Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 136 - Land of Giants with the Rivets

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

The Rivets - John & Jenn Rivet have been living the dream together for over 32 years as avid outdoorsmen, big game outfitters, and chefs. Listen in as Cam, John and Jenn skin Cam’s bear and talk about bear management, bear meat, how you can hunt with the Rivets and more! 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 John & Jenn Rivet: John: https://www.instagram.com/johnnyrivet/  Jenn: https://www.instagram.com/jennrivet_/  Book a Hunt with the Rivets: https://therivetco.com/  Thank you to our sponsors: Sig Sauer: https://www.sigsauer.com/ use code CAM10 for 10% off optics Montana Knife Company: https://www.montanaknifecompany.com/ Use code CAM for 10% off  GoHunt: https://gohunt.com/ use code CAM when you sign up for $50 towards the gear shop + 10% off the GoHunt store Grizzly Coolers: https://www.grizzlycoolers.com/ use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv use code CAM for 10% off Timestamps: 00:00:00  Intro - Mature Bears 00:04:12  Making a Successful Shot & Montana Knife Company Knives 00:07:13  Time in the Stand & Having Patience 00:11:55  Nothing is Guaranteed: Waiting on Big Boars 00:16:32  Key Equipment for Big Bear 00:18:56  Figuring out the Bears Gender 00:22:12  Managing the Bear Population 00:26:15  Ad Break (SIG Sauer & Montana Knife Company) 00:27:36  Bear Meat 00:29:54  Learning from the Rivets 00:33:54  Bear Behavior & Being Up Close 00:36:20  Montana Knife Packout Knife 00:37:42  Skinning the Loins 00:41:44  First Time Bear Hunters 00:42:45  Measuring Around the Muzzle 00:44:54  Where to Book a Hunt with the Rivets 00:47:23  Measuring a Bear’s Skull for Pope & Young 00:50:55  Skull Size and Cape Length

Keep Hamering Podcast episode. Yes. So keep hammering collective. It's not shit talkers weekly. No. So James, quiet. Yeah. So here we are.

We're with John and Jen Rivett up in Alberta. Bear Heaven, basically, is what this is. And we've had some luck today. What a, man, what a hunt. Some luck, but before that, a lot of long days sitting 12 hours. the rain in storms waiting for the big guy to come in and it's not like hunting an average bear no it's uh you know people i mean there's so many bear here so many i don't know how many bear we saw a day but i would say you had a day of 16 i think i would say on average at least 10 bear a day

even on you know rain and wind they don't really like that that much but still just great bear days but waiting for the right big bear is a whole different game. And we want big old boars, and that can be a waiting game for sure. But we got her done finally again. Again. Took some effort. Yeah. But you guys have the best, it's a best bear camp, it's a best bear country.

And your guys' experiences second to none. And man, I'm so lucky to be here. And, yeah, tell us, what do you guys think about this week so far? Definitely put the work in. Definitely put the time in. This is the hardest. This is probably the hardest you've had up here just going after this one bear. Yeah.

Yeah. So it took a bit and we were out, went out this morning and did a morning sit, which normally you don't have to do. it's like normally it's you're out so late baiting hunting so much work is involved you get back late because it's getting dark it's almost 11 the last shooting light 11 p.m so the time you get back here and eat dinner it's after one yeah so nobody's getting up early when you're not getting to bed asleep till 2 and uh yeah but sometimes you do it what you gotta do? Sometimes you can get lucky, you know?

You can be at the right place at the right time. But these big old bears, they don't get big and old because they're dumb. No. Sometimes you'll get lucky during the rut they'll be following a sow and you'll, you know, see it a little quicker and get a better shot. But as we know from this past week,

they can come in with a sow. Doesn't mean they give you a shot. Yeah. Hey? They get... As you will see on Bush Drag is 3. It's just why they are so big, they get big because they're old.

and years of experience just has taught them how to stay alive. And if a bear is 10 to 20 years old, we think there's a sow out here that's 30 years old with that much avoiding humans for three decades, they got it down. And it takes, you got to get lucky. You got to be there and you got to get lucky. Yeah.

And then you got to get a break, you know? Well, you do, I always say you do all the controllables, the best you can. You know, how you dress, the equipment you use, how you bait the bears, how you set up your baits, all of that stuff. But the things that you can't control, weather and the animal, that just takes them. Doing your bow every day helps. Yeah. Yeah. Especially in the position that you're going to be shoot from. Yeah. I think people, I think people know, they think it was a chip shot because it's, you know, generally under 20 yards. Yeah. But these things are so tough. If you don't make a perfect

shot, it can be not fun. Yeah. And not a not successful ending to your hunt. This thing died so close to where you shot. Yeah. We'll be able to count the seconds on the video, but yeah, how quick you think it was. I've seen some of your bears go in five to 13 seconds. They're gone. I think he's, he was done in about maybe 15 seconds. Yeah. So. Do you think off running? Yeah. It's, uh, I had to see. stop them. And normally I don't like to do that. I want the bear just to just naturally not be alert at all and just do what they do. And then, you know, my perfect kill is where the animal never knows I'm there. And then the arrow comes in. They're not alarmed. But these old boars,

they're, they'll come in, just like, they'll come in and could be at the bait and never show their side. showing... They don't... So, you know, it's all about angles with bear because... Look when they're fighting other bears, they keep a tree between them sometimes. Yeah. They know how to protect their...

This is their soft spot here. Yeah. Their stomach, their side, and they, you know, whether you're hunting them or they're going against another bear, they're not showing where they're vulnerable. And as a bow hunter, you need that broadside shot. You don't want to force a quartering two. too. So yeah waiting for that and so finally he turned and I stopped him made a little noise and hit him perfect and right here's the entry hole and went in and hit that other offside shoulder and this thing this Montana knife is freaking razor sharp right now so nice

wow. Showed out to Josh for making some pretty awesome nice. Josh Smith the Montana knife company what a success story that's been yeah yeah we're sharing them on all the way man anything we can do to help support that yeah American made company he was a blue color alignment yeah working every day and had a dream to be a knife maker oh don't right this is they're gonna get much better than this right here beautiful day It's always fun to do this to get to this point where we're skinning together. Normally we got some Luke Bryan playing on the music machine. Oh, I brought one down. I just didn't.

It's okay. Yeah, we'll probably get sued if we played it on the podcast. Luke would be fine with it. He knows about his record label. But we had some good sits. We all sat together a few times. And I'll say we sat so good, so freaking quiet. Yeah.

I think people, I think they take it for granted how hard it is to sit and be quiet. But we, man, we did it just right a few times. Yeah, and then fighting the weather. We went from, what, 80-something degrees, early, well, just before lunchtime, by the evening sitting in a freaking rainstorm, downpour, wind just blowing. Yeah, that's a long day. And then 12 hours later. Yeah. But you gotta put in the time.

We had some long days, but yeah, that's the name of the game. You can't really, like normally on hunts, my advantage is I can cover country for a long time and hunt, like, quote, hunt hard. Here, hunting hard means more time. Yeah. More time in the stand, and it's just hours. And so that's all you can really do

is just be out there more. Yeah. So I was like, well, that's what I can control is how long I'm in the stand. So we sat, I mean, a three-day stretch sat 40 hours. That's unheard of. We've never had to do that, ever, ever, ever. No, I was just so focused on just a giant boar, you know.

And, I mean, you could definitely kill a bear almost every time you sit, kill a boar, not just kill a bear, like a sow that could potentially have cubs in a tree somewhere where you don't know. So we're very particular about just seeking out boars. But then when you just like, you want an old bore, that's a whole different challenge. It just takes time. Looking over bears, making sure, you know, the tactic cam, the trail cameras that are cellular have been huge for you guys. It's been one of the keys to our success right now. Yeah, definitely.

We can just react. Instead of, you know, basically we try to redo all, rebate all the baits once a week. Do that big circuit of 50, 60 baits and get them all done. Yep. and you check the chip and it's been a week, right? You check the chip and see who was there during that whole week. Well, if there was a sow with a boar, and they spend two to three days together,

it's too late, you've missed it. Yeah. You missed the window. Now, if we can see it right away, it's like, hope, he's there. With a sow, he's gonna be around there for two, three days. And that's just generally what it takes for him to get her bread. And once she's bred, he's gone.

And who knows where he's going. So yeah, just being able to react to that. Yeah, bear typically lives in 10 square mile area, so like three by three miles. and in the rest both boards will travel 20 miles. Well, and this bear showed up with a sow. Was it yesterday? Yeah.

For the first time with that new sow? Yeah. So we thought, okay, we got basically two days. Mm-hmm. And that's why I went out this morning, just trying to, just because the tactic cam camera told us that they're together and take advantage of it. Yeah. Sometimes it works, and it works perfect.

over the way this time. Oh, sorry. You want to go to that side? No, no, you do. I'm trying to tilt that way. Why I was going to. So we're going to, sorry. Should I pull the Kawasaki?

Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, Gideon. Thank you, James. May I have a lot? I don't know what moved. That was awesome. Anyway.

What's going on the pot, James? Hmm. How do I do talk? Yeah, I got a, I do have to hand it to James. I mean, I have to hand it to James. probably quitting after this time but has been a trooper a little sleep yeah long days long days but we had we got so much incredible footage we had the best we've ever had it's it's amazing i mean how come it keep not going like crazy better every year it's insane so we just had to

finish this story with making it happen on a giant board had to do Not always easy. And especially, you know, we could have, this could have been over much sooner with a rifle, which is legal, but we're boat honers. You just know when you're doing archery, though, what challenge you're up against? Yeah, it's just the name of the game. It's the perfect animal to go bohunting for it. Even newbies.

Yep. Tans. I mean, that's, Joe, this was his first bo hunt. And I just knew it was one that's fairly controllable. Yeah. And people think that, oh, they, you know, come up here and they're going to maybe save a big bear for me or for Joe or whatever. Joe's never killed a giant bear. It's like a six and a half foot boar is a great animal, and that's what he's killed.

And that's just, you can't, there's no saving anything in country like this. No. It's so big and so wild, and they just do whatever. It's like, you just do the best you can. Basically, do you want to kill a big boar? Go hump with his bunch of sows. Yeah. They're going to bring him in.

Yep. if you spend enough time there, and I think people get, they want to move around a lot, you know, because they always think that the other stands better, somebody's in a better spot, or,

yeah, there, it's just. Which stand are you putting so-and-so in? Which stand do you're putting this one in? Does it matter? It's just, it doesn't matter at all, but you know how hunters are,

and it's just... They think you're saving a special, you know, all these special spots, and it's like, well, if there's a big bore on there, we're going to put you on there. Yeah, and, The fact is, even if you never saw a big boar there, anything could show up this time of year.

That's right. True. I mean, that's the big boars will kill this week. They'll not be on trail camera. No. He'll just walk in. Yeah. Because there's, they're cruising looking for sows.

Yeah. But yeah, it's a, man, what amazing hunt. It never gets, it's like hard in a different way, just so much time in the stand. But it's so fun. And challenging. challenging. Especially when they come in, you can't get that perfect shot. And they move and like you're saying, hiding themselves, guarding themselves. How do they know? Six cents. I mean, it's, they feel something. These old boars, they just have a

way, a survival instinct and they know when, they just know. There's something off. Yeah, something is off. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, they didn't get big and old. just, you know, walking around and kind of being dumb if you could say it that. Yeah. Yeah. And I had so many times where I, it was so close to taking a shot and I'm just like so nervous about wounding, making a poor shot and having an animal suffer, especially, you know, an animal that survived for maybe 20 years in a wild, that you second guess yourself and you're like, God,

Could I have, but it's just you have to be disciplined on these things. Well, you're at full draw, waiting for him and it's like, okay, we're looking. We're like, oh, it's going to be good. And then he's like, he turns. Or he puts his whole front leg. Or his legs back. Yeah. Or he's slightly quartering.

And I think people make mistakes on body position of these animals. It's like a slightly quartering shot is not going to be good on a big board. No. Because you're going to catch one lung and they're going to get, this country is so thick. You know, 300 yards, my. It might as well be 10 miles. It's tough to track them down. But when you hit them good like this, you can get the holes. Seconds. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that brought in there still. Is it? Yeah. Arrow broke. Oh yeah? Yeah, the shoulder or up? Yeah. Get that other shoulder.

Look at the forearms on the same. You wonder how they're so tough. I know. So strong. And just look how quick he moved. Yeah. From broad, just about broadside, just... Yeah. So smart. Yeah. Would he like to keep his eyes on you?

When he was walking in, always eyeballs on you. Always. They're so... They're keen to him. Big boards. They're almost like a different species. Yeah. Yeah.

And yeah, you can get lucky. Because people see this video and they say, oh, that looks like an easy hunt. I'm like, well, that young bear, it's just like a young deer. It's just, you know, like a spike buck is not very smart. Young bear are no different, they just haven't been around long enough. Yeah. Yeah. Like a 200 inch white tail or 200 inch mule deer, it's gonna be a tough kill just like a bore like this.

What do you guys think is the key for equipment on what works best on these big old bear like this? Definitely never use a two blade broadhead. Yeah. I mean look at this fat. You need a blood trail. Yeah. This, there's so much fat here, just a slit here, the fat kind of moves. Yeah. There's no exit hole, like even with my bow, it didn't come out. So all you have is a slit that's covered with fat, no blood. Yeah.

And this, like I said, I mentioned this thick country. It's gonna be tough. Yeah, equipment that you're familiar with? Yeah. Right? You guys like big, like mostly an expandable head, if you have the poundage to get through. And if you're confident with it,

good solid fix. Not just coming here on your first time and put a, the first time you're gonna use one because I wouldn't advise that. Because you need to know how it works for you. I always used, I just used a fixed blade. That's all I've used for everything I've killed so far. Yeah, you like the three blade fix, right?

Yeah. And that's everything, moose, deer, white til, big bear. And you've killed giant bear, big bucks, two moose, and how many pounds do you show? you? I used to shoot about 57, 58. That's pretty much. Almost 60 pounds is a lot.

And after shoulder surgery. Yeah. Well, actually when I first started it was 43 pounds. I shot my first bear in my first moves at 43 pounds. And it died great away. Wow. So the key there, shop placement. Exactly.

You're pretty. They're easy to poke through. You're pretty particular on good, high-quality broadsider, burn, away shops, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then they just got to, when you're shooting at an arrow of any kind, you just got to make sure where it's entering and visualize where it's going to come out. That exit, yeah.

That exit. Yeah. And these, you know, with bear, they can be tough to, you have to be really. Yeah. Yeah. Really focused on just that, even that slight change in body position. It's hard to see black. They don't have a shoulder line. They don't have a crease like an elk wood. So you have to be really focused on.

That's why even binoculars are key on it like this. For sure. Yeah. Well, to sex it and figure out what gender it is. Without the binoculars, unless they're standing in broad daylight right in front of you, it can be very tough. And in lower light conditions when you're getting closer, you know, late in the evening that last half hour, it can be tough. Yeah. So we just teach everybody, look with your binoculars, look for the proper parts, and you just stare

at it and eventually you're going to see it. And you see all, you read all sorts of theories on the internet like, oh, small wrists on a sow or a skinny nose or... Or smaller body. Smaller, it's like... Nothing works. Nothing. There's generalizations.

We've seen that sow we saw the other night. Yeah. Oh my gosh. She's got everything of a big board. She's seven foot. She's a monster. Giant. But it's a sow. Big neck, big shoulders. Big muzzle. She had a big muzzle.

Big muzzle, big front pads. My little hand. She's like people with genetics. Yeah. Yeah. That was beautiful bear though. Oh gosh, most beautiful Sal that I've ever seen you. And you think if cubs didn't walk in right with her,

if you were not following the protocol on saying what sex it is? Yeah. They would have killed it. Well, that other, that other sow has those little cubs she left in a tree. And she came in by herself. Yeah. And in most camps, a lot of bear camps, I don't want to say most, because I want to speak for other people, but a lot of bear camps, that bear because of her color would have been killed.

Yeah. And then that would have killed all her cubs. Yeah. Because they can't survive. Yeah. So you just killed three or four bear. Yeah. And I mean, how heartbreaking is that?

Yeah. I hate to even think about that. Yeah. I don't think there could be worse feeling than walking up. to a sow and notice it has, it's lactating. Yeah, right. And you're just like, oh, deadly. You just feel horrible.

Yeah. That's why we like to make them stand up. Like, fever, you're going to see the boobs. And people get in the heat of the moment, and they're not, you know, they, everybody has these dreams about killing a bear, and, you know, it's a long way to come. They've saved money, and you want to shoot because to kill you have to shoot. and then if you make a mistake there's no turning back

terrible yeah but if you put in the time there again just watching yeah constantly looking eventually you're gonna see what it is and when in doubt you just wait let it go let it go yeah and it's easier to say than done when you're walking that big on the command

or that bear come in it's like beautiful nice coat all the other stuff I think that that's what made this place so special as you guys have been so consistent on only targeting boers yeah and the sows are the breeding stock yes you've been here you know how serious we are about it oh it's it's just not every day it's like it's just hammered in your head make sure you sex it make sure it's a bore make sure you get a good look at it and yeah I mean I just think that I think the quality is is reflected on

Okay, so on the last, on one of the posts you did, somebody said, well, if bear hunting is management, if you're hunting for management, then why don't you target the sows? Okay, here's one reason why. First of all, the sows are going to make babies, and we don't want to own belly. We just want to manage them. By managing these big boys, these are the guys that are killing moose calves, that have killed elk calves, deer fonds. Like I said, they need more calories. And by taking these out, we see the population go up of ungulates. So they're, and they're, because they're old, they're so good at killing.

Yeah. They've been killing for decades. So a moose calf or an elk calf or a deer fawn, they're like easy money. They have no chance. No, no chance. And these things are just, they can ravage or hurt. And these things are also the ones that will kill the cubs. You get that sour to breed again. So there's multi-levels why we do what we do. But when we're bringing in, anybody of you bring in, you've been here enough times, you hear my spiel.

Yeah. Trying to teach them how to sex them, judge them. It's a great, yesterday you had all the new hunters in camp and you had, you know, your mounted bear in there, you're going through angles and how to sex. It was like, so valuable. Yeah. We should actually film that. Film it. Yeah.

You should film that and post that. I just want people to come up and succeed. And if you don't have the right knowledge, how can you succeed? And I kind of go overboard a little bit. But look, this year we have how many first-time bear hunters? Yeah. And that's great because that's what keeps up hunting tradition alive. We love that.

But it's also, there's a lot to learn. And the best way they can succeed is knowledge. Yeah, Jasmine. Push it. It's hard for me to hold the, because he's so big. Hold it and try to operate on it. It's a whole different thing. It's a different ball game.

That's good. But yeah, that tutorial or that your spiel, it's good. And also that I like that you do it because I think a lot of, you know, hunting, is a male dominated culture, but like you have so much experience and you speak with such authority, I think it's, I think, I love that you're giving that. Yeah.

You've been doing this so long. It takes a lot, it's taken a long time to actually have some respect in the industry just because it's tough. But it's what you do. I've been doing it for, well, he's been doing it for what, 36, 37 years. And I mean, I've been guiding for

over 25. And John is always quick to give you credit and like say you're you're a better guy than him and just like and still I think until you you spend time around you and hear all that I think it's like because there's a people there's a lot of people out there who aren't real men men and women but spending time with you it's clear you're the real deal and so I just love I love being part of this thank you nice I listen like I mean, I've listened a lot to him, to other people that I respect, and, you know. Whether it's just like my grandpa, he was an old trapper, you learn stuff about skinning and fleshing.

Him, he's been in it a long time, and he's worked with some great people. And then also he's guided some really experienced hunters that's hunted probably every creature that walks on the planet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's just you listen, you listen, you listen. Some you throw in the trash. If you think you know everything, you'll never learn anything. No. When I want somebody that's got knowledge, I just shut up and listen.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's like we can all learn. I mean, when you're done learning, it's like, or you think you're done learning, I don't know, you're going backwards. Yeah. Yeah.

I learn on every hunt. I've been doing this for a long time, and every hunt I learned something. Yeah. I'm waiting for you to do this because I can't hold it and do it at the same time. It's plodding on me. Yeah.

Then I'll touch you. Okay. Then look at all the meat that's coming off of this bear. Well, yeah, there's the other reason for hunting these. We're gonna love eating them. Yeah. What we do. I take all this meat home.

Cooking your meat for those, for everybody at Liffron Shoebaugh last year. That was so crazy. And give all the taste of it. The bear hams. Yeah. See that bear meat is delicious. It's like the best beef brisket you've ever had. Yeah, so when people do ask about it, that's what we say.

It's like a brisket, because it's got a very dense, coarse a grain of meat. But I overdo it. I just like to cook it, marinate it for a while, then smoke it on the trigger. and smoke it on the trigger for quite a while. Because you just want, I think I always say this, you just don't want fans, you want raving fans. Yeah, I like that saying. It's like the first time they try elf, you want them to be like, wow, this is amazing. I love sharing my elk, but like when you did put those hams on the Trigger last year at that event,

and you made, I think, sliders, is that, that there was? Yeah, old bear sliders. Just delicious. Everybody wiped those out before the rib-eye and the tunnel hawks, which kind of shocked me, because you just, you just, you just, you just, you just, Usually that's what everybody goes for. They're so good. And the sausage you had then was... Yeah.

Pretty good. Yeah, I took some down to Bloody Joe's podcast. I took Bear Pepperoni down there. Nice. Yeah. I love Sherwin' Better Meat, but yeah, if people... I don't know, I cherish all aspects of the hunt, but also taking this meat home.

And, like, I just don't kill these animals just to kill. it's a big part of who I am and part of honoring the animal and the hunt is cherishing the meat. Yeah. And so yes it's expensive to get home but it's just part of what I do. And you can do anything with the bear meat. You just have to cook it to temp. Yeah. But I mean, whatever. No, yeah, exactly pork, chicken. You just got to cook it to temperature. You can do it a hundred different ways. And then all of this fat you can take off and you can take off and you you can render it down and then you use it for pie dough for cooking your eggs steak and whatever like you can use stuff you can use a lot of it so excuse me that's what we've always done

can render all the fat yeah that's i think for anybody interested in bear hunting either if we can record that uh that podcast i mean your tutorial we did or they listened to this uh this podcast or they listen watched the films it's um man that's how you learn and for a i think for a bear hunter i just don't know of a better place than to come than with you guys for the full experience we work hard we try i mean work your ass off this this shit is so much work it's so much it's hard on equipment yeah you gotta have high-quality equipment you know like this buggy here you got to you know all this baiting All the work that goes into it, the beavers, the oil, the grease. Everything.

And it's not just like, well, season's on. It's for a month before. For months. Yeah. And now for this shit talker session, Cam, you fucking cut the tail off. I'm skinning the tail off without having something to pull on it. Oh, sorry about that.

That's okay. Taxidermis can do it. Yeah. I can do it. Yeah. And then the whole thing, too, is they kill at the end taking the animal home is great, but we've always wanted to do the whole experience. Where it's like before, I mean, I can't speak for other outfitters either because I haven't

been too many. But when they come here, it's like we're family, we're family run business. We like to treat people like family, host them like family, and it's kind of a mission to get people in here, talk to them, you know, make a relationship, get to know who they are, and then take them on the adventure that they really want, what they came here for. All I know is your daughter made me three peanut butter and bacon sandwiches today. I know, she's stellar. She definitely spoils, I don't know about everybody but me. So I like that.

Yeah, no, she's great. Yeah, she wears her butt off. She's such a hard word. Julia, man, you're amazing. Cut some cut out. Yeah, he does. Look. This is a hefty boy. Yeah.

Do you hold more? Are you good? Just take awesome fat. Oh yeah, looks good. That's gonna be some good meat. Oh beautiful. How soon do you want to put the tarp down and pull the hide that? So is the whole back off? Let me call us. You're at the neck there. So if you're doing a couple of flip-flops. Okay. Look at these four arms. I know. Yeah. All these power lifters with lifters with lift without this. They're so freaking tough.

I'm gonna give pieces of ass shot. I've got my cake here. Let's uh... is it uh... flip a little that way and then we'll come back this one. This way here first. Ah. So like, oh, these things.

You want on your side? It's good back. Okay. Oh, okay. I got your. Look at the feet on it, Tucker. Big, yes. See, I can't go to slide here.

Could it be just send that? Yeah. Just put in, we'll get the taras and those cold. Alright, I'll sit here. Ah, yeah. He's got a... I wonder what else, he'll have. He's...

You want to have something, huh? I got it. I got it. We're gonna skinless that out and give it a... Measurement too, yeah. What's your gas? At first, when he... When you killed him, I thought it's going to be a 19 inch bear.

Yeah. And you never know if the meat's off. Some of the meatheads. He looks like so. He could be a 20-inch bear. He looks good length and he's got width. I kept my comment to myself. I know some new heads.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we, uh, now we've had some great experiences. We had bearing close. We've had. Bear in your lap almost. Yeah, yeah. I mean, but I love being close to bear.

I love sitting on the ground. I know it's not for everybody, but there's just something, it's just we're so lucky to be able to experience, you know, watching bear behavior up close and seeing them respond to each other. You're curious about us. Sometimes they're aggressive.

I think people get a little complacent around black people. because they think, oh, Black Bear aren't dangerous. They're not a grizzly. People will say stuff like they're more afraid of you than they. Black Bearers kill people every year. And it's like, yeah, they can be more afraid of you than you are in. But not always. I've heard that my whole life growing up and I actually repeat it myself.

And now it's like, that's not even true. They all have personalities. Yeah. You think you ran off. He's coming right back. And they have bad days. Yeah. Just like we have bad days and there's they might have got just got their ass kicked and then they see some

Little guy sitting on the ground. They're like you look small. I'm gonna go mess with you. Yeah, it's like I just got beat up by a big board I'm gonna go take it out on that guy. Yeah or that thing whatever it is yeah some of them like those like you're saying that big sow Maybe you've never seen a human might not that giant sow with the with the color face yeah probably not and so pretty remote. Yeah, so you're they don't know They don't know how to react. They don't know they're supposed to be afraid. It's free. It's been used a lot. She's getting. I like this. I mean this spot your finger just like that. You got control. You got that for a second, John? And see for me, it's this when you're flushing. Yeah, yeah. I love it. Or it's, yeah. But it's my size.

It is your size. Just made it just for me. Look that. Yeah. It's perfect. Because I always complain everything's big. You can use that. Yeah. I think that's... I'm like this one. I'm doing this fine work here and then for Fleshing. Exactly. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It's all designed.

It's just perfect. Campaigns, Josh Smith, and put up. Oh man. And they sold in minutes. Maybe seconds, I don't know. And you gotta be proud of it because it's so useful. Yeah. But yeah, having that control of that index finger like that,

it's just, that's how we're designed. And so when you make this knife that's just designed to react like that and respond, it's beautiful. And then with a high cord, well, I keep hitting a table with it. So I'm doing it. I'm sorry. It's all good. It's nice to have a blade that you can do a full barrel list and then even know it. Yeah. Do you want to do the front shoulder first? Yeah.

Do the two front shoulders and then we'll keep the back ham. So we can get out the back strap. To lay him on his belly and take out the loin so it stays up. Okay. And then once then by taking these off now, we'll be able to get loins off right to the front. Okay. Cam, I have a present for you. Oh, no.

Fucking whoever was TSA or I don't know what, it stole my. Stilled your wiener. My bear dick last year. It is hard getting this bone out of here to be, to be honest. You just got to kind of deflect it. I can do it pretty quick. You're probably the, I bet James could do it too. James is.

Do it with my mouth. I'll clean it up because the taxidermis will be able to ship it to you. Yeah, he'll be able to... I'll get a sight he's permit to ship up just with the air. Yeah, I was gonna make James take out his butt plug and put this in to home. But you can leave your butt plug in. Yay! Nice.

Look at the smoke rolling in. You got east wind again. So you want me to take that front shoulder off that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, those fronts you can take. That's the cronny sticks, you study up. Those were good last year too.

Oh man, so good. That's nice look at me. We got the color of that man. Yeah, it's so dark. Yeah, dark and rich, yeah. You got all of that. This is as big as a ham. Yeah, that's a big front shoulder.

That's the size of a rear ham of a good bear. This table's making my knife doll. Here we go. This is the French shoulder. Yeah. It's a good one. You can't do that other ones? Yeah.

Like that? Yep. Right there. Look. So that cuts the old hole. Just to think a little bit, man. Put them down quick. What's that way here?

It was good. four blades. That one should be sharp. Yeah, way better. That's that other good. You know, that's your shoulder. Yeah, that's, I think people underestimate how heavy bone these are. You're not getting an arrow through that shoulder usually. Unless you're lucky. Yeah. And rifle hunters, they become both henders. They've always been told to the bear in the shoulder to the bearing the shoulder. Yeah, because it breaks them down and... Look at that. That's a stellar piece of meat. Yeah, that's a good one. We want to get a nice height photo? Yeah. Sir.

What do you do... Oh, I just put it in this bed over there. That's bigger than the ham. Oh, other bear. No joke. No. It's a good size there. No joke. Once you're done doing that, then I'll flip it on its belly. Yep. And do some noise? Yeah. How many... First time bear hunters last week. The bird. Like six?

Yeah. Isn't it six? Well actually like you mean archery, deer hunting. There's six. Some other guys did spot and stalks with a gun, but that's different. Yeah, definitely. A whole different game with a bow. Yeah.

Yeah, you can just go right to the shoulder with the gun. It does break them down to six, but... If you hit it in the right spot. Yeah. Because sometimes with the hair being long and whatever, they hit them kind of in that, kind of in that the forearm part not quite the shoulders so you blow up the leg take out the lungs yeah it's a long day but anybody that asked like in the lungs stubble on it it's not going to go far it doesn't matter what it is I like

I use this other one for the rest of me yeah I love that that that gives you pepperoni that's why I like to take off those friends roll this person it's like crazy got it right down into the neckin We'll show it after the spine. Like on a deer, you're just going straight down for your loins? Yeah. There's another ridge of bone. I just got to find out what the actual proper sperm as it is.

Can I flip this on its belly now? Where's Dr. Jard? Keith Bells. You'll tell her. Oh, you might not know bear. Yeah, he does. Oh, he does? Yeah.

Oh, he does. Oh, he almost does. What are the size of the carcass? Oh, I was going to measure it around here. Around the muscle where the color starts is 14 and a half inches. Ships. Look this, cats. Yep.

Oh man, that's an old bear. That is an old there. They're ground right down, some of them. Are the back here? Yeah. How'd be it? You're swiging that one? Could it's cut the skin.

Yeah, I don't. I've got to put a head off. Take it. Okay, if I'm gonna be popping that shirt up, taking her own bow. You want to take this off first? No, we could roll it. Okay. Okay.

Maybe I can't even get it. Because if I flip him on his tummy, then you can do that spot once you've done that. Yeah. Or does he want to hold it and I'll flip it? Because then you can get more all the way down to him. What? What's that? I'm gonna get girth and length measurements, so he'll measure the hide.

Yeah. What you want? So happy. You're just a second of the slide. And that's nice creased on the middle of it. Yeah. Yeah, I know he's sad. That's a sign of an old bear, huh?

See that crease in their head? So for those interested in a bear hunt, John and Gin Rivet, Living the Dream, but I just find them on Instagram, send a message. Look them out. Canada. Or you can find us on Rivet Code too. Watch these, I don't know, watch the videos, listen to the podcasts, talk to them if you'd have any questions, and get up here and chase big bear in the most beautiful bear country I've been around. And, yeah, the best people I know.

Good kids. Best black bear guides I've been. That's awesome. Pretty lucky. We didn't even have to pay to see that. hate to see that. Just that peanut butter honey bacon sandwich did it? Yeah, that's all it takes.

Takes. Yeah. Maybe I'll see any camp up here. We have a whole camp full that much of guys I've never met. Yeah, you're there any people here right now? Yeah, Caleb Brewers. I don't know, it was a big honor to meet him. No one of them for a long time, so I feel really lucky to be here with him.

But yeah, or do you ever meet bad people in bear can't. That's true. That's true. If they are, we send them back home. Or they change their tune quick. Because they realize, hey, like, they've had something come up are pretty, I don't want to say arrogant, but you know, whatever, a little bit know it all, you know, don't really want to listen and stuff like that, or whatever it is.

Maybe a one in done. Yeah, well, no, usually what ends up happening is, it's like at the beginning of the week, probably a little insecurity out of the element, whatever it might be. whatever it might be. But then by midweek they're like coming around and by the end of the week it's like a lot of changed people. Yeah that's great. It's just, it's just, it's okay. That's okay. You know? Yeah and it's a great place to, look at that. That's like a one-hying quarter of that. Whoa. I've probably been in, I was younger been in Bear Camp where I was a dickhead and

oh, that got better. So we'll give people grace. Yeah. People deserve grace. Yeah. Yeah. We're not, we're not perfect, but we just want good people up here. appreciate and I told the guy yesterday this is a real hunt. Don't think this is not a real hunt. It's a you have to make good decisions. So the record books for bears has nothing to do with hide, nothing to do with weight, it's all about the skull. So this is the only thing that counts. That's the only thing that you can't cheat on. You could say it weighs more than it does or stretch it out and measure it longer but the skull is the true thing for the record books for

Boone and Crockett or for our tree Popin Young. So you want the full length, the longest length and the greatest width, and the greatest width, and you add that together and that's your score. So 18 inch minimum for Popua Nya. And now there's some people that, Sean a 22 inch bear, while they're taking that tape and they're wrapping it around and going around and getting more length than going down the sides. No, you got to measure with calipers. Longest, right there. Holy crap.

12 and 4.16s. Bears are measured in 16th, not 8s. So there's another trick to know if your guy knows what he's talking about. people will say oh it's a 12 16th and they'll say oh well wait what did I say one fourth yeah yeah yeah yeah whatever that's how you do it's a quarter inch you always keep it in 16s 12 and 4 16s or it's if it was if you're measuring a deer it would be 8 so it would be 2 8s yeah yeah it's weird but the bear is that much very different like in the top of the record books where they're you know those 22 inches yeah a 16th is is the difference sometimes, eh, like a fraction.

Right. How close they are. If it was an eights, you'd have like 100 would be right there together. Yeah, they got it, got to have more fine measurements. Separation. Seven and five sixteenths. That's a big freaking bear cam.

Is that right? In real four and tight, yeah, yeah. So close to 20. We knew it was a 19-19. 19 to 20 inch bear? Yeah. 19 and 916th. That's a big bear.

That's a big skull. Yeah. Way into Popen Young. It was, what was it, what? 7 and... 560 to set. Yeah. 7 and 5.

Yeah. So tall. Yeah. And 12 and 4 long. Yeah, that's good. And when they, in the drying period, before you can actually score it into the books, it'll actually get bigger sometimes.

You know, where antlers, shrink yeah on a bear these side things right here will spread spread as they dry up yeah and you'll get more width so you could gain several 16s yeah if you're if you're getting close to that 20-inch skull that's a big bear yeah that's what we're after and that only happens with age generally yeah age and some really good genetic 12 and 6 16s um the bottom teeth are out More than the yeah you can go with the bottom on that. 12 and 6th. Yeah, pretty's the furthest.

This thing's sit. Okay. It looks 16th so now we're at 11. 11 16th. Yeah. And as it drives again a couple more so it'll be close to 20 inch. That's a good, that's a good head right there. They're wore down really good.

Yeah. It kind of matches your shirt. It seems old. Yeah. I just want to see how I get, I have to get this high. Yeah. I hope so. Yeah.

That would be cool. 8 foot bear dude. He's to the bottom of the 8 foot 2 by 4. See, spin it this one. Oh, ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho. Shit. Oh, my God. And then after we're going to do the one with the pole where you hold the nose this way, where it's standing.

Yeah, yeah. It's the heaviest bear. God, look how long that is. It's to the bottom. It's a true 8-foot bear. Just like that. I want to do like a pan down on the whole tree. Okay.

His feet are on the ground flat. I want to do one like this. There you go. So then you do that and you pull that guy out, that is stellar. Look out, fucking bear. Oh yeah, we need to measure it. It's eight foot. It's just under eight foot. It's like 7-Eleven.

Well, look at the Lord. You ready? Yeah. Yeah. It's a big freaking bear. Yeah. Why, stop. His hide is perfect.

Oh, it's beautiful. Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. All right, some back hands. You have both back straps already? No, I've got, well, I got one about it. It gets heavy.

It gets heavy. Oh. All right, we're closing out this episode of the Keep Hamry Collective with John and Gin Rivet. We've had some success. Here's all our bear. me and we can't wait to eat it. Thanks for listening. Arise, kill, now we're going to eat. Keep hammering.

Holy shit.