Ep. 267: This Country Life - Gettin' Chilly Down South (Bonus!)

Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves. From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. I want you to stay a while as I share my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some stories to share. Welcome to this country Life podcast, Deer

Welcome brother, Thank you, thanks for having me. Pretty excited to be here down in your home state.

First question, Yeah, what I mean, I've known you for two years now, almost two years? Yeah, Well, Yeah, what does a meat eater production coordinator do?

I handle all the camera equipment, uh, that we send out on shoots for all of you guys and any anything that we want to record or film. Most of that gear is coming from me in a lot of logistics that I go along with it.

I've seen your office down there and it looks like some kind of like a best buy best Buy, Yeah, best buy store down there's gear and cases and stuff stacked everywhere. You got to keep up with all that.

I certainly try.

Yeah, it's it's a lot, but it only took me a couple of weeks.

To get well. I know that you and I hit it all from the very beginning when I when we first met, and uh, I've been trying to I was like, dude, you got to come to Arkansas. I know you like it because you are from.

I'm from South Dakota.

Yeah, so this is all very foreign to me down here, a little bit different, very different.

Yeah.

So white tail hunting as far did you grow up doing a lot of that or any of it.

As far as hunting goes, Yeah, white tail hunting, Uh, Yes, and no, I would say the first year I ever shot was a Black Hills white tail deer okay, and predominantly white tail are just in the in the Black Hills and the river bottoms is but.

Like, so that was my first year.

And uh then I kind of as I got older, transition over the meal deer because I just I just like doing that more.

That's that's your gig.

Yeah.

So I shot a few white tail doze, never shot it, I tell buck, and then just focus.

On how are you hunting them up there? How are you hunting neil deer up there?

We didn't have any tree stands growing up, so it was kind of like, you know, you're When I was with my dad, he's we go out to the woods, he'd be like, all right, sit down, shut up, and just wait.

Hopefully a deer walks by.

Okay, so you're hunting off the ground.

Yeah.

And then as I got older and started working like hunting by myself, I started walking around and kind of stocking and still hunting.

Okay, Well, before we get into all all the differences and stuff that we've been doing, let's talk about what we've been doing for the last couple of weeks. For the last fourteen days. As a matter of fact, you left Bozeman. I left Arkansas. We met the same day in New Orleans. Yep. Yeah. From there, we went to the tip it toe of Louisiana down at Venice, Louisiana, did.

A bunch of did a bunch of inshore and offshore fishing.

Man that now you may have done that before. It's a mosquito. We can talk about them in a minute. But have you ever done that kind of fishing before offshore?

Yes?

Similarly yes, in short no, Yeah.

So speckle trout sheep's head, which looks like they got it. I mean they're beautiful fish, but when you look at their teeth, they look like somebody's grandpa ordered some Roebuckers from the out of the out of the catalog. I mean that is the craziest looking teeth.

Yeah, they're rounded off.

Yeah, and it's like little spears almost like they look like they're for grinding.

Yeah. For it's weird, man, I don't know. They're probably they're eating crabs and shrimp and stuff. They got to have them kind of teeth. I don't know. But everything down there, you know, at home here in Arkansas, just about every fish if you're going to pull him up out of the water. You can. You can put your thumb in his mouth. You can do that, Louisiana. But they ain't telling what you're able to get out of it.

You probably lose thumb.

Yeah, lose the thumb for it's all over with. Anyway, that was great people we met down there, the folks we were fishing with and were we were staying. Mister Renee and all those folks down there was just such a great, great time. You couldn't want for more.

Oh yeah, as far as being people like you never met before, they were very hospitable and very welcoming and just very much so. They were just a pleasant to be around.

Yeah, and they talk funny compared to me, didn't they.

Uh Yeah, they're a little bit they have a little bit more of an accent.

I talked to Yannis the other on Monday before we came down later that week. He said, Man, some of these folks down here make you sound like a yank.

The similar thing that you guys have, or some of your counterparts local counterparts have was Miss Charlotte made me get a picture with her, Yeah, because she's like, I got to send this to my niece because.

We think you're Luke Grimes.

And for those of who don't know, Luke Grim's Casey Dunner from Yellowstown. Not the first time I've gotten that compliment. I don't even know if it's accusation.

Yeah, there you go.

But yeah, so I took a picture of this ar and we sent it to her niece, and she actually legitimately thought that I was.

I haven't asked for his idea yet, so I mean, who knows. We'll get to the bottom of this eventually.

Sleeper agent.

All right. From there, if that wasn't enough, we get back on air and playing in New Orleans and fly straight to Knoxville, Tennessee, or not straight. I don't think you can go anywhere with that layover somewhere, But anyway, we wound up in Knoxville, Tennessee eventually, yep. And that was a meat eat or tailgate event right there by Kneeland Stadium where the Tennessee Volunteers play.

And good gosh, what a good time. Oh my god, it was great. It was like a big show out of fans. Yeah, a lot of people obviously there for the game, but tons of people wearing bear grease shirts. Some even had your new logo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and which was just awesome to see.

Yeah, it was good. I've said all the time. You know, Clay gets to go to all these interesting places and do the stuff on this on the Wonderful podcast he does, but he gets to interact and talk with people, and I just stare at the screen and read a script. So it's really cool for me to get out and be able to talk to the folks that listen and hear what they like and the things that they want to hear, and and just get some feedback one to one or one on one. And man, I tell you,

Every time I looked over Bren had he had a baby in his hands taking the picture.

I tell you, man, I ain't worth fifteen cents by myself, but I feel like a millionaire when I got We got it young and of any kind in my hand. But we we did some squirrel hunting up there, killed a few squirrels. A guy Ah did some with Rich frowning.

Rich Froning.

Yep, the fittest guy in America or the fittest guy in the world at one time or not a.

Couple of times.

Yeah, good fella, nice guy. Good place to kill some squirrels. We cooked some squirrels up and shared that. But from there, once we got that, we went to the ball game. I'm sure everybody's heard the how the if you're interested, how the the Tennessee and Alabama football game went. There came barn Burner. Man.

I will admit I'm not a football guy right at all, but as far as being interested in a game like that was like I had to have close game.

The entire the first half was like watching paint dry. It wasn't a whole lot going on, but in the second half, but it was a totally different feeling. You could just feel a different vibe in there, and leave was back and forth and back and forth and making big plays.

And yeah, oh it was like it was for me to be actually interested in a football game and stayed for the whole thing.

I was like, Okay, this is.

Game and a hundred and two thousand people in.

There, Yeah, that was that was I didn't I didn't conceptualize how many people were actually there. Obviously, every time the crowd roared, it was so loud, and my first thought was, man, getting out of here is gonna suck.

Yeah. I think I had a loose tooth when I left out of there. Man, it was loud, but everybody was just so nice. Uh. It was just a very accommodating place. Hunter Spencer, our graphic artist for for Meat Eater that designed the the A lot of the stuff that you see, uh, and the this country Life logo for sure, but a lot of the Meat Eater stuff that you see, the T shirts and stuff. Hunters the guy does that and he is a Tennessee alung o. Man,

Yeah, I think he did. I think he did.

And now, for those of you who also don't know this, uh, mister over here decided to show up to the Tennessee game with his Razorbacks T shirt on. Because if you want to tell them, Wellesse has the only loss this year too.

It just happen to be. It's just a coincidence that it was the University of Arkansas. Now, I wasn't trying to start any trouble or anything. It was just the only clean T shirt I had, so I just for it. Wasn't no purpose, it was just a coincidence, great environment, a lot of fun. Was glad to be there, but I was glad when we hit the plane again. Two stops later, we're in a little rock. An hour and a half later, we're at the twenty twenty four Coon

Oh yeah, it was we just I mean we came in in there, we cooked some dinner, yep uh, and went to bed, woke up, started hunting and it was great.

I mean, I and what else was it?

It was hot, very it was hot, incrementally hotter every day. And we've got some cameras out on public land. We know other folks that are hunting. There's a guy next door to us that's hunting here, a boat hunter from out of state, and he's got running cameras everywhere. And no deer moving during the day, hardly at all.

No, no, and uh, which that's to be expected, yeah, obviously, but uh yeah, I mean I guess I wouldn't say that I'm disheartened at it, Like you gotta, you know, work with the what you don't yeah, and so but there is the the cool thing for me, or the the most reassuring thing was like just the amount of sign yeah on this public plan that we were on. And just when you see that minute much sign on public You're like, okay, well this is not like this

Yeah, it's not a gar hole, you know, you know, it's not a gar hole. And we would you know, it wasn't like we were the only two folks here, but everybody that we were around that were hunting and it was hunting around us. They were very respectful of each other's place where they were, and just it was just not to be that the game just wasn't stirn.

Yeah, that was the biggest thing.

You know, Like up in Montana, you will run into people and people will go out of their way to come talk to you, but like down here, what I've noticed is like you're hunting on a smaller chunk of land and you might run into somebody or see someone park there, but people aren't encroaching on one another, which is again like so reassuring and like makes me actually want to hunt down here again.

Yeah. Well, I mean it's just a lot of fun and everybody gets you know, we got to share this place totally. If we're going to keep access to it, We're going to have to do that. But two day or three hunts actually morning afternoon morning, not one deer scene we got pick cameras at We're seeing a few deer moving at night. They're just not moving. But what was moving? Mosquitoes? Y'all ever have sperienced with skis like this in South Dakota or Montana?

Man, I cannot Montana. Yeah, I'd say, you get on the rivers. You're floating on the rivers and during a certain time of year, like they'll they'll be out. I can't stay grown up in South Dakota that like I've ever been.

Attacked that way by mosquitoes.

Yeah, but you know in October, in October.

Yeah, and so it's like I was sitting there, I think, yeah, you and I had separated and then we were doing our own thing and I'm pretty much covered head to toe, just you know, trying to hide all my skin tone, and but my hands are exposed, and yeah, they're they are tore up, and I'm yeah, I texted, I think we were texting, and we were like, we're done.

We had talked about this part. Yeah, but it was like an hour before dark. He was like, how's it going over there? And I'm like, mosquitoes and you said yeah, me too, and I was wait and I was just like please, please, say, let's got the truck. Yeah, I think it's what you were probably waiting on me to say. I was.

I don't know. Yeah, I was kind of.

Going to be the first one to punk out, but I was sitting over there swatting the squitters. I wouldn't even hunting deer at that point.

Yeah, no, it was pretty much done deal.

So we talked to Michael. Michael checks as Michael rose, he checks on us. What'd y'all see nothing? He's all right, let's go coon hunt tonight. So what do you think?

Oh my god, that was so foreign but just kind of the coolest thing to be a part of. And like I've never felt so like useless in a way, because like it's like I'm just sitting there and like, obviously we have dogs. We had whaling and heck, heck is Ah is Mikey's dog. Yeah, and Whalen's obviously are both just dang good dogs. And uh, they're just going to work and doing all this and then finding these cones and training them and like that was so cool to witness.

But again, like I'm just like sitting there.

I'm like I don't know what I should be doing right now, and I'm just I'm kind of just waiting.

Then you two are like, let's go, and so we go.

Well, I was you know, I've been talking to you about it, and you've been asking me questions about coon hunting for well two years almost two years. And how was it anything? Was it just what you expected like I had described to you? Was it different? Was it? Well, how'd you take it?

I think I think like the cool the biggest like catalyst that I got, like I finally came to realize, was when we actually got here and we were sitting down and I turned to you and I go like, Brent.

Like, what is the deal with coon hunting?

Because obviously when people go hunting, they're looking for like that specific buck, elk, bear or whatever. And I'm just like having a hard time trying to find the appeal of a raccoon because at the tail size is the amount of rings on it, and and You're like, oh, man, it has nothing to do with the coon.

Yeah, it has everything to do with.

A dog, and like watching him work in that relationship and just like having a solid trainwalker and h and like Mikey attested to this as well, and that was just like, oh, okay, this it doesn't matter about the coon. It doesn't matter if we filled the buggy up with him or not. And that was I think the coolest part for me. It was just kind of really just like ego checking myself, Like it's not about shooting something.

Oh absolutely. You know my friends Jason doubIe, Buddy Woodbury up in northwest part of the United States, they like to chase cats links and you know, and treat them the same, using the same methods that we do down here. So it's it's not the it's not the the species you're after. It's just that relationship with that hand and you you I mean we stopped by my house, you know, to get all kind of rearranged or stuff, and pick

Yeah, he certainly is.

And that whole relationship is just what is it's what's it's what's so special and so much fun.

Yeah, And to see that, like being carried over into different like roles, like whether he is out there hunting with you or at home with the family laying on the couch. Yeah, but like, yeah, it's it's like it's the same mentality. It's like it's all about the interaction and the relationship that you guys are building with.

It's just it's just so rewarding to me. And there's there's good to be found in anything if you just pay attention to the to the details and and the the that that's where the goodness is is in the details. And that's that's that's what I like. That's what I I like the little things. You know, when when I was training that dog, or he's more or less trained

Oh and this is the way he responds to you, Like, the very last run that we did yesterday was cool to see because I think he was probably on a trail and but he was going kind of a direction that you didn't want him to go, and he was about to cross the river that you didn't want him to cross. I think we what mapped out like almost three quarters or a quarter of a mile?

Oh how far he was? Yeah, and over there.

And then yeah, Brent just starts like doing his recall and like that.

Dog just came right back.

Yeah, he act took him a little while because he's because he was so far, but he had actually gone and was on the other side of the White River, and we called him back. I hollered, Michael hollered, he's louder than I am. But Whaling heard it, and back he came. So yeah, it's pretty cool. So Michael comes to our rescue again and last night and says, hey, you know, coon hunting's fun, y'all came here to kill a deer. Come to my place, my lease and see

No, and we and we certainly did just that. We tried.

And I think anybody in there right mind if someone offered to give them opportunity on some private land, sure, I'd say ninety nine out of one hundred people would probably do that.

Absolutely. If you're trying to feel the freezer, and that's what we were trying to do. Put some deer meat in the freezer, take home.

Freezers running low. Yeah, hell kind of up there was a little rough this year.

So but but we get up there. Yeah, it's still hot, there's still wild animals, and they're they ain't reading the script. No.

No, we did have a little bit of like, uh, hey, maybe this is gonna happen moment.

Yeah, we had well.

The first year that we saw across the river behind us, couldn't really make out what it was, And for those of you wondering, I was, we're looking for bucks, but I was more than happy to take a dough. And that was that was the goal, is just to fill the freezer and uh bring some meat back home. But so we were like, oh, maybe this first one was

Yep, they came out. The doe grew a set of spikes in the span of time she hit the bank, and she walked behind those trees. That's where we could see her.

Yeah. Yeah, she she she knew that she.

Wanted to horn. Yeah. Yeah, So we didn't. We wound up not getting to get a shoot a deer.

No, but it was fun. It was fun.

That was the cool thing too, because I've actually never experienced that either. And and I think a lot of people are going to say, like, well, you obviously don't do enough hunting, but uh, I've never been in a stand and like just observed deer that close. Yeah, you know, I've shot a fair share of deer, but just watching them with them having no idea that you're there.

It's pretty pretty press.

Yeah, we were hunting in a buddy stand. And uh, I mean that spike before it left. I mean they were both of them were within thirty yards of where we were at at one time. As they're walking by us there within ten or twelve yards, and then the spike walks up almost to the bottom of the tree, and I mean he's you could have hit him with a rock.

Oh, he definitely knew something was up.

But I think he's just a little too inexperienced to be like, Okay, this is not yeah, not normal.

But had a great time. You got to do some stuff you don't normally get to do. And I think you should take me pheasant hunting. Yeah, in South Dakota done that. I've never done that. I've never experienced that. So take me up there and we won't kill some pheasants and and we'll be we'll be even. It'll be good as this deer hunch.

You went on. Yeah, yeah, I just take you to the Sage cross spot, don't see no, Yeah that deal, you got it.

Well, this has been a lot of fun. We got to get our stuff cleaned up and head to the airport in the morning and gets you back to Bozeman, back to your project, to your production coordinating and get that stuff squared away. And I appreciate you being here, buddy, Well thanks for having me. It's all. You're always welcome here, and we thank you for watching the first Maybe Annuel maybe reoccurrect Chili and Brent Coon and Deer Camp podcast twenty five is next?

Is next?

Y'all be careful, see ya.