

Yeah. And there's a lot of misconception about that, like I said, with the attrition we've had with some backers. And you were talking about naked and dropped off for that first son. If you missed his mom, we've had backers. Call on the satellite phone first night out there. Like, get me out of here. Yeah. Yeah.

It's definitely not for everybody. But, man, how sweet is it when the guys you have, it is for, you know, it's like, Because I know I've been, I'm just recalling my experience, but when you have to continually hype people up and talk them into why they should love it, you know, I've had to do that. It was like, God, you know, we get back there. God, isn't this amazing? I mean, there's not a road as far as we can see them.

You can just see them and there's like, that's, it's great. And it's like, you just can't make somebody love the mountains. No, you can. Yeah, I think a lot of, they, you can't inherit. Yeah. Yeah. But these guys, you guys are definitely, you got the right crew. I can't speak to everybody, but if they're like these guys.

Yeah. Yeah, it's this weird. It's not a weird, but it's this dance cam that it's like, especially on a bow hunt, you get guys, like, David is such a good leader, a natural born leader, and he's in that position for a reason. But it's that, it's that relationship where you're like, hey, I'm going to, to lead you as a guide, but we need to make decisions

together. You know, it's that, like, and I know you've probably run in a situation I know I have where I'm like, especially on a bow hunt where I'm like, even, and this is kind of rare, you get a guy like you that's been on a ton of boathons, but you get that hunting instinct to come

out of people where they're a bow hunter and they may be a new bow hunter, but you look in their eyes and you go, what are you thinking, man? Because they're like locked in and you're like, And you can get feedback and make decisions out there that it's that just coordinating and trying to make it happen together is, and it's just special. It's just special. I don't know.

I know where else to say it, but when you're like flowing as one predatory unit, like a couple wolves, just like you don't have to communicate with each other. You just look at each other and you just go, you know. I feel like, man, I feel like we had some good stocks kind of like that. Yeah. just to be that close that many times. Yeah. I was thinking, I was like, one time, you can get lucky one time. Yeah, but then I was like, and we got in tight two times in the same day.

So I was like, if we just see a bear, it's dead because every time we've went, we've made it happen. So we had some good stocks. One, another, it should be talked about because it's not the case everywhere. But you guys, there was no ego clash. that I saw. You know what I mean? It's just like you guys are pretty collaborative

on think, let's do this, let's do this, and it's like, you know how it is. Everybody has egos. I guess that's, yeah, that's exactly. And to be able to let that ego down,

even for me as a hundred, you know, and guides have to do that too, but mostly working with each other, I just saw that you guys, you know, really were on the same page and you might think something different or David,

you might think something different. You were like, okay. You know, it's a big deal. Yeah, I think that comes from the top down. Like, you know, we both trained up under Tim, and he's made very clear, like, how our gods should operate, our standards, our expectations, and we both knew going out there, we're on the same team.

You know, there's no, we're not in the friendly glory. We're in there to Caleb God damn grizzly bears. Yeah. No, I'd love that. I mean hard easy. I love when the standard is excellence, because I don't like lowering the standard because you don't have guys who can get it done.

When you say this is a standard, either you do it or you, it's not going to work. Yeah. And so that, to me, that's kind of what you talk about when you standard, or you talk about standards. It's like, here they are. And it's rare to have not just or any company like that, but let alone a hunting outfit. Talk to me about Kip's involvement now too, because I know this is a new one. I've talked a lot to Eric, who's previous owner. I think did so you and Kip our partners on this is that and so talk to me about how that worked

so I knew well when Eric first decided to sell or decided to shift gears and me and Eric had been working together for 14 years and and we had been kind of partners the last like five years and he had come to me and said hey man what do you want to do you want to keep doing this because I've been doing this for 20 years and I kind of want to change a plan. I want to kind of do different things because he's so talented. And then that came about and I said, yeah, I want to keep doing this and friends of friends being Kip, I knew that Kip was very passionate about Alaska. And I knew Kip really, really liked to hunt. He liked to bohunt and he knew this score. and we just connected and we

I thought it was interesting timing how all these things work is that I was in a place my buddy Eric who had the business was in a place and Kip was also in a place where we all kind of came together and it was like this perfect junction of like hey my buddy wants to get out

I want more in and Kip was in a position like hey I want to do something too I love Alaska I love hunting this is what I want to do when I'm 60. I want to be in a cabin in the woods in Alaska and hunting grizzly bears. That's what I want to do. And with his history as the co-founder of Under Armour and all his entrepreneurship, it was really, it's been very refreshing the momentum and insight and just the freedom that he's put on this place. So like, hey, let's make this place excellent.

Let's do it. Yeah. Yeah, Kip is, I mean, I love him like a brother. Yeah. And he's so passionate, as you said. It's like, and he's always loved Alaska. So it's like when he called him told me that, hey, might be buying into this bushwack. He sent me the website and all that.

And he's like, there's giant moose. There's, you can hunt grizzly every year. And I'm like, sounds great. Yeah. Sounds awesome. And he made it happen. Yeah. And that's just kind of, that's his, that's what he does.

He just makes shit happen. and he's going to be soon because he's got to still do a little bit more time. We didn't touch on this about being a guide, but being a packer is not just something that we enforce. It's actually like legal. Like you actually have to do two years in Alaska being an apprentice before you even qualified to be a guide.

And so Kipps like he's going to be a guide next year. So he may be guiding you. So if he passes the guide, you know, the guide test, the vetting of the guide process. He's going to hate that. He abides by all the God commandments

Yeah I saw the guy There's a strict ones in that Number 10 I think Yeah So it's good man I mean yeah We just

I think we're all in the same We're heading in the same direction You know it's like It's like everybody has their skills It has what they're good at And everybody's going in the same direction With the same vision

Of making things Excellent Making everything better Yeah I'm also very passionate about too is just getting people exposed because if you get a taste, you'll make it

happen again and again and again. I think the barrier to entry in Alaska has always been so steep. Even with DIY mousse hunts, they're not cheap. Guided hunts, guided grizzly hunts, it's not something every 25 to 35-year-old guy can do. But if you give him an opportunity to go

mountain hunting for a black bear, give him an opportunity to just get his foot in the door and experience something. It's something that he can afford that is like you're going on a grizzly hunt, like you're going on a dull sheep hunt. It's the same thing. You're hunting black bears,

but you're experiencing it. And that taste of Alaska, that perspective shift that happens when you're out in the mountains and you're like, whoa, dude, like a plane just dropped me off. And I'm like, here. Like, I don't have a truck.

There's a grizzly bear right there. There's black, there's, like, you're in it. You're immersed in it. man and it's it it's something that will change the course of men's lives yeah is what i see it like literally will change someone's life and and and for us to give somebody that opportunity just to get their foot in and be like dude you got to just try it and they may not have the money for a long time after that to maybe come on a guided news home but they have a perspective shift that stays with them their entire life yeah no it's it's life changing the mountains will definitely change your life

one way or another you might they might decide they never want to go back yeah yeah yeah For a lot of men that, you know, I see a lot of it. I interact with a lot of it on social media. A lot of guys are missing this in their life. You know, they're, they need something like this. Yeah. It can change. They're like they're probably not going to come up here and want to work and be a packer.

But man, it does. It changes the trajectory. Yeah, it's a special place. I was thinking, too, man, I don't know if we wanted to go through. like the hunt specifically. But oh, that's what I was thinking. I put up a post

and like the little thing about making coffee up there on the hill, the little jet boil. Stuff like people see like these little clips and that's where they're like, how can I experience that?

Yeah. Fresh coffee on the top of a mountain in grizzly bear hunting. You know? There's nothing better. What man doesn't see that and it hasn't done it been like,

I want to know what that feels like. you know because in that little clip i think james is sitting there and he had like maybe some uh rain on his shoulders or something and you know we're looking over grizzly country got fresh it's like man that's fucking living isn't it oh yeah and and watching that plane take off it's just like there's a special feeling when that drone disappears and then you're standing there on on that bank like you were you know and yeah it's uh it's so special but these guys also So I got to give another compliment too. Some people, it's going to be challenged these hunts,

but these guys do a good job of setting out a fresh cup of coffee after a couple hours. Once you've been up there glassing for a while, because I'll be honest for me, I hadn't sat up on a hill here in Alaska for 17 hours before. And all of a sudden, I was just like, do I have enough clothes for like the city? I had every thing I had on. And then I would have all those stuff on. I'd be like, God, can I shoot my bow in this? And I'd be missing the target.

And I'm like, well, I can't shoot with this coat on. Shoot again. Miss a target. I'm like, well, can't shoot with this on either. So finally I got, we figured it out. I'm like, this is all I can be wearing. But you have to, that's real life reps. Yeah.

And you can't just have all your clothes on with the bone. I think you're going to go out there and make a shot. But so there's challenges there that, of course, you know, I learn on every hunt. I'm always trying to learn it. On this one, I learn that I've got to figure something out when I'm sitting in the wind for 17 hours and have a plan, right?

So I learned that, but it's these guys by saying, hey, let's have, ready for a cup of coffee. That keeps people engaged and looking because you can't kill a bear unless you find it, right? And to find it, you've got to be on that hill. Yeah. And if we had, if we got cold and there's like, maybe we should head back to camp and get a cup of coffee,

that's going to get guys off the mountain. And then you're not out there hunting. Yeah. Not going to see anything. So then we'd have ramen noodles at about maybe one or two in the afternoon. And then, you know, the little snacks, but these guys were always like, there's always a plan. But the plan is always like, we have to be here.

Yeah. We have to be glassing. So I thought if we got four people with glass covering, you know, we can see miles up there. Yeah. We'll find a bear. And when we find, as I said before, when we find a bear, it's dead. Yeah.

So it's, but yeah, it's those little things, those little wins, giving people little goals, like just making it to the fresh cup of coffee. It seems so small, but man, it's huge. Yeah, we have a huge emphasis on being the best mountain barista as we can. Yeah, he went, he had to go get his coat the other day. And he's like, I was like, where's our barista? I told James, I'm like, we're ready for coffee. They're just so like, so, but it's on top of everything.

Locked in. Locked in on everything. But, yeah, it's a, it was such a, I mean, I think it was one of the best trips I've had. You know, I haven't done a ton without Roy. But me and Kip did that one a couple years ago. And that was, that was big because that was the first year I'd been back since Roy had fallen. But this one, um, You know, there's always pressure.

You just want to make a good shot. I always want to, I don't want the animal to suffer. So there's pressure, but man, this one was, I don't know, it's one of the most special hunts that I've had in a while. That's great. And I'm so appreciative to you, to Kip, to Eric, for what this has become. And, man. But yeah, tell me about, give me your guys'

thoughts on the hunt just in general. Well, I think it was, I said to see you out there a few times, but a client with your experience and ability and natural instinct, like we were talking about, that innate like hunting ability that not everybody

is born with. I mean, our job is pretty easy. Also, you know, you were right there working with us the whole time. We're glassing your glass in just as hard. After the kill, you're getting in their skin and packing out to hide yourself. Like, I love that attitude. I love seeing guys out there.

and enjoying every moment of it, enjoying the slow times, the bad weather. You know, you wanted the whole full experience and that's what you're going to get, whether you're like they're not out here. Yeah, and you know, you guys don't know what to expect to. You get a guy, like, and I wouldn't say this if they didn't tell me this in private,

but they're like, dude, Cam's the real deal. If you were some tool influencer, they'd be like, yeah, tool. And I'd be like, that's a tool. And I'd sit here and I'd go, yeah, you guys did great. Tool. But they're like, hey, he's like the real deal, man. He's legit.

So, you know, these guys as guys, and I'm sure you get so much hate going your way, that they don't, all these guys are just like trying to be like, okay, is this guy real or is he just some, like, influencer guy that just is, like, just a facade. And right away, they recognize, like, hey, we're in it and we're going to be on the same team and we're going to rock and roll. And so that's. Whenever that footage gets cut together and everybody gets to see what we got up to out there, like, I think it's hard to deny.

In that moment, when you had to, you know, show what you were made of, you did a hell of a job. And like I said, that makes our job really easy. It was a pleasure. Thank you. It's felt exactly the same. But, yeah, no, I mean, I just, you know, I guess you don't know what's true on social media. but to me it's like I always thought that being real or being authentic it's like well you just you're who you say you are yeah and so that shouldn't be that hard but it is hard because people they're like you know here's how I am but I wish I was more like this so maybe we'll just film stuff like this but uh yeah it's you know it's just it's no different than you guys I'm just grown up doing this you know and that's you know after 35 years of bohunting or 40 years of hunting you should be yeah should kind of never

how to make your decisions out there. So it's no different than that. But yeah. Not only that, you're like a killer. If you shoot and you're strong and you run and you're good. But you're like positive. Your attitude is positive and you and like you're mentally tough. And that really helps because you get sometimes when people are like,

this ain't going to happen. And you're like, they're like, I'm telling you. telling you like time here glassing results in bears and and you're and you're very good about being like never never getting that down slope emotional thing go on and and and that's that's something that's hard to replicate it makes it really fun for me yeah as a guide to hunt where I don't have to like constantly like try to bring the energy up and and yeah and try to motivate people when they're motivated themselves, it's like, all right, let's just do the thing we're here to do. Right.

Not hard. Yeah, I do think that, you know, part of that, I learned a lot of that from Roy. He was out, no matter what, it was always like, yeah, we're going to get it done. So I just, you know, all the way from way back, it was like, we're just going to get it done. It doesn't really matter what happens. There's always going to be something, but none of it's going to matter. Because I think that if you get distracted by that, you know, the woes. or, you know, the odds don't look good or,

then you're not really prepared when crunch time happens. Yeah. You're not thinking, like, aggressively because you've just been thinking how it's a shit shell and it's not going to work. So how can you automate, how can you switch to being aggressive and taking advantage of that opportunity that the animal presents itself? So unless you're like, no, it's going to happen. I'm going to be ready.

I'm going to make a perfect shot. You have to think that almost all the time. Otherwise, you're going to fuck it up. Yeah. You don't want to be on your heels. Right, because we're hunting predators in this case. So we have to think like a predator. You start thinking your energy has to be that.

Your decision making has to be that. You're like, if I can get it to hear, that bear is dead. And I think that that's a big thing. People, they don't go through the mental reps at home thinking about, okay, I've got to be ready because there's going to be challenges. It's not going to be perfect. We're going to be wet. We're going to be wet.

It's going to be a lot of things. It's going to be a lot of things to overcome and just knowing that it doesn't matter. It's not going to matter. You get any thoughts on that? I was just thinking, you know, what you were saying about, like, you know, keep a positive, not getting down on yourself like that. And you knew this already because you have the experience you have, but I kept telling you this because, you know, it's my standard. I should feel like a decline. But like, as soon.

you could be in the hardest position where you haven't seen things for a couple days. You're feeling pretty negative. The weather's bad, all that. And as soon as you feel like it's never going to happen, Bear walks out 200 yards and it's dead in a couple minutes. You know? Right. And that's some of us young guys learn out here pretty quick after doing these hunts, you know, all year for a few years. Like, you've got to be ready.

You've got to keep that edge at all times because it can go from, you know, the sorries of scenarios to ground down, you know, arrow and a bear like pretty damn quick so yeah i mean that that bear we killed the day before we saw zero there so we're on the hill for what 17 hours didn't see a bear didn't matter we're like we saw that one early yesterday got it killed so it's uh i do want i do want to paint this picture too it's like this is incredible hunting it's far from guaranteed yeah you know it's it's hunting and grizzly aren't they don't have the concentration they're more nomadic they cover a lot of country as compared to maybe a brown bear or maybe even some black bear but these things cover country they're always you know we watch we watch a salin cub come from the river go to the top of the

mountain and it's about six miles in one evening and they weren't really they weren't it's not they're lining it out they're just doing what they do kind of hunting a caribou for a minute kind of did this and so you that's just a sow and a cub covering that distance that's like in a nutshell that's what Grizzlies do. Yeah. So it's not like you've got this resident herd of white tail like in PA where you know I see this buck on trail cam all the time. So it's I think people need to realize this is far from guaranteed you're hunting an animal that is nomadic and you're not going to probably see a million animals but you don't you don't need to see a million you need to see one in the bad position. Yeah. And so then also it's like it's a very realistic backcountry hunt. The difference is

as a hunter you don't have to like think about all this food weighs this much how much what am i going to have my put my water in is this tent that i'm packing in there or in the super cub is it going to withstand the weather so as a hunter you don't have to think about that because that's part of what you guys do but that doesn't mean that you're having steaks out there to feel it means you're having bagels and bacon and cream cheese and it was amazing in the morning and a cup of coffee it wasn't anything special but it doesn't need to be. This is a fucking real hunt. And then you're going to have some ramen noodles and then you're

going to have a mountain house or not an MRI but you had some Chadmandez Pete. So and you're going to have that for dinner. And that should be okay because that's how mountain hunting works. And so I just want I want people listening to think

this is real. It's a real hunt. It's a real backcountry. You guys take care of getting the stuff there and it's, I was like when we first got out got dropped off from on beaver or from the beaver and i was like we got all this shit all the way back here how sick is that because that hunters know how hard that is yeah just getting two nice tents all that food all that back and we're i don't know how far from the nearest road but anyway it's in the middle of you know wilderness and um i was just

like this is sick yeah we are freaking set up And so that's cool. But I just want people to realize it's, you know, it's not five star out there, but it's, it's just what it takes. Yeah. It really reduces your what's important and it simplifies everything. Like, you need calories. Here's calories. You need to stay focused on a hunt.

You stay focused on. There's no distractions. You know, I feel like part of the difficulty when your hunt out of like a night, lodge is you don't stay in it. When you go out there and all you're eating as like bagels and Mountain House, you know like this is just to provide energy so I can go kill. This is not for my entertainment. This is not for my pleasure except for the barista Starbucks. That is a little bit of both. But you can have a little bit. But there's that's kind of it. It's just everything becomes simple and focused. And that's what it's all about. I think that's what we yearn for to awaken that

predator where all we're just singularly focused on one animal we're singularly focus of one mission you know the hunt and it's it's refreshing to me you know what it is it's like it's in a snapshot it's you have purpose yes purpose and most people in life right now they wonder what is my purpose yeah you know it's just like they go to their job and it's just a job they go they pay their bills they're kind of behind on bills a little bit and it's just like is this Is this it? Yeah. But in that,

and what you just described, that in a nutshell is like, okay, our purpose is just to survive and kill a bear. Yeah. And it's just like, I know what my purpose is.

Yeah. Yeah. I know why I'm alive right now. And, and there's something, there's something that feels so good about that. Yeah. Because you're not like weighing out

all these different things, family things and different things from whatever. You're just like, this is what guys need. Let's, tunnel vision. And as you said, you're surviving just so you can kill a bear.

And that is beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. That might not be a five star, but, you know, all that stuff tastes pretty damn good when you're like we were. Chicken out of the hill, you know, wind and rain all day, and you get back, that downtown houses. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

So, you know, I've told the story before, but they're so good out there after you haven't had much, you got an hot meal that I'm like, shit, I would eat this at home. and then I get home and cook it up and I'm just like oh my god it's fucking sucks yeah but out there you think it's a private it's like I'm like this tastes so freaking good so yeah the hot meal so it's the biggest thing hot coffee hot meal we'll get you do a lot yeah a handful blueberries yeah yeah well I know we got breakfast ready I wanted to sit down and just talk about our experience and what I learned and kind of the impression you guys made on me and how positive it was. Do you have anything that you wanted to wrap up that people might not know about

Bushwhack that maybe we didn't talk about or maybe on the next one? Yeah, I mean, well, there's a lot of things happening, but it's behind the scenes here that we're growing. We're growing. We really want to obviously expand and give guys opportunities to hunt Blackberry. We want to give more opportunities for hunters and guys that want to become guides. There's a lot of things that are happening in the background that we're working on. And yeah, just stay tuned. And we just honestly, Kim, we're from on behalf of everyone here. We just thank you for coming.

Thank you for showing up. Thank you for what Nate said is bringing the right attitude to your hunt to make it possible because it starts with you. Guides can only help, but they can't overcome attitude problems. And it's just, it's awesome, man. So thank you for representing. hunting hunters and encouraging and inspiring so many people to come out and test themselves. So thank you. Thanks for the kind words, guys.

And thanks, Kip. Love you. I wish you were here. But I know this is going to turn into something special. It's going to impact thousands of lives. What you guys are building is amazing. I couldn't be happier. Kipp, like I said, is like a brother.

But if he's now working with you, then that makes you like a brother to me too. So thank you guys. I appreciate everything. This has been me. Great job. So impressed by you guys. You guys were studs. I can't wait for the next one.

I can't wait to hear stories from your other hunters from all. Yeah. Yeah. Come back. Get a big brown bear on the coast with us. Oh, yeah. That's all I've been thinking about this. You're talking about it.

I love the big bear. But all right. Thanks, guys. Let's eat breakfast.