The MeatEater Podcast - Ep. 716: F'd Up Old Trucks, Father's Day, and a Gobbling Guide | MeatEater Radio Live!

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

Hosts Brody Henderson, Seth Morris, and Cory Calkins chat with Danny Bolton about off-roading in Hawaii, throwback to some memorable times had in f*cked up old trucks, reminisce about Father's Days of the past, and meet Captain Josh Miller and his one-of-a-kind co-captain. Watch the live stream on the MeatEater Podcast Network YouTube channel. Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. to the truth while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen, discover heart pounding thrillers on audible. Steve Rinella here. The American West with Dan Flores is a new podcast production on the meat eater podcast network. It's hosted by author and historian Dan Flores, who happens to be mine and our own Dr. Randall's former professor by focusing on deep time, wild animals, native peoples

in the West unique environments. Flores will challenge your understanding of the American West and he will help to explain why it is the way it is today. I count Dan Flores as a friend. We do not agree on everything, but he has had a massive impact on my understanding of American history and I invite you to get challenged by him in the same way that I have. Catch the premiere of the American West with Dan Flores on Tuesday May 6th on the MeatEater Podcast Network. Subscribe to the American West with Dan Flores on

Apple, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcast listen to Dan and it will stretch your brain all out and I mean that in a very good way Welcome to the June 12th episode of Meteor Radio Live. It's 11 a.m. mountain time here in Bozeman. That's 1 p.m. on the outer banks of North Carolina where my family is currently enjoying vacation without me. Yep, they're having fun on the beach. I'm your host Brody Henderson. I'm joined today by Seth Morris and Cory Calkins. Today, it's almost Father's Day, man. So we're going to share some hunting stories about our dads. That'll be fun.

We're gonna talk to fishing guide Josh Miller who we tried to get on the show a couple weeks ago, I think, about his first mate, Ryder, the turkey. I don't know what that turkey's name is. We'll figure that part out. And since we're running the voting right now for our 2026 fucked up old hunting trucks calendar, we're going to talk about some bad situations we've gotten into in our hunting trucks. And on top of that, we're going to interview an actual four-wheel drive truck driving expert, someone who teaches people how to drive four-wheel drive trucks. I'm not sure what his credentials are, but he's a good guy.

So we'll figure that part out too. Um, yeah, that's what we've got for you. It should be a good show. Um, what's up? How's it going fellers? Oh, going good. Yeah. So good.

Yeah. Uh, what'd you been up to? I just got back from interior Alaska on bear hunt with A lot of bear in this year man a lot of bear hunting. Yeah Geez, that's my second Alaska bear hunt of the year. Oh Right. It's out personal fun. See hon. Yep one in southeast and one in interior Much different style of hunting for those like could yeah two different planets. Basically. Yeah But yeah, it was good yeah watch some bears die and it's also beautiful country. Sweet. See any other critters up there? Yeah so wolves grizzly bears

caribou moose, doll sheep, wow a porcupine, a marmot. And I think that's it. Man. Yeah. Nice. Corey, what have you been doing? Working? Man, yeah, lots of work and I've been fly fishing a lot more this year. I was a-

You were a fly rod. Well, I was a guide for 15 years and when I retired from guiding, started this job, I didn't really want to do it anymore. I kind of lost the drive. Same thing happened to me after whatever 18 20 years of guiding I just I just lost the drive to go fish on my own yeah that's what everyone says I think same thing happened to the honest too oh yeah maybe but it's back man this year I've been fishing quite a bit cool fishing's good right now at the moment it seems

like it's gonna dry up come late summer But fish it now and going out, meeting up with my old man this weekend, go fish the Missouri. So I look forward to that. Nice, with everyone else in the state of Montana. Yeah, hopefully they're going somewhere else. It'll be what it'll be. I don't know, dude. That river is always busy.

But there's so many trout, it doesn't matter. Exactly. And you just kind of, if everybody's fishing the right bank, fish the left bank. Or the middle. Well, wherever the fish are biting. Yeah.

There's a lot of fish per mile in there. So how about you? Oh man, gardening, my family's out of town. You know, like when your family goes out of town, you're like, Oh God, it's going to be great. I'm going to have this house to myself. It's going to be quiet.

I'll get stuff done. But then they leave and you're like, God, I miss them. I'm bored have this house to myself. It's gonna be quiet. I'll get stuff done But then they leave and you're like god. I miss them. I'm bored. Yeah, I'm getting some stuff done, but I do miss them We'll start hitting the fishing hard after the boys get back here this weekend. Nice. Yeah Phil we got we got old Danny Bolton on the line. Danny's on standby. Yes Well, let's jump right in to our first guest, Danny Bolton. You guys probably seen him on the Meteor television show. He's done some stuff with Cal too. He's been a friend of Meteor for several years. If you don't know him, Danny hails from Hawaii. He spends a lot of his time shooting arrows into feral pigs and sheep and he spends a lot

of time hauling tuna and wahoo into the boat but we've got him on the show today to talk about his job training folks how to drive four-wheel drive rigs and we're gonna pick his brain about what not to do when you're off-roading your truck around especially during hunting season so we got him up here there he is Danny how's it going man it's good how are you guys great great what you been up to lately did hey did a little storm chasing just recently flew out to Kansas drove all over the country well not all over the country but all over like through storm zones and actually got to see my first tornado. Oh, nice. That's awesome. You don't get too many of those in why? No, definitely don't get too many. I seen like one little baby water spout one

time, but not a full tornado. Nice. Did you have a special truck like one of those big storm chasing trucks you were using for that? Or? Yeah, dude, you wouldn't believe it. My friend Ricky is like that, that they live for it. And he's got this big old orange truck, all the lights under glow, all the, you know, like pretty much typical storm chasing thing, all kinds of antennas coming off of it. So you got to do that with him, which is super fun. And then do this just like the movies, like pull up to a gas station, there's like 30 other storm chasers all amping for the storm coming in and some crazy rigs. I talk about talking about messed up old trucks, dude.

Yeah, there was some crazy stuff there with like all kinds of like metal welded to it. And you know, just like Mad Max stuff. Yep. It's pretty funny. That's cool. Okay, Danny, like we've done some four wheel drive stuff with you in the past, a little bit anyway, but give us a quick rundown of like your driving

instruction job and how you got into it. Yeah, I'll just give you a quick rundown, I guess. I just grew up just off road all the time. I started to play on quads and dirt bikes and then just always had kind of beat up old trucks that we could ramble around in. And even before I had my driver's license, and then I have two older cousins that I rode dirt bikes with, and they had enough money and had jobs so they were like building trucks so then started building trucks and that got us into

off-road racing when I moved out of Hawaii after high school started racing desert stuff and that's kind of what got me into like the major side of off-road and off-road racing and then my friend does all the training so I've actually partnered with him now and we're in business together to train a bunch of people, mainly military. So training mainly military to basically how to drive off road and then if the thing breaks, how to fix it, if you get stuck, how to get unstuck, all the little things that you know, you find out

there in the in the desert or wherever you are what's going to break it's similar to what would break when you're hunting yep and just how to fix it just all those little little secrets you know right um i i would imagine based on my own experience um getting stuck and whatnot that one of the biggest mistakes people make when they're driving around in a rough country is just like not turning around when they should, like not recognizing like stopping is the best thing to do and then you'll just avoid getting yourself

in a real bad situation. But what are like some of the main most common mistakes people make when they're driving in bad conditions like washed out roads, snow, mud, whatever it might be. Yeah. I think, I think he kind of hit the nail on the head is just like your brain, right? Like be a girl, self-aware of where you're at.

And, you know, I've gone down stuff that I couldn't get back up and it ended up being a dead end and it was a mission. We, we did get back up and it ended up being a dead end. And it was a mission. We did get back up but like, just knowing your situation, knowing your gear, and I would say the most common things and most people can probably relate to this is most likely flat tires, and then just getting stuck. I would say, you know, out of all the crazy fixes that I've done out in the field, broken axles, change transmission, all these crazy things,

getting stuck and just flat tires are probably the two most common things. And you need to be able to fix your vehicle or get it unstuck. So, you know, just having a shovel and then checking your equipment before you go, checking your spare tire, make sure as hair air in it, make sure it's the correct spare. I've I've had a truck where I

got a flat and we pull out the spare and it was the wrong lug nut pattern. So make sure your jacket is working. Yeah, we're gonna talk about that. Richard minute. Yeah, yeah, I was gonna ask you like, what, like, what are the things you like have to have in your truck? When you're like, anytime you're gonna be leaving the pavement, like what thing what's on your list of stuff everyone should have in

there in their truck? Yeah, to keep it real simple about sending people way down the rabbit hole, but I would have make sure your jack is working most cars and trucks come with a jack stock. So that's fine. Just make sure you have your jack and all the little pieces you need to use your jack. And then also your spare tire makes you have a spare tire and a lug nut wrench and then all the little pieces you need to get your spare down to usually it's the same thing that you use for your Jack.

And then I would say a shovel. If you're going off road, like to go camp or go hunt or something, just bring a shovel and then a little toe rope, like a toe strap would be amazing. But to keep it very simple, I would say out of those things, you can get yourself out of a lot of trouble. Yeah. What about those, you know, those plastic things you lay down on the attraction board? Do you use those at all? Very rarely. They come in handy. And if you're planning on getting stuck a lot, they're cool to have. But honestly, like if you're trying to keep it a lot, they're cool to have, but honestly,

if you're trying to keep it simple, you don't really need it. I'm getting a little hiccup here. Uh-oh. I think we actually lost connection here. No. And he rolled up on it. Oh, there he is, he's back.

We lost you there for like a little bit. Less than a minute. So I don't know. Yeah, so so I would say they just just You don't you don't need them. You can find other stuff that throw down that whole rocks sagebrush. Whatever. Yeah, I Don't really carry them. So what you're telling me is are wasting my money on mine No I don't really carry them. So what you're telling me is I wasted my money on mine. No, definitely. You have them. If you have them and when it comes time to use them, you're going to love them. Yeah, for sure.

I've used them a couple of times. You're supposed to have them like on top of your truck. Well, yeah, look cool. Yeah. Never use bright orange ones. Everyone can see. That's the thing. How about how about like towing campers or four-wheeler

trailers? Any tips there or just like anything people should know? Yeah. I'd say the two things about towing stuff in is just know what you're towing and like where it is because you don't want to get that thing twisted up or stuck. And then you're also pulling a lot more weight. So if you're going up super technical stuff, you're you're putting more stress on all your equipment on your truck, because you're pulling this extra weight. And I have seen axle snap and drive shafts and you joints and stuff go out. So just know, since you're pulling that extra weight,

you just kind of got to account for it. And then obviously backing it up like you want to get it, you know, you don't want to get in a spot where you're having a backup for a mile. And especially if it's a small trailer, the things like twisting around on you. Earlier, we showed a picture of you hauling those moose out from a couple years ago. Yeah. Is that like the kind of the hairiest four-wheel driving experience you've ever been in? Definitely not. Oh, jeez.

That's pretty gnarly. Yeah, I mean, we never even flipped it over on that one. Like it never even ended up upside down. But that was a long one. And it just the, the weight of the situation with having, you know, all that me and trying to get out like we went in the first part of the season. And then when we shot those moose was the last day of the season. So I remember when we were broken down. And this this trip was crazy. We ended up shooting two mooses moose meces bulls and bulls. We shot two bulls. And so we had to get all this meat out. And we ended up breaking the belts on those

are kind of known to go. And we had already gone through our spare. We brought a spare and I had already gone through it. And then we had to stick, go through the radiator. And we had to totally fix that whole situation. So crimp that all down and get that all fixed. But while we're fixing that, there was a river nearby. And I remember watching the last jet boat basically

go down the river because there's no reason to be back there unless you're moose hunting. And it was the last day of the season. And I remember watching that last boat go by and knowing that that was probably our last person that was going to be out there. And if we couldn't get that thing fixed, we were nine miles at that point from the road. So hiking like all that meat to the road was

going to be almost impossible. So we had to get that thing fixed. And yeah, it was it was it was amazing trip. We ended up getting the thing fixed and getting out and took, took a while though. It took us four days. Um, missed my flight. So that's all right. You got a couple of giant bulls. It's okay.

All right. One last question, Danny. Um, what would your like kind of ideal four wheel drive hunting rig? Like, what would it be and how would you have it set up? Like, would you have it set up? Like would you have a topper on there, a camper? Like just kind of give us a rundown of what your rig would look like. Yeah, no problem. Basically, I probably have a midsize truck. Full size gets a little big to where, you know, you're having trouble making tight corners and stuff.

Maneuvering. where you know you're having trouble making tight corners and stuff maneuvering ended up like bottom end. So like Tacoma Ford Ranger or something more in the midsize range and then I can just tell you what I have like in the mainland like I have a Toyota Tacoma and then I have a deck system in the back stores everything lock it up and then I have a go fast camper on top which is like just a camper that has a tent on top of it, you don't necessarily need the tent on top of it. You could just tent camp, which is fine, but having some way to enclose the back so that you don't have to worry about rain and mud and all that stuff would be amazing. And then, honestly, a stock rig nowadays is pretty awesome. Like if you can fit like 32 33 inch

tires and most some of the new stock trucks you can fit 33 is on just having bigger tires because of everybody all these lifts and all this stuff well you're putting all stuff on so that you can put bigger tires on so that your fenders don't rub and your suspension kind of move but the bigger tires is what's giving you more ground clearance and that's kind of what you're shooting for and you can't really beat stock suspension like the amount of money that manufacturers put into their geometry is huge compared to aftermarket stuff so just a stock mid-size truck with a little bit bigger tires probably some like have bf goodrich all terrains and if you know you're just gonna be in a muddy stuff. So

like my trains a little bit better for that. But I have all terrains. And then yeah, that's that's basically it. And I'd have it. I got a shovel in there. I got a jack. I got all my tools, big tools, make sure you have all the right tools that you need. I got tow straps and I got a winch on it. So it's got rear bumper front bumper. The rear bumper is cool because you can pull harder on it. And if you drag something that's not as big, you're not tearing up your stock bumper, but the front

bumper holds the winch, which I get myself out of a lot of situations and I don't need another rig there. And yeah, that's that's basically it. It's, I mean, fairly simple, but I definitely have everything I need to get myself out. Cool. Well, it was great talking to Danny. Hopefully we'll see you here in a couple of weeks in Montana. Yeah, definitely. I miss you guys.

All right. It is good to see you. Good to see you too. Thanks a lot, man. Thanks, Danny. Okay, boys. Later You searched for your informant Who disappeared without a trace?

You knew there were witnesses but lips were sealed You swept the city driving closer to the truth While curled up on the couch with your cat, there's more to imagine when you listen, discover heart pounding thrillers on audible. Steve Rinella here. The American West with Dan Flores is a new podcast production on the meat eater podcast network. It's hosted by author and historian Dan Flores, who happens to be mine and

our own Dr. Randall's former professor. By focusing on deep time, wild animals, native peoples in the West unique environments, Flores will challenge your understanding of the American West and he will help to explain why it is the way it is today. I count Dan Flores as a friend. We do not agree on everything, but he has had a massive impact on my understanding of American history and I invite you to get challenged by him in the same way that I

have. Catch the premiere of the American West with Dan Flores on Tuesday May 6th on the MeatEater Podcast Network. Subscribe to the American West with Dan Flores on Apple, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts, listen to Dan and it will stretch your brain all out. And I mean that in a very good way. Are we doing more truck stuff here in this next segment? Yeah. Um, throwback Thursday.

Phil. Phil? Throwback on a Thursday morn, Stephen Brody take me back to 1974. Throwback, I can't believe it, did I mention Stephen Brody our old-ass shit. I like if I can play that one. That's my favorite one. Phil, who broke this mic, man? It's just never right. Spencer and Randall love to fidget with it when they're in the seat. So, I mean, it was probably one of them. Yeah.

If I had to throw anyone under the bus here. Great. Good call. I apologize. All right. Throwback Thursday, fellas. We're looking back today at some... Close your ears, kids. We're going to look back today at some, some close your ears kids, we're gonna look back today at some fucked up situations we've been in in our hunting trucks.

So Seth, you're up first. Cool. Bringing it up here, Seth, one sec. Take your time, Phil. Ah, here we go. Oh boy. This was south of the border in Mexico two, three years ago. Haunted all week long, no rain and then the day

before we leave it just lets loose and pours which it doesn't, oftentimes it doesn't rain like that down there. Um, we had like a crappy rental vehicle and then one of the guys we were with Matt cook, he drove a truck down hauling a couple of side-by-sides and this ranch we were on, um, had a pretty crappy road going into it and of course it rains and we had to get up early that next morning to, to get back across the border to catch a flight, to fly back to Montana. Well, on our way out, still dark out, as you can see, um, we get everything stuck and the truck gets stuck, the rental vehicle gets stuck.

Um, so Matt's truck has two side-by-sides. He's as stuck as he could be. And we're in a spot where there's like no way you could turn around or like off to our left, it was a steep drop off. So if he was to roll, go off that, he would just roll, um, to our right was a steep bank. They're just like, and we were on a turn too. So there's like not a whole lot you could do.

Um, we couldn't get a vehicle past it to try and pull it. It was a disaster. So our first thing we did was we need to get some weight off the trailer. So we pulled the side-by-sides off. Um, and in the process of doing that, um, Jason Phelps was with us. He hops in one and as he's driving it off the trailer, I don't know what the hell happened, but he ends up on, on the side. He rolls the thing.

So like down off the bank? No, in the, so he was like, he was backing it off the trailer and like, I don't know if he hit the throttle a little too hard But like hit the the bank on the right side that's super steep Yeah, and just kind of went right like backed up it and just flipped it right over So now we got two truck two stock vehicles and rolled over side by side in the middle of the road That's when you want to just go to bed. Yeah all today. Yeah, like let's try this again tomorrow But yeah, I think there's another photo there, Phil. Yeah, there's the, you can see Jason in the cab of the Side by Side standing up.

But yeah, it was just a kind of a shit show of a morning. We finally got everything, you know, we rolled that back over. And then I think we might've, I don't remember. We might've somehow gotten a side by side around the truck and pulled it out with that. I don't remember exactly. We ended up getting out of the situation and made it back to America. You're here. We're here.

Yeah. Look at the grease on those tires. Oh, it was so, it was like, it was almost like gumbo mud up here in Montana. Just sticky. Yeah. Sticky, sl those tires. Oh, it was so it was like it was almost like gumbo mud really up here in Montana It's sticky. Yeah sticky slimy mud. Oh, wow But yeah, that's my story of getting a truck stuck flipping the side by side Wow We're going to top that yeah, no problem. No, that's that sounds really scary. Let's see I used to own a 2001 Toyota Tacoma.

By far my favorite truck I'll ever own probably. But when I started guiding fly fishermen, it wasn't quite big enough. So I upgraded to a Tundra, which I'll one day go back to the Tacoma. But there's a photo of it right there. 2001 Tacoma, they don't make them like that anymore. When I upgraded to the Tundra I sold that truck to my hunting outfitter, elk hunting outfitter, with the agreement that I that was going to be my guide rig. So for a couple years I got to guide out of the my old truck which was

great. And one day second week of rifle season here in Montana my client and I went up onto these two mounds. I drove up onto one of these mounds. We called them the boobs, just these two mountains that stick up out of the middle of nowhere. They're very obvious. You can see them from miles away. We called them the boobs. I parked the truck up on one of them at like 3 p.m. Sunset, so like 7 p.m. We're just going to wait there and commit to that spot, hoping some elk come out of the timber and the truck being forest green hopefully they wouldn't see us there. I swear I put it in first gear naturally the parking brake was all messed up I think there was mud stuck in

the the emergency brake so I that was just out of order but I've had it in first gear stepped out of the truck did some glassing I look over and my client was sleeping in the passenger seat and saw three bulls come out of the truck, did some glass and I look over and my client was sleeping in the passenger seat and saw three bowls come out of the timber. So I run over to the truck and as I turn and look, the truck is just all of sudden rolling down one of the boobs with my client Billy and just sitting in the passenger seat. I see him duck over to the side and he was able to reach over and hit the brake, but without the key in it, the hydraulics locked up.

So I'm not sure how it shifted out of gear, but it did. And it started rolling. I was able to run up and for some reason I thought I could be Superman for a hot minute and I tried stopping the truck. Instantly knew that wasn't going to work, jumped out of the way, actually like dove and did a little roll out of the way. It was real theatrical. And I just watched the truck ghost roll with

my client in the passenger seat down into a pile of trees. Luckily, like 10 degrees to the left, it would have went over a cliff. Oh, geez, man. Luckily it went into some smaller evergreen trees. It was kind of like, it wasn't one big tree,

which would have really messed everything up, including Billy, but it actually just messed up the radiator, bent the whole front end in, of like it wasn't one big tree which would have really messed everything up including Billy but it actually just messed up the radiator bent the whole front end in and we had to walk out that night because I couldn't get the truck out. There's a photo of it. It went into the trees like just completely sandwiched dominoed a bunch of small timber down. We went back the next day and I was able to actually drive it out the next day after a little chainsaw work But yeah, that was scary. I still don't know exactly what happened my client who had reached over to try and hit the brakes stayed down and he Brews some ribs because he was right on the shifter gear shifter was right on his stomach and when he impacted the trees it

Brews his ribs. That's all that happened. really. Obviously the truck didn't matter at that point. But my outfitter actually fixed it up, put a new grill, new radiator, everything that it needed, which was a lot, put a new front bumper on it and we used it again for a couple more years. I think he sold it just a few years ago. Sadly, I couldn't afford to buy it back, but yeah, missed that truck. That was the greatest truck I'll ever own. Cory out there trying to kill his hunting clients. Well, he shouldn't be sleeping on the job. Yeah, I think you guys probably got me beat. Mine's kind of a standard getting stuck overnight story. But it was because of this buck right here, that white tail buck. I was hunting up in Northern Montana a couple of years ago.

And the road, like there's like the main highway, but then all the roads up there, this is like big ag country. There's very few trees, not a whole lot of topography, like kind of rolling. But you guys know the roads up there, like they're public roads, kind of rolling, but you guys know the roads up there. Like they're public roads, most of them, but they're like these little two track, like unmaintained, they're not roads, right? Yeah. Um, but so I was back in there a ways and I killed this buck in late afternoon and it, like,

I had slept in the truck the night before and it, well, it had, I'd hunted the day before it rained all day. Then overnight it snowed on top of that rain. And like on the way to like walk out and hunt in the morning, I'm like, this is bad. Like, like I need to like kill an animal and get out of here before this stuff starts thawing out. Cause it was like a few inches of heavy heavy wet snow, then a thin layer of ice and then a layer of mud.

Yeah. Like it wouldn't matter what kind of tires you had on. And I didn't have changed what, which was probably a mistake. Anyway, I did what I shouldn't have done and stayed out there all day and shot this buck like late afternoon, everything had started, started melting. I get the buck back to the truck. It's dark and I'm like, I'm going to go for it. And, uh, it's like a slight downhill incline right off the bat to get out of there. And I go like 50 feet in the truck just does yeah. Turn and I'm going sideways down the road.

And, uh, no, and slid like a hundred feet down the road. Now I'm like kind of cock-eye sideways, pointing back the other way. And there's just like no getting off the road to turn around. I tried, believe me. Um, and ended up, I just had to sleep in the

truck again that night. Cause I had to wait for stuff to freeze. Yeah. Um, so let that be a lesson to you. Sometimes it's like, it was great. I got that buck, but if I'd have been in a more remote or tougher location, like, you know, who knows what would have happened? Um, just like I knew walking out that morning to go hunting.

I'm like, I gotta get out of here by like. Mid morning before stuff starts to melt. And I didn't. So it was just like what we talked about earlier, you know, knowing, knowing your situation and not getting, getting stuck somewhere because you made a poor decision. But I will say this, I have a Ford F 150 and that, I like that truck. You've got one, Seth. I learned a big lesson on that hunt about,

like Danny said, stock stuff is good. Well, I'll tell you what's not good about stock F-150s is they have what they call a skid. Maybe they've changed this since, mine's a 2020. They have what they call a skid plate under there, but it's like, it's not metal. It's this like weird, almost like fabric paper mache material. And it's like, it'll keep a pebble out of there, like, you know, a little bit of dirt,

but it's not going to protect your important stuff up underneath or on top of that skid plate and ripped right through that thing and poked a hole in the transmission fluid reservoir which ended up like got a little ways and then the truck just shit the bed. Wow. Did the transmission go out? Not completely like it. I didn't lose the transmission, but there was some costs involved in getting it fixed it wasn't just plugging the hole and calling it good but the first thing I did was put an aftermarket metal skid plate on that sucker mm-hmm yeah I gotta check mine now yeah yours might already rotten falling off still the Steve's fell right off hmm it may I might be got um just another thing add to the list so now all the Ford haters gonna be like yeah

I knew that you shouldn't have bought that truck um Let's see if we got any of that and we got any of that in the listener feedback Phil We've got Ford haters no we've got no no Ford discourse happening right now We do have Randy saying it this is his favorite episode so far because he loves the shit show experiences. Nice. It's from Randy from Georgetown, Texas. Thanks, Randy. Thanks, Randy. But yeah, we can get some questions in here, whether they're about trucks or Father's Day or just comments. Let's move on to some listener feedback. Cody would like to know what the zoom is on those glasses. On my glasses? Oh it's light it's like 1.5. Okay. I don't need a bunch yet. Cool. Lance asks, Seth have

you ever gone walleye fishing in Canada? If so where is the spot? Oh yeah. I have not gone walleye fishing in Canada. That's's a bucket list trip I want to do that eventually but I feel like there's lots of spots yeah a lot of water like where I grew up everyone used to go to Ontario yep but like Yannis was just bear hunting and what man it's over they clobbered them there they clobbered them there I mean Lake of the Woods is always notoriously good. Um, yeah, I think there's lots of options up there. Love to check it out someday. Uh, Caleb, he asks, what is the best gift for a hunting dad? We've got two dads at the table.

What would be a thing that you guys have received or would love to receive from your family? Man, my wife hates buying me. Yeah. It's like a standard thing, like, because I just buy the shit I want for myself, right? So it's always like, well, what do you want? I'm like, I don't need anything. And then I what I need, I just go buy. So man, it's a tough one. And it's like, there's all kinds of different hunting dads. There might be like a duck hunting dad and elk hunting dad. It's a tough question to answer. Ask them what they want and then say, I'm getting this for you.

Don't buy it for yourself. That'd be my advice. Yeah, that's a good call. Or don't buy them anything. Just do something that's like real thoughtful. Yeah, exactly. I'd rather like hang out with my kids and my wife camping for a weekend than oh totally get some gear. You're just say like we're going camping this weekend dad

I'm gonna get all the shit ready. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. Yeah Greatest gift I ever got though was from my wife for Father's Day We were able to drop the kid off with the grandparents, which was fun for Father's Day of all days But we went fishing on the Missouri with a guide, which was really fun. Guided fishing trip wherever you are. I'm sure that's an option. Yeah. I mean, if you can afford it, yeah, find out what their bucket list trip is and get that for them. Yep. Favorite trolling lure and what are you targeting with it? It's from Matthias. I think he corrected me.

I said Matthias last time. Cause I know a French guy named Matthias, but it is Matthias. Um, man, you're down on troll. But what's your favorite? I don't troll much. Uh, when I do, it's like crankbaits and stuff. Yeah. I mean, we, uh, we's like crankbaits and stuff. Yeah I mean we will pull

crankbaits like there's an old Lake Erie I think it's a Lake Erie lure called the Wally Diver. Oh yeah. That's a good walleye. I mean anything will eat them. We pull what are those Berkeley Flicker Minnow. Oh yeah. That's a good one that we do well with. Chester likes that one a bunch. Yep. So we do a little, we'll definitely like take a break and do some trolling for a while. And then you can do some, if you want to switch it up, uh, some bottom bouncers, um, with like spinner rigs and stuff. You know what I've always wanted to do? You know, when them big schools of coho get circling outside the creeks.

Oh yeah. I've always wanted to try trolling through those things to see what happens. I bet you it would. I'm all about trying new things up there. Yeah, why not? Yeah, it'd be cool. Let's see. Jesse says he just got a 2006 Tacoma. It has no bells or whistles. What would be a couple of the first upgrades or attachments you'd put on for hunting?

Chains. Tires. Like depending on what it's got on there for tires for sure. Yeah, it gets you some good sidewall. Good tires. Chains. Tires, like depending on what it's got on there for tires for sure. Yeah, get you some good. Good tires. Good ply. I'm a fan of toppers too. So am I. I like having a topper, keep my stuff dry. I can sleep in there. Locked up. Yeah. Lock it up. Yeah. Yeah, get you a topper. Right on. And I thought this was a fun, fun comment. We're not doing throwback Thursday anymore, but Cody J, when we were talking to Danny, said that he drives and is a medic for tornado hunters and that it's a blast. And he said he also knew one of the guys that Danny was hanging out with.

Oh, nice. And he was doing that. So anyway, small world. Man, in a different life, I'd be a freaking storm changer. Yeah. Have at it, man. I think it's cool. Yeah. Not interested, man. Like, I think when I was in like eighth grade, I think it was eighth grade, we used to get tornado.

I grew up Northwestern Pennsylvania, so it's not like the most tornado-y spot in the nation, but we would get tornado warnings. And in eighth grade, the next town over from us just got walloped by a tornado and like 30 people died So like jeez, I don't have any I don't need that. Yeah. Yeah as a Montana kid tornadoes freak me out I'm going the other way. Yeah, I think they're cool, but I've never really had a bad experience with one So yeah chase them up. See what happens cool. We can call it right there

But I would doing this again at the end of the show. So please submit more questions and we will field them in a few minutes. Alrighty, so Father's Day and what is it? Three days something like that? Mmm. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. So in honor of that, we're each gonna share a picture and a story about hunting. You guys didn't do any fishing, just hunting, right? I did fishing.

You did fishing, so hunting and fishing with our dads. We're just gonna honor our dads for getting us into hunting and fishing. So you up first, Seth? Sure, I'll go. I got a bunch of photos of me and my old man up at the cabin in Alaska. That was just last, was that last year?

He's been coming up the last three years now. So I have a bunch of photos, but this is like, it's cool bringing my old man up to the cabin because like this is the first thing, like one of the first things in my life where instead of him teaching me something, I'm teaching him something new. Um, which is pretty cool. And he's just like completely fell in love with like doing all the stuff up

there, all the fishing and whatnot. Um, so yeah, he comes up every summer now and I put him to work. Um, he's, he's cheap labor. Um, he does a lot of firewood splitting and he could swing a hammer. But here's some salmon that we caught up there. But yeah, he comes up every summer now and helps out with the cabin and yeah, it's just like he's, you know, he grew up on the East coast and that whole world is like so new to him and he's, he's just getting to like, see him new, just getting to watch him

see new things that he's never seen before and like catch fish that he's never caught before. And, um, it's just super cool. Um, and one, one funny thing and bro, do you know how it is up there? Like when people's first start fishing up there, it's like, they just kind of don't remember how to fish almost. Yeah. Um, so here's him fighting a small halibut, which he thinks is a giant

halibut, um, which is common. And, uh, yeah, just, just like trying to teach like the hook sets, or if you're running like circle hooks and not to set the hook. It, yeah, it's just been a blast the last, you know, three years, um, getting to show my old man that part of the country and that type of fishing. Yeah. I've hung out with him a bit up there and he seems really love it. Oh, he loves it. It's all he talks about.

Yeah. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled Krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover bestselling adventure stories on Audible. Corey, what are you doing down there?

Making sure our next guest is ready to roll. It looks like he just showed up. So we're doing some producing work at the same time as he's hosting. Oh, dude. Yeah, he can do it all. Got a man of many hands. All right, Corey. Oh, my turn. You're up time he's hosting. Oh dude, yeah. He can do it all. I've got a man of many hands. All right, Cory. Oh, my turn.

You're up. Let's see. Man, I got a lot of great stories hunting and fishing with my dad growing up. I, uh, he moved up to Montana back in the 70s to get away from the hustle and bustle of Nevada, uh, bought some horses and started hunting in the, in the Bob Marshall and that's kind of what what helped drive my desire to want to do the same thing was able to guide back in there kind of chase his dreams a little bit which was super cool

but I owe a lot to him for getting me into outdoor recreation for sure but this particular story was in I believe in. I was a junior in high school. My dad and I were in Northwest Montana, archery elk hunting. I think it was September 21st. We had a bit of a snowstorm the day before and we hunted together in the morning, didn't hear any bugles, which I feel like is pretty typical after a snowstorm like that.

And we decided to split up and spread out a couple hundred yards, just work this basin that we saw some tracks in the day before. And I don't know what time it was, probably 10, 11 in the morning, not early, but it wasn't later in the day. And two bulls come up just naturally up right in front of me.

They never saw me. I was just timber sneaking through the woods and I was able to arrow one of the two bulls, young raghorn Dropped him beautiful shot got really lucky. I would say being that that young and and not much of a hunter yet And I was pumped we had two-way radios So I radioed my dad as soon as I went up and touched the thing and knew that it was dead and had a lot Of work to do and radioed my dad told, I got my first bowl with my bow.

And he's like, no way. I just shot a bowl too. So we killed two bowls. It might've been within the same moment. We have no idea, obviously, because we weren't with each other and, uh, didn't have on X or anything at the time. So, uh, yeah, we killed two bowls. Not luckily, not too far from the truck.

I was going to ask, that's a one's enough work. You get two down at the same time. It's probably four miles from the truck. Had to go to ask, that's one's enough work. You get two down at the same time. It's probably four miles from the truck. Had to go up the hill and down that same trip. Actually leapfrog and quarters had a black bear grab one of my, uh, hindquarters and try dragging it off. Almost killed a bear that day too, but knew how much work we still had to go. But that was pretty epic, epic memory.

Uh, he had killed an elk before with his bow, but that my first archery bowl and yeah pretty special moment to have that happen that was really cool for sure and he's you said he's coming out here soon right well he lives in Kalispell up northwest Montana we're gonna meet up this weekend and fish the Missouri together that's right yeah that's what you're getting at. Um, all right. I guess it's my turn. My old man. Um, there he is. Uh, like my dad, like he's definitely like the reason why I'm sitting in his seat right now is the reason why I became a fishing guide. Like it was just like hunting and fishing with him as a kid, like learned a lot from

him, um, love being out in the woods with him and then like, kind of got away from doing that kind of stuff together for, for a long time. And, and then after I moved out to Colorado and got into hunting, I kind of talked him in to start coming out to do some mule deer hunts and, and, and it was super cool. And he got bucks pretty much every year he came out. I think he was 71 in this picture. So he probably started coming out like his mid-60s and shot some bucks, nothing huge,

but some decent bucks. This was, I think, in 2011. And he drew a third season rifle tag in Colorado. And since I knew he had drawn that tag, I wasn't gonna hunt that season for a buck. I was just like focused on getting him a big one. Cause like I said, he's 71 and he got around pretty good, but you know, he's 71.

So you just don't know how much more time he's got to do that kind of hunting. So I went into this area like a week before the season started and like right off the bat, I glass up a bull, a bull elk. I'm like, shit man, like we're supposed to be deer hunting next week, but I'm gonna pick up an over the counter bull tag too.

And we go in there, we go in opening morning, we're glassing around, there's deer around, small bucks, nothing to shoot at. And I look up the ridge and there's three bulls working down the ridge. And I was like, peace out dad, I'm going after these bulls and run up there and got in tight and shot, shot a bull. Um, so the next like day and a half was dealing with that bull, you know, and you know, my dad was kind of doing some hunting on the side, but it was warm and nothing, nothing happened. Then on like day, it would have been like day four, maybe in the evening, we found this buck and just could not get it done. That evening was, it was too far

away. There's a lot of doughs around. It was going to get dark. So we went right back in there the next morning and found him right away and made a move on him. And we ended up like, we almost screwed it up. Like we ended up real tight, like 70 yards. So my dad's just like offhand shot real quick and spined him. I was like, you got to shoot that deer again, but he's like on the ground, you know, and you can't really get out as vitals. I've never seen a 71 year old man run like 70 yards that fast, like in my life. Oh wow.

And he ran up to it, finished it off. And I was like, man, like you don't know. Like you don't know what you just shot. Yeah. Like you have no, it shot some mule deer bucks, but nothing like that. I was like, this thing's like, I think this thing's over 200 and he still was like not convinced and we, we pack it out and, uh, I, I, we get home and I take, um, like a one 70 buck that I'd shot earlier in the year

and set those antlers inside those antlers. I'm like, like, you get it now? Like how big this thing is? And then ended up scoring like, I can't remember what it was, like two Oh six or two Oh nine or something like that. That's cool. You can't really, this picture is not great. It's from back in the day when like digital cameras weren't that great.

Um, but he's got a couple stickers coming off his right side and there's one off the back of his left side that you can't see. There's a really cool old buck and, uh, yeah, man, like every time I go back to Pennsylvania, I just stare at that thing. It's just an awesome deer. Yeah, that's cool. So it was kind of like you, Seth, where. Felt like I was like doing what he had done for me,

yeah. You know, later in life. So yeah, he's, uh, he still does a little hunting at home, but not, not as much as he used to. He's getting up there. That's cool. That is cool. Nice buck.

Yeah. Big buck. Big buck. Hmm. I'm ready for the fall. Let's go. Okay. Speaking of Father's Day, we got to remind you that our our meat eater and First Light Father's Day sales are going on right now. So like we talked about gifts earlier, forget the ties, socks, golf clubs, like get on the meat eater website, the First Light website and get your get the dads in your life something they'll like. And if if you don't know what to get them then get them a gift card and they'll get what they want

And that's going on now Through all the way through the weekend, right? I believe so. Yeah. Yeah So check it out on on the meteor website or the first light website. There's some some good deals going on right now Cool. All right. now it's time to do the interview we were trying to get done a couple weeks ago. We're going to interview Josh Miller. He's a fishing guide from Western Washington. I think he guides like salmon and steelhead in the rivers and also like coastal fisheries too out in the ocean. That's my understanding. Yeah. Yeah let's find out. But he's got, some of you may have seen

him on Instagram, he's got a co-captain which is Ryder, Ryder the Turkey. So Josh, we got Josh on the line. Here we are. There he is. Hey Josh. Hey Josh. How we doing gentlemen? Good. Not as good as you though, where you at? Yeah. I'm out in the Strait of Wanda, Fuqua fishing for halibut right now. Oh, God. Nice. Nice. Oh, first of all, tell us about your early bird guidance service. Like, what do you fish for? Where do you guys fish? What time of year all that stuff? Give us a quick rundown So right now I'm doing raft trips we do coastal tributaries and Columbia River tributaries a Lot of steelhead fishing a lot of king fishing and coho fishing I do spend the summers in Alaska fishing sockeye on the Kenai

So if you're interested in that I can get you out in Kenai Alaska for sockeye on the Kenai. So if you're interested in that I can get you out in Kenai Alaska for sockeye and then the winter time after any time after New Year's is an awesome steelhead season but yeah year-round we're catching big chromefish. Nice nice well we got to we got to ask like you're pretty well known on the Instagram for your your unusual first mate that happens to be a turkey. So like how did the whole thing with with bringing along the turkey and the boat get started? Well, I got a bunch of these heritage birds to raise and a weasel got into the coop and long story short there was only one left and it was literally ride or die for the little guy. I was fishing

the next day. So he had no choice. He had to go out on the boat as a little baby and here we are seven years later, he's got the program pretty well figured out. He's been out on hunting trips, all sorts of fishing trips. I've had him with me on a mule deer hunt and we harvested a mule deer. Yeah! That's awesome. I've had him elk hunting and I shot a cow elk with him following me through the woods. Dude, you gotta watch out. Someone might take a crack at that turkey while you're hunting. Right? I don't know. The way I look at it, he's lived such a good life. I don't think he could get any better for a turkey. That's true. So, there we go. There we go. So, like people like to bring their dogs on boats like I do it. Some dogs are like really annoying when you're fishing in a boat and some are super chill. Where does Ryder fall on that

scale and does he react to fish being caught? Oh yeah, when he hears drag pulling out of a reel, he starts ripping gobbles. That is awesome. That is going on and everything. And he's fine. He's got he's got a lot of care to play, having a dog and a cat. He's got a little bit of attitude, but most of the time you think of that rider. Well, that is excellent. A ton of fun, even when I'm stolen out of the driveway with the boat, he'll chase the truck down just because I'm towing the boat. Yup. Yup.

Do you got any clients that specifically request for that turkey to be in the boat with them? All the time. Yeah? I bet. I just say as long as you tip the bird, I'll bring him. Nice. That's awesome. Nice. That's awesome.

Nice. You guys getting them today? Got any action? I know, unfortunately he couldn't join today because you had some pretty rough seas out there. Yeah, we got some rough water and we got four people in the boat. So we decided to leave him at home today. We got out here about an hour and a half ago and we caught three dogfish.

So little sharks, uh, no halibut yet. Well, keep at it. Now, I don't want to upset you with this next question. I hope Ryder has a bunch more years of fishing ahead of him, but since we're here at Meteor, we all love eating wild turkeys. So is there any chance that bird is gonna to end up on the table at Thanksgiving? Or are you going to give him a proper burial at sea once his time is up?

Oh, I think he deserves a proper burial. I don't know about eating them. He's seven years old. Nice. Nice. Well, hopefully you got several more years with him in the boat with you. It's always a fun time around Thanksgiving. Nice. It'd be tough. Well, hopefully you got several more years with him in the boat with you. It's always a fun time around Thanksgiving. Yeah, I bet. I bet.

Yeah. I've had him sit down at the table with us and gave him a plate of green beans. Is he house trained or boat trained? When he was younger, I used to have him where he would peck the door or the window to turn around and tell me to let him out. But I don't get to spend a ton of time with him anymore. But for the most part, yeah, he's pretty well trained. He'll wait a two hour car ride to the river and then when I let him out, he'll do his

business. Nice. Nice. He's a pretty smart bird. That's cool. Cool, well Josh, thanks for talking to us today. I hope you guys find some halibut out there and I hope you continue to have fun

with your turkey fishing companion. Yeah, all the best to Ryder. Yeah. Yeah, anytime, happy to be on the show guys. All right, thanks a lot man. All right, you guys take care. You too. Thanks Josh.

That is awesome. That was cool. Phil, we got time for some more feedback. Yeah, we don't have a whole lot of feedback right now, but Robert asks Seth, if you remember Seth, what kind of rifle did you use on the Texas deer hunt in rough cuts? Do you remember that hunt?

That rifle was, so kind of funny backstory. I wasn't actually supposed to be hunting on that chute. One thing led to another and I ended up being on camera. So I actually didn't bring a rifle down there. I just went and grabbed, it was an old Remington 308. I don't even know exactly what it was but I just grabbed it out of the gun safe at the ranch. Um, and when shot to make sure it was shooting good and that's what I took out, it was like an old woodstock thumb hole, like old schooly wood gun.

Um, which was kind of cool cause I don't usually hunt with stuff like that. Yeah. And you guys weren't taking particularly long shots. No, it was all close stuff. So, um, yeah, it was, I remember it was a Remington, but I don't usually hunt with stuff like that anymore. And you guys weren't taking particularly long shots. No, it was all close stuff. So, um, yeah, it was, I remember it was a Remington, but I don't remember exactly what it was. Uh, Oscar asks, uh, what is the smallest area of private land that you'd hunt turkeys? He says he has 10 acres in Michigan.

Sure. Why not? Yeah. 10 acres. You can get her down on 10 acres for sure. Especially if they're roosted nearby, like on your land or nearby. Yeah. Call them in there.

Yeah, sure. Why not? Remington asks, how old were you when you started hunting without your dad? Man, I broke the law. Yeah, same. I think it was 14 in Pennsylvania. You had to be to hunt alone and, and the minimum hunting age back then was 12. And I was hunting alone when I was 12, a lot.

Same. Yeah. Yeah. I think, man, I probably would have been like 17 by the time I finally went out with a buddy. My dad was my hunting buddy growing up. So it was pretty late, 17 probably. It's weird to me to think about it now that I have my own kids, like a 13 year old and a 10 year old, and they can hunt at 10 in Montana. But like, like, I don't know about you, Seth, but like I, I would just go walk on the, like all the neighboring farms all day. Like it's just be gone all day. Yeah, same. All day. Yeah. And for me to think about letting my 13 year old or my, you know, when my 10 year

old is 12, do it at that age, it's like kind of weird, but I feel like that's a problem with me, not a problem with them being able to go do it. If you, if you like give them the confidence to go do it. Yeah. Yeah. John asks Brody, don't you think there should be a time limit on trivia questions? Yes. It depends if I'm having trouble with the question

or it's someone else. I was gonna say, if you, whoever's sure of an answer, they want a time limit. Yeah, yeah. But honestly, like often the conversations, the banter that happens while we're extending the time on those. It's pretty fun. I mean, it could get taken too far, obviously, like, because the

more talk that goes on, the better the chance that something is given away and someone comes up with an answer you hope they wouldn't get. A time limit would ruin the energy of the show, because if it were too long and it was an easy question, then we're just sitting there. I guess if people, if we all agreed we wanted to be done, we could move on. But, but yeah, like, like Brody said, just the flexibility. I think maybe we could screw around with like a special edition of meat eater where it's like a speed round or maybe like, yeah, like it's like you get 30 seconds and that's that like, maybe we can screw around with Randall is all caps in the chat saying yes, on the time limit. There's too many.

Hey, Spencer, you just happened to lose a couple of times and now he's all been out of shape. He's no foul play. Randall says, uh, let's see. Oscar., we've got two, no, we already did Oscar. Did I, did I start this? There was a comment boys, two PA boys about tactics for hunting deep woods in Pennsylvania for deer. It was a pretty general question.

I can't find it right now. Seth would know more about that than me. Like deer hunting the big woods? Yeah, it's all about- Here we go. It's from Ethan. It's kind of a lot. You got to work the land features in that big stuff because it's just, you know, woods forever. Yeah. Like up where I hunted Northwest PA, like you're hunting small, like 100 acre chunks of

private and it's not like that big woods has like, like got some topography, man. Like, yeah, like saddles and pin, like if you can find pinch points, bottom stuff like that, and then find different cover types, white oak flats and stuff like that, where they're feeding. I do think you like knowing what I know now

about Western hunting. I think there's some stuff you could apply to those big chunks of like mountainous public land in Pennsylvania and hunt like a Western hunter and like. Get in there a long ways and, and be willing to pack about a buck out on your back. Like there's something to be said for like hunting where other people aren't in Pennsylvania, because a lot of it gets pretty crowded. on your back, like there's something to be said for like hunting where other people aren't in Pennsylvania. Cause a lot of it gets pretty crowded. Yeah.

I think Topo maps your best friend and that kind of stuff. Carrie asks, would you hunt a burn from last fall for mule deer or hunt away from the burn? Hmm. I think it depends on the burn. Yeah. I've hunted burns where it burnt in the summer and I was on it in October. Yeah. There was plenty of deer and elk in it. I've hunted burns where it burnt in the summer and I was hunting it in October. Yeah.

There was plenty of deer and elk in it. Yeah. You better check it out. Yeah. I mean, some burnt like it was real hot one where everything just gets to like the top soil gets burnt, probably pretty tough, but if it's a quick one that, and you get a bunch of new growth, definitely. I was working on a fire back in my firefighting days.

One time, um, we're cutting a line in to try to hold hold this one fire from spreading and Out of nowhere a whole herd of elk come out of the non burn stuff and go right up into the fire Hmm. I was like that's not gonna work out great for him, but we never saw him again Yeah, they got to deal with that stuff every year. Yeah I think that's it. Cool. They got to deal with that stuff every year. Yeah. I think that's it. Cool. It's a good round of questions.

Thanks, everybody. Go and wrap it up there. Yeah. Sure. All right, folks. That's the end of today's show. Happy Father's Day to everyone. Have a great weekend.

Get outside and do something fun. Thanks a lot. Thanks, guys. Tune in next week. Steve Rinella here. The American West with Dan Flores is a new podcast production on the meat eater podcast network. It's hosted by author and historian Dan Flores, who happens to be mine and our own Dr. Randall's former

professor. By focusing on deep time wild animals, native peoples in the West's unique environments, Flores will challenge your understanding of the American West and he will help to explain why it is the way it is today. I count Dan Flores as a friend. We do not agree on everything, but he has had a massive impact on my understanding of American history and I invite you to get challenged by him in the same way that I have. Catch the premiere of the American West with Dan Flores on Tuesday, May 6th on the MeatEater Podcast Network. Subscribe to the American West with Dan Flores on Apple, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts, listen to Dan and it will stretch your brain

all out. And I mean that in a very good way.