Speaker 1: 0:15

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Son of a Blitch podcast. I'm your host, George Blitch, and today is a very special day. Today it marks the two-year anniversary of the launch of this podcast. I cannot believe that I've been doing this for two years. It feels in some ways, way, way shorter. I just told my buddy the other day he's like wait, I figured you were just finishing up year one. Yeah, it's kind of been going pretty quick, hasn't it? The first year, I think, I logged in about 24, 25 podcasts. Second year did well over 40. And I've got a lot lined up this third year. So I just wanted to kind of take a second to one. Thank everyone who's been listening and supporting me over the last couple of years, and I want to also say thank you to all the incredible guests that have come on the show, allowed me to pick their brain, interview them, talk to them about whatever it is they may be a part of, the organizations, the books that they've written, the music they produce, whatever it may be. It's just been a true honor to sit down and chat with everyone. I just wanted to take a minute to review all the incredible guests that I had.

Speaker 1: 1:25

In year two. I started off with an interview I did with Rob Gearing, who's out there in England. He runs Spartan Precision Equipment. I use a lot of their bipods and their tripods some amazing stuff. You guys got to check out that episode and learn more about that if you want to get some really amazing equipment for your rifles. The second one that I did that year was with Brent Reeves. He's the host of the podcast this Country Life, which is on the Meat Eater channel of networks. Brent is just one of the most fascinating gentlemen I've ever had the privilege of meeting and getting able to chat with him was just a true joy. That actually is the number one podcast on the Son of a Lich podcast that's had the most downloads thousands and thousands. People absolutely love him and listening to that one, so a special thank you there. The next one was with Paul Lewis, who is the founder of FHF Gear. It's under the meat eater umbrella of companies. He makes some amazing equipment. I've been using their bino harness. I've been using, actually, their chest rig for turkey hunting Came in very handy this year. I'll talk about that more in some future episodes, but had a great chat with him. Paul's a great, great guy.

Speaker 1: 2:35

Then I, you know, started talking with some friends on some of the podcasts. When we go and go to the ranch, a lot of times we'll take the podcast equipment and so I had to sit down with uh Matthew Mitchell has been joining me a lot of my podcast before but uh also with uh Johnny boots, who also known as Johnny bolts or John Herbster, and John is at that time he was just coming into the ranch starting to work on the property and you know he has since uh been hunting and there's an article I'm working on right now that will be released very soon that talks about his first doe and his first harvest and kind of what you know led up from that podcast episode 29, up until you know this article that's going to be written and all the work that Johnny's done on the property. So that's a pretty fun story and neat to kind of come full circle around on that now. Then, on episode 30, I interviewed Gary Robertson. He's the host of Carnivore, wonderful TV show. He's the owner of Burnham Brothers Game Calls and the author of Eyes Front, great, great book. And you know, gary's just a Texas treasure here, wonderful guy, probably one of the most well-known predator callers in the world and that was a really cool episode. Learned a lot on that one.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Next up, episode 31, chatted with Lindsey Thomas Jr. He is the chief communications officer with the National Deer Association. It was kind of neat. One of my first big published stories in the outdoors was about a melanistic buck that I had taken in 2016 on Veterans Day on my family ranch Super rare buck and the story was just fun to write and I pitched it to the Quality Deer Management Association, which is now National Deer Association, and the person that they linked me up with was the editor and writer himself, lindsay Thomas, and so it was kind of fun full circle moment again to come back and then have him on the podcast to talk about, you know, the interactions there and all the wonderful things that National Deer Association is doing, so that was a very special podcast for me.

Speaker 1: 4:37

Moving on after that was episode 32 with Jesse Griffiths, my favorite wild game chef. You know he runs the restaurant Dai Due in Austin, texas one of the top five meals I've ever had in my life. He also runs the new school of traditional cookery. He's the author of the Turkey Book and the Hog Book and A Field. All of these books here are above me right here and you can find out more at thewildbookscom and how you can place those orders to get those books. That was a wonderful chat. I love sitting down and talking with him. He and I got to be a part of a television show where I first met him in person, even though we had some mutual friends and links over the years. But I really got to meet him and, you know, begin a friendship with him and that podcast was one of my favorite to chat with because I really just love all the things that he's a part of. And again, if you haven't, you know, checked out one of these three books, I highly suggest you to. Uh, you, you do, cause it. They are cookbooks that you will be utilizing and, you know, especially the new one, the turkey book that came out, I think not only is one of the best uh turkey books and, you know, single subject uh books there. The writing of it is just so phenomenal. He's just a great writer, wonderful book and has a lot of recipes from some other people I've interviewed too. So I'll move on with that and kind of come back to that later on.

Speaker 1: 5:52

Episode 33 with Mark Kenyon Wired to Hunt with MeatEater. Mark Kenyon has been a voice for deer hunting and just hunting in general over the last decade and a very important voice. And you know he's since teamed up with MeatEater. He's under that umbrella with his podcast Wired to Hunt and I know so many people who have really learned to take their hunting to the next level by listening to him and, you know, following his website and stuff over the years. So Mark Kenyon was a great guy to chat with. Just wealth of knowledge. Really thoroughly enjoyed that one. After that I spoke with Joel Vanderloon who runs Bush Survival Training and he also was a contestant on the TV show Alone. That was a really fun conversation. Really talked about an amazing trip that he puts on every year and kind of really his history and how he got involved and you know how he became kind of an expert in bushcraft survival and man. It was a real fun conversation. He's a real fun dude to chat with, so I hope you guys tune into that one as well.

Speaker 1: 6:57

Episode 35 was basically a spoken word recorded cd that I published with my publishing company.

Speaker 1: 7:06

Have you thought publishing HYT publishing?

Speaker 1: 7:07

You can check it out. Have you thoughtcom? Uh, that was a publishing company that I launched with a, you know, former uh mentor and great friend of mine, harvey Arden, who's since passed. Uh, harvey was a national geographic staff writer for almost 25 years, bestselling author. He and I traveled around, interviewed indigenous elders, put together their life stories and messages, and one of the productions that he put together was the recording of the words by Noble Redman, who is Lakota wisdom keeper, matthew King, and then some of his friends put some music to it. Anyway, this ended up being a CD that they put together and it ended up winning many awards. It was actually nominated by the National I'm sorry the Native American Music Awards for the best spoken word, and it was beat out by another one that we put out called my Life is my Sundance the story of Leonard Peltier, and those were two wonderful projects to be a part of.

Speaker 1: 8:06

Again, I was kind of just the person who did a lot of the graphic design and kind of put everything together at the end after so many other people had worked on it. So that was really a fun one to be a part of and we decided that, you know, it was a time to share with the world, and so you know that was kind of in honor of Harvey's birthday. You know it would have been his. You know what do they call it with the world. And so, uh, you know that was kind of in honor of Harvey's birthday. Uh, you know it would have been his. Uh, you know what do they call it? The heavenly birthday on September 25th. That was a release. I wanted to do something to kind of honor him. Uh, there'll be another podcast coming up this year that really goes into deep detail about Harvey Arden and all the wonderful things he's been a part of. But I did build a website, harveyardencom, or you can learn about that. I'll put those in the show notes. But anyway, that was a musical spoken word. Uh project that you know he he put out with some other amazing friends and I think you guys will thoroughly uh enjoy that. Really, really fun to uh listen to that.

Speaker 1: 8:58

Episode 36 was with Mike Anderson. He works with shields. He is the host of the Shields Outdoor Podcast. It was really fun having him on and then he actually had me on the Shields Outdoor Podcast as a guest too. I think it was episode 130. It's just a sheer joy to chat with him. He's really got his finger on the pulse of so many wonderful things going on in the outdoor world and we just had a great conversation.

Speaker 1: 9:19

Episode 37 was a chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois, creator and host of Duck Camp Dinners. This was a really special episode for me. I had had him, we scheduled for him to come to my house and record this and I had to cancel at like three in the morning. I was in serious pain. I had a neck injury that kind of flared up and I could not move. I had to cancel him and another one with Ryan Callahan from Meat Eater. It was really one of the saddest two texts I've had to send out, because I was just so looking forward to sitting down and chatting with them.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Chef Jean-Paul is just such a wonderful, big-hearted human being. We had a wonderful, wonderful chat, eventually got him to my house and got to talk about all the wonderful things he's been a part of. And it was really, you know, funny for me because he's like coming over in the morning. You know he's leaving his house like six in the morning. He's going to arrive my house at like eight 30, I think. And so I was like well, you know, I got to have breakfast for him. Well, you know, if you have ever been put in that position where I like to think that I can cook some dish as well. But you know, you have a world-class chef coming to your house and then it hit me like I got to cook something for him. You know, I'm not just going to go get some water burger taquitos, right. So I was very nervous to try to put together something on a plate that would be palatable and maybe even enjoyable, hopefully, by him. And so that was a fun one. Just kind of I was a little bit nervous about it. And then we just sat down and within a few minutes, man, I kind of was realizing that this was just going to be nothing but fun. Sit down and talk with him. Duck Camp Dinners 3 is about to launch season three and I think about two months it'll be coming out, so we may do something to kind of announce that again. But a little short podcast there, but that episode is really great, so you can kind of hear about what Duck Camp Dinners 3 was going to be about. I think he was leaving actually the next day to start filming it. So that was. There was a lot of things refresh in that conversation. Really wonderful conversation with him. He's such a great guy, definitely got to go follow him out.

Speaker 1: 11:32

Um, episode 38 was, uh, talking about my sixth year of sobriety. Uh, every year I had, well, I started the year before uh, talking about, you know, season five, uh, or season one. It was my fifth anniversary of sobriety and, you know, I kind of laid out in that uh conversation, you know, just telling about my story and offering out if anybody needed to call me to talk about things. And someone did um, someone who was really in a dark place. Um, I won't go into the details cause I don't want to, uh, you know, call them out for if anybody who may be familiar with them. But I got the phone call and helped someone through that and then got a follow-up phone call with someone who's battling with alcoholism, and so I realized I should probably do that every year, maybe kind of just shine a little spotlight on the fact that that's something that happens for a lot of people. There's a lot of battles, people go, there's a lot of invisible wounds that people don't talk about and just giving um maybe a platform to maybe springboard other folks to want to talk about, maybe you know some of those darker parts of themselves and see about what they can do to heal about it, uh, and and try to move forward from that place and get out of maybe that hole that they've been in, where it doesn't feel like there's a ladder there to climb out of, but, uh, that there is and there's always hope, you know, for anything that you're going through. Um, and I talk about a little bit of that same idea and wanting to uh interview a lot of veterans and you know, obviously the 22 a day, uh, to try to make sure that people know that when you're at the depths, you're at the lowest of the low, when you feel like there's no hope, that there is hope, there are people there that care about you. So that was just something that was kind of felt like a call to action and you know it was. Again, it ended up garnering some phone calls from some people too. So I felt like that was very worthwhile and I'll be doing that again each year.

Speaker 1: 13:23

Moving forward, episode 39, I got to interview Jim Shockey, the outdoorsman visionary, the author of the debut book, Call Me Hunter, right over here behind me. That was a real fun one. That kind of started out where I had reached out to the publicist of Jack Carr, david Brown, who's at Simon Schuster, and told him I'd like to interview Jack Carr for his last book, only the Dead. That came out around that time. And so he told me hey, you haven't been doing this for a year yet. We kind of have a policy in place that we want to see someone who's been doing these for a year before we sign on to them. I said, totally understand, I'm not trying to cut the line and doing these for a year before we sign on to them. I said, totally understand, I'm not trying to cut the line. And he said next year, when Jack puts out his next book, which is coming out very soon, red Sky Morning and we'll get back to that in a second he told me we'll touch base then.

Speaker 1: 14:16

But in the meantime, are you familiar with Jim Shockey and of course I'm familiar with Jim Shockey? He's been one of the most important leaders in the outdoor industry, has just been a great conservationist, educator, someone who's brought a lot fiction, and I think they called it an autobiographical fiction thriller. There was an artistic term in there too as well. It'll come to me, but you know it was this mosaic of his life story, because if you read it, you'll kind of see that there's a lot of auto autobiographical, uh you know stories that you can kind of place this character in. Oh, that's Jim Shockey when he was here, that's when he was in, you know, going to be in the Olympics, and really it just kind of paints a deep uh picture and understanding of who Jim Shockey is, as well as him telling some of these stories that are just phenomenal. That book is, uh immediately was a bestseller Uh, and I highly suggest you guys all check that out. Call me Hunter.

Speaker 1: 15:34

Um, I actually got the privilege of meeting Jim Shockey when he came into town to do his book tour here in Houston. Uh, got to spend an hour sitting down with him over a table, just he and I, getting to talk about, uh, some really deep uh conversations and, you know, some of the kind of a follow-up of what we did talk about in the podcast we had just recorded, um, just weeks after he had lost his wife of almost 40 years, and that was a very uh heartfelt conversation, very heartfelt conversation. He really shared a lot of personal things in that and it just really felt honored to be able to talk with him about those. Some very heavy stuff and you know then to follow up, to sit down with him, and then I ended up, kind of through a very interesting way, ended up building his website for that book Call Me Hunter and I've talked about that in some other podcasts too. So I won't go into great detail other than the fact that I saw the URL was out there and I was like, hey man, I don't know if you guys realize that, but I went ahead and bought it for you and wanted to give it to his team and told him you know, I can make websites. That's something I used to do as a living. So if they were interested, here's a little mock-up one I made and they really liked what I did. So I kind of cleaned it up a little bit and got to work them in that capacity too. So it's been very special to connect with Jim Shockey, just a wonderful human being, and I definitely suggest you guys, if you're not aware of all the things he's done and produced over the last four or five decades, you need to, because he's a wealth of knowledge and has shared things to the nth degree that I think are very important.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Episode 40. This was a very, very special episode for me. I got to interview the band Princess Goes. We explored their album Come of Age, their second full-length album. We were talking about the US tour, the future plans full length album. We were talking about the U? S tour, the future plans, and really getting to sit down with these guys, uh, with Peter, with Matt and, you know, with Michael um, was just it was great. It kind of kind of it ended up happening so quickly.

Speaker 1: 17:37

I reached out to their publicist, their PR team, and said I was interested in interviewing them and they're like great, can you do it on Monday? And I think that was like on a Friday. And so I was like, okay, you know, I already knew enough about them. I'd been a fan of their music when they were Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum For this album they cut it to Princess Goes so she could go anywhere, as they said in the interview, but I really did a deep dive over that weekend. I had been a huge fan of Michael C Hall, the lead singer.

Speaker 1: 18:08

For those who aren't aware, he has played some important characters, one of which is Dexter and the other is David in Six Feet Under, both of which were two of my favorite shows watching. I've always enjoyed his acting ability and you know he's been on Broadway as well and that's where the band met, and so they kind of talk about the genesis of their band, all the stuff that they've been a part of. Pete the drummer is the original drummer in the Wallflowers. He's played in a bunch of other amazing bands too. Matt Katzbowen been playing with Blondie. He'd been doing a lot of work with other amazing bands too and these guys are all kind of superstar, uh, you know, in in their own realm. But then they put together and I I think they're kind of a super group man, they're amazing, and right now they're actually about to jump out another leg of their tour. So if you guys are interested, go to see if they're coming to a place near you, cause their music is a transcendental. It is just absolutely phenomenal, um, and is uh transcendental. It is just absolutely phenomenal um.

Speaker 1: 19:06

That was a very, very special episode for me, uh, and for multiple ways too, just being able to kind of jump back into music and that kind of being a springboard to um. You know some uh more interviews with musicians. I had done one with kj saka, which was my first podcast really, uh, with, uh someone that I was interviewing. Episode two with kj saka, who, uh is the drummer of pendulum, he drummer of display destroyed. Uh has also produced a bunch of his own music and so, yeah, I'm going to be doing a lot more musicians here in uh season three and uh, that was anyway. Princess goes was a very special one for me and I think uh helped kind of open some doors with some other musicians as well. Episode 41.

Speaker 1: 19:45

This one came about very interestingly. It's with Curtis Bell and we talk about his time being a veteran and really trying to shine the light on mental health for veterans at the Shields store in the colony in North Texas, when Steven Rinella and Brody were doing a tour, talking about their book that they were promoting at the time, and so I went up there. I'd been. I've done a little bit of work with Steve over the years, kind of done some maps for him and things, and I had sent him some of my articles and we've kind of had some communication. I'm not good friends with them or anything like that and, you know, not trying to paint that picture, but I've had some communication with them and I just, you know, wanted to go and shake his hand in person and say hello in person after, you know, kind of being in touch with him for a couple of years. So I decided to drive up there with my buddy, matthew Mitchell, my buddy Matthew Mitchell, and we got there early because we were going to try to, you know, be able to say hello to him, maybe before the kind of meet and greet stuff happened, and then be able to bounce. So we ended up being kind of the first two guys in line because we got there early and I think the flight ended up being late, ended up to where you only got a few minutes with Steve because you know we're the first in line and then there's a long line behind us. So got to say hello. That was kind of cool.

Speaker 1: 21:04

But in the midst of waiting for that kind of for Steve to come out and Brody to come out, um, ended up talking with this guy in line, curtis Bell, and we really hit it off and, uh, I invited him later on to come back onto the podcast. Uh, to raise awareness of a lot of the organizations he works with, podcast. Uh, to raise awareness of a lot of the organizations he works with, and you know it, it was really a powerful episode, um, very emotional, uh, talking about, uh, the struggles that he has faced, um, that a lot of other veterans and first responders and, unfortunately, a lot of the uh funerals he's gone to. I think he said he lost like 13 or 14 friends to suicide, and so we wanted to shine the spotlight on making sure people were aware of the importance of mental health, especially for veterans and first responders, these, you know, men and women who've seen so much sacrifice, so much, as well as their families. And that was a very, very powerful episode and you know, curtis and I just had a great time talking, but I think you know what we left out there for people to absorb from. That was the most important thing. And so, yeah, great, great, powerful episode. If you guys want to tune in, that was episode 41. Episode 42, this was a unique one.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Years ago, one of my uncle's friends and I had I forgot I think we either met at the ranch or talked after a ranch trip and I told him about my publishing company and I'd put out a bunch of books that are by forward, about native American Indians, indigenous elders and uh, trying to put out their stories and kind of preserve, you know, whatever it is they wanted to share in their own voice. And, um, he's like, I got something that you might be interested in and it was kind of vague. But then years later, you know, we kind of reconnected and he told me a little bit more in detail and he said it was uh, some stories from, uh, these guys in World War II, um, that were basically the Navajo code talkers and for those who aren't familiar, the Navajo code, there was a bunch of Navajo Indians who were. They basically created a code from their language that allowed people to transfer information that was unbreakable. It was the only unbreakable code up to that point in time that had been used in some very important things in World War II to get messages across, and it was really a powerful time.

Speaker 1: 23:34

I had done a lot of reading about the Navajo Code Talkers and he tells me that he's got an interview. Well, he ends up sending me through a chance email. He like texted me thinking it was a different George, and then I was like, hey, this is actually George Blitch and you know he's trying to reach a different George. And he's like oh, hey, by the way, do you still want that recording? I said yes, so he sent it to me and it's a live recording of a conversation that Peter McDonald senior had done when, uh, he had when this gentleman had gone to a speaking engagement. It was a luncheon and Peter McDonald had talked about his time being a Navajo Code Talker, and so he recorded it and filmed it. So it wasn't necessarily like an interview that I thought it was when I first received it, but it was a live conversation and kind of a speaking engagement that he had done. So I ended up taking that and, though it wasn't an interview, it was a recording that I thought was very important because he's one of the last of the Navajo Code Talkers alive. There are not very many, I think. There's maybe just a handful left, but he's one of them and so I felt like that was very important. So that dropped on Veterans Day in 2023, november 11th, obviously and I think that was a fun one to share with everybody. A lot of great feedback from that.

Speaker 1: 24:52

The next one is episode 43 with Lance Lewis. He is a culinary master man. This guy is just phenomenal and he's got a company called Tagged Out Kitchen. Just phenomenal, and he's got a company called tagged out kitchen. So he will have a lot of events where he'll kind of go to maybe a hunting ranch, uh, and he'll break down an animal with people and teach them about different cuts and kind of have it be more educational platform and then help, uh, teach people how to cook those. So it's kind of a you know really beginning to end on what you're going to do once you've hunted this animal and now how you're going to cook it, with some amazing delicious recipes. And you know, we got connected through some mutual friends and we just had a wonderful time chatting. So you guys go check out Tagged Out Kitchen and Lance Lewis to learn more about him.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Episode 44 was with Justin Dribblebiss. He is the CEO of Texas Wildlife Association, a great association here in Texas. I do a lot of work with the Texas Parks and Wildlife so I have some friends who work there and so eventually I was kind of introduced to Justin and got to talk about TWA and the history and what it is that they do for people in Texas and how they've kind of been a model for associations all across the country. Great, great conversation. It was neat to take a deep dive into his personal life as well as learning more about TWA. So definitely tune into that one if you can.

Speaker 1: 26:18

Episode 45 is with Ben Masters. For those who aren't familiar, he is a filmmaker, he's an author, he is a conservationist. He has done so much in the wilderness and outdoor space, educating folks about so many great things. He most recently put out a wonderful documentary called Deep in the Heart. It was narrated by Matthew McConaughey. There's a book of the same name too that kind of brings you behind the scenes but really focusing on Texas wildlife and a lot of really important stories that are going on too. That was really great. It was kind of a back-to-back, really kind of a Texas spotlight with those two podcasts, and had a wonderful time. I've been a fan of Ben and his work for some time, so it was really great to sit down and chat with him. Episode 46, kent Boucher. What a great guy.

Speaker 1: 27:09

Kent is the host of a couple of different podcasts and you know we did kind of a swap right, so he came on mine and I think a week later I came on his. We have some mutual friends Doug Duren, who runs Sharing the Land, and Kent is a part of Hoaxy Native Seeds and they ended up doing some work with Sharing the Land and my company, map my Ranch, actually makes maps for the landowners with Sharing the Land and so he ended up kind of making a map that Kent utilized through Hoaxy Native Seeds and so there's just a bunch of really cool connections there. His podcast is First Gen Hunter and we talked about him being a first generation hunter and then what it was like to launch a podcast and his reasoning behind that and also we talked about Hoaxy Native Seeds. So it was like a real fun information session about all the things that Kent's got going on Really great conversation.

Speaker 1: 28:06

Episode 47 was with Michael Sabbath. Michael Sabbath is he was a lawyer who decided to then write some books and he really focuses about ethics, morality, talked a lot about working in the educational system for about 30 years as kind of being a speaker, going into these classrooms with elementary and junior high age kids and kind of using the Socratic method to talk with them and learning from them and learning with them, and that's really a great journey. He's also put out another book that was kind of a blueprint for hunting education instructors. Tons of people have used that as kind of a how-to follow why you need to teach things in certain ways and how to keep ethics and responsible gun ownership and training and safety behavior at the forefront. Those are just two phenomenal books.

Speaker 1: 29:02

Again, I'll have all the details of all the people I've talked about and all the things have been put out in each one of these podcasts, but that was a very special podcast. You know he's going through a lot right now in his life. There's some health issues that he's going through and so I just wanted to send out any prayers and thoughts. If any of you guys do believe in the power of prayer, please keep Michael Sabbath in your prayers that he has full healing right now. He's just a very special man. We talked a little bit about having him come out to the ranch with Steve Hall, who is the hunter education coordinator with Texas Parks and Wildlife, and these guys came out. We talked about Michael Sabbath taking his first bass fishing trip at the ranch and he pulled out a bass that was so big almost all the water left the pond. Uh, we ended up having to put it back in so that the water could rise back up. This thing was a mammoth, guys. I mean it was huge. Age telling it gets bigger and bigger, but uh, really had a fun time chat with him and talking about his books there too and some of his works in his life.

Speaker 1: 30:02

So, uh, moving on episode 48, uh got to talk with Freddie Cruz. Um, I first met Freddie a year ago um, almost a year ago, uh, when I went to go to the bookstore murder by the book, uh, which is a phenomenal bookstore here in Houston, texas. If you hadn't visited, I highly suggest you do when Jack Carr was coming through to promote his last book, book six in the Terminalist series. And, lo and behold, there's a guy there doing a live interview podcast and his name was Freddy Cruz, with Jack Carr there. And then it kind of slowly dawned on me that you know, wait, this guy, I know his voice, I feel like I know his story. Well, I get back home and, of course, come to find out.

Speaker 1: 30:51

Freddie Cruz has been a mainstay in the Houston radio world for almost two decades and that's where I knew him from. He had been a radio DJ and man. He is also an author of some wonderful books and he runs speak podcasting, where he helps podcasters get launched, uh, and really help their businesses grow. I wish that I had uh known about this when I first launched the podcast cause I would have been one of his clients. I highly suggest if any of you guys are looking to start your podcast doesn't matter what type of realm you're going into the podcasting world. You know Freddie is somebody who I feel like is is someone you need to contact. I've had multiple people in the industry actually reach out to me and I've connected them and they've made some great headway working with Freddie. So we talk about kind of his. You know history in this world and you know being a podcaster and you know it was a real fun podcast podcast and I actually was on his podcast too called cruise through htx, um, and so I'll have some links on that one too. That was a really good uh podcast episode. Had fun time with that being on his and him being on mine. It's great, great guy. He's turned out to be a wonderful friend, uh. So, yeah, the podcasting world brings people together, guys, um.

Speaker 1: 32:01

After that I had episode 49 where where I brought back Jesse Griffiths once again to talk about his book, the Turkey Book and man. That is one of my favorite books. You know we talked about how the first two books, a Field and the Hog Book, were both nominated for James Beard Awards the Hog book, one for single subject and I really do believe that the Turkey book uh is destined for another James Beard award, as well as many other awards. It is such a great book Uh. We talked at length about how he spent one year hunting turkeys. Uh, one season and four different states, getting five different turkeys hunting with some really great chefs as well as friends. And his stories that he tells are featured in the turkey book, and so are some of these recipes, not only of Jesse's personal favorites, but he brought in other chefs Chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois, elias Cairo, who runs Olympia Provisions I'll talk about him in a minute too. There are some other incredible chefs there too that I've had the pleasure of interviewing, and so I'll just kind of tease that in. I'll talk about them in a second, brad Leone being one of them. But he features a lot of these other chefs recipes in his book, so it's kind of like an all-star turkey book man. It is phenomenal. Uh really is very gracious to uh kind of open it up. It's not just the Jesse book, right, I mean he's on the title, he's on the cover right there. But he really brought in a lot of other people and their expertise and their amazing recipes too. So it's a treasure trove, that book. I highly suggest it One of my very personal favorites and you can learn more and order a copy at thewildbookscom. He worked on this book with Jody Horton and I'll get to Jody here in a second, but make sure you guys go check that out. Order all three of those books A Field, the Hog Book, the Turkey Book because they are all some of the best books you will ever purchase cookbooks and they need to be on your shelf.

Speaker 1: 34:14

Brad Leone Uh, if you guys aren't familiar, uh, he is now the host of two hit shows making it and living legends. Uh, you've probably seen uh some of his previous shows on YouTube as well. He is just the treasure trove of information, super, super entertaining guy and, uh, though this was a kind of a quick one I think it was like a 30 minute episode we covered a lot of ground and, uh, you know, season two of making it living legends uh just started recently. So you guys got some uh great episodes you can trail back on and uh some to look forward to, as season two is rolling out more episodes uh this year. So that was really a great one. He is a wonderful chef, wonderful, wonderful guy. Really entertaining, really entertaining podcast episode. I think you guys would like that.

Speaker 1: 35:06

The next one was episode 51 with Jason Phelps. For those who don't know, he is a world-class game calling expert man. He has made some of the best game calls in the world through Phelps Game Calls, who was eventually picked up through MeatEater. So it's another one of those companies that's in that MeatEater umbrella Phelps Game Calls who was eventually picked up through MeatEater. So it's another one of those companies that's in that MeatEater umbrella Phelps Game Calls. I have used them for their turkey calls, the box call, mouth calls, the diaphragms. They make some really amazing elk calls too. They're known for that. He and Dirk Durham have created some. There's some signature series more about Dirk in a second too but really kind of got to hear about the history of how Jason got involved with making calls and kind of built his business and to be one of the most prominent and well-known names in the game call industry right now, and for good reason. They make just the best and so if you haven't checked those out, I highly suggest you do.

Speaker 1: 36:22

No-transcript chat with Jared Larson from OnX. He's a marketing manager there and I've done some really cool cross-promotional work with OnX with my company, mapmyranch For anybody who orders a custom map they get a full elite membership with OnX and I kind of picked his brain a little bit about you know kind of how he got into the hunting industry and then eventually found his way and working with OnX. But we really talked a lot about what OnX is going to be launching this year, some of the things they've already come out with. Some there'll be talking about in that episode that we'll be dropping in the fall. But that was a really cool episode to hear more about that app on X maps, on X hunt, uh the back country app, as well as off road and kind of a little bit of uh one-on-one on those other apps and how, uh, they might be utilized for you, and so that was really fun. Um had a great chat with him.

Speaker 1: 37:21

Uh, episode 53, called it the Ranch Chronicles Got to sit down and chat with Matthew Mitchell after one of the hunts at the ranch. When we go and we do these hunts a lot of times, like I said, we'd like to record, kind of a way just for us to mark what we've done at the ranch and some of the things that have been interesting, maybe some of the harvests or the hunts we've been on, and, uh, that was a really great time. Um, we got to basically sit down at the end of the night and I didn't record bring my podcast recording equipment, but we decided to try to record it on an iPhone, and so it ended up turning out pretty good. So, uh, you know, it just made me realize, hey, you don't always have to have all the equipment there, you can just sit down and record a wonderful conversation, and I found it to be entertaining and educational. A lot of other people did too. A lot of people liked that one. So that was the Ranch Chronicles, embracing Family Legacy and the Art of Land Stewardship, and that was a fun one.

Speaker 1: 38:14

So next one was with Mark Haslam. He is a podcast host of the Southern Way Southern Whitetails website that he put out talking about all of the things that he's learned being a deer manager over the years. He is a former quality deer manager of the year, then National Deer Association manager of the year I think it was in 2020. And, man, he had some great stories to share and he's just the wealth of knowledge. It was real fun picking his brain and just kind of talking deer hunting and Turkey hunting as well. Uh, he's a great guy. Definitely suggest you guys go follow him and learn a lot from him.

Speaker 1: 38:55

Um, after that was episode 55, got to sit down with Tyler Jones. Uh, man, he's got some really cool stuff going. He is one of two folks with the element, a television youtube show. It's underneath the meat eater umbrella. For the longest time the element was doing their own thing and then eventually kind of joined up with meat eater, kind of elevated their platform a little bit. I feel he's also the lead singer, guitarist of Tyler and the tribe, a wonderful, wonderful band, has written kind of one of my favorite songs, actually probably one of the top 10 songs we talk about that. We break down that song, uh and many others, and we got to really just talk about a lot of great things that Tyler's been involved in. He's a great man of faith, uh, as someone who's a wonderful voice for the outdoors uh and, you know, in Texas time hunting as well, and so that was really, uh, something. I treasured that, that conversation. We had a really good chat and I definitely encourage you to go check out the element uh, their website as well, as you can go on to the meat eater and see some of the television shows they've done there too, and their YouTube platform as well as the podcast. So there's a lot to explore there with Tyler. I think you'll enjoy that.

Speaker 1: 40:06

Episode 56 was with Will Alt. You know he has the other side ventures, really taking people out into wildlife scenarios, whether it's hunting, fishing, outdoors, hiking, and helping them get to the other side of their struggles. He came onto the podcast after I think it was like three or four times it was canceled. We were going to record it and you know there was a time where I almost gave up on him. I didn't know if he was still wanting to do this or not, but it seemed like his story and what he was doing was really important. I wanted to talk with him and then I later realized and he talked about it in the podcast why he was hesitant Because he wanted to come on and tell his real story, something that he had never done before and that talked about after his time in the service.

Speaker 1: 40:58

He had a really gruesome injury. He ended up getting medical leave and then he came home and was kind of lost and he went down into a very dark spiral and he tried to take his own life and he had never talked about that before. And then I realized that that was why he was hesitant, because being that vulnerable and talking about that is pretty powerful stuff, right. And then once that's out there out in the world, it's out there, you're not taking it back. And so he was very brave and vulnerable to talk about that experience. And immediately there were people who contacted me that wanted to work with him and have invited him out through Patriot Anglers, another great organization that brings out veterans and first responders and takes them out doing some fishing trips and tries to help facilitate some healing in the process. A really great organization. You guys got to check that out, Texas Patriot English, and so, yeah, they reached out to me and said, hey, we want to work with him. You know and there's some other phone calls there too that people really wanted to chat with Will about you know how they can get involved in other side ventures and you know it was just really great to chat with him. He's a wonderful guy and, uh, again, I appreciate his vulnerability and honesty in that podcast. Uh, it was a fan favorite, it seems.

Speaker 1: 42:18

Uh, after that was episode 57, steward of the wild with Romy Swanson man Romy. I guess about a year ago is when I first got turned on to all the things Romy's got involved with. I think at the time he was the head of the Texas Audubon Society and then he was making his transition and working with where he's now the executive director of the Devil's River Conservancy and that was kind of a how did that start out? I talked with Jesse Griffiths when we were doing that filming of that television show. Jesse was cooking at the end of it all.

Speaker 1: 42:56

I was part of the filming of it. He was telling me about Romy Swanson and he said something to the effect of if there's anybody that's doing interesting, really important stuff in Texas right now, it's Romy. You should check him out, and so to have that kind of endorsement, I ended up checking out what he's doing and I was like wow, this guy is doing some fabulous, interesting stuff and I reached out to him. We got on a phone call. I think we were going to talk for like five minutes. About an hour and a half later we ended up hanging up and we said you know, we're going to get down and do some recording and it took almost about a year for us to finally sit down and record this episode, but we did and it was phenomenal and we were going to highlight him working with Devil's River Conservancy and we had a timeline and I think you know probably my own self talking too much as I may be doing now. We ended up having to cut short the interview before we got to the Devil's River Conservancy chat, so I felt kind of bad and said, hey, man, I need to have you on again and let's just do one that's focused fully on the DRC. So that ended up being episode 58 was really kind of diving into the Devil's River Conservancy and I think we spent, you know, a good 20 something minutes on that, just kind of highlighting that and what he's got going on and the beauty and the pristine nature of the Devil's River Conservancy and why it's important that we do so much to keep that the way it is as such a rare, beautiful, clean river here in Texas. And so that was a fun chat between those two episodes with Romy, had a great conversation with him. He is a really fun guy to follow too. Some amazing wildlife photography man. That guy is talented so I highly suggest you follow him. Uh, episode 59,.

Speaker 1: 44:37

I got to have a wonderful conversation with my new friend, jody Horton. Jody is a photographer. He has been involved in I think it's like 20 something cookbooks now. Uh, he's been involved in all three of these. Behind me, a field, the hog book, the Turkey Book with Jesse Griffiths, and he put out these last two through his publishing company, st John's Press. And there's also St John's Studio which you can actually rent out or you can hire him to do some photography of anything you got going on here in Texas. And man, he's the cast of companies he's worked with and that have sought him out is just son of the top, the best of the best. Jody does some amazing work and it shows why he is so highly in demand. He is man. We, we had a great, great conversation.

Speaker 1: 45:36

In fact we recorded two podcasts, uh, the first one was kind of a warmup uh to the second one and, um, I really kind of got to know him and we became friends uh, through that first one and the recording kind of didn't go as scheduled. There was some uh it just it was something that we realized, hey, we both can do a little bit better. I was very sick when I recorded it and just wasn't on my A game there. He was definitely on his A game both times, but I was like, hey, you know you down to rerecord this. He's like, yeah, I'd like to. That's cool, let's do it. I think he could sense that I just wasn't feeling my best that day but I wanted to. You know he had put it on his calendar so I wanted to, you know, show up and do the best I could, but luckily we got a second one. I think it turned out a lot better and so that's the one you're listening to.

Speaker 1: 46:15

Uh, in episode 59, behind the lens, with Jody Horton, we talk about, you know him being a photographer. You're working on cookbooks and then also publishing books. Really great episode there. Episode 60 was with Lieutenant John Norris. You know this was another one too that John and I had been talking for about a year. I think I first heard him on Rogan, or maybe it was on the meat eater podcast with Steve Rinella, talking about him being a game warden. Uh, you know, for close to 20 years there in California and battling the cartel and their illegal marijuana grows, um, and which ended up in firefights and him and starting the met uh, marijuana and marijuana enforcement team, uh, this task force team that was multiple agencies coming together which he was kind of at the center of there, uh, and so he ended up putting out a book well, a couple of books, but there's one hidden war behind me now in its second edition with a forward from jack carr, and that has been just an award-winning, best-selling book, and so we wanted to shine the spotlight on that. But we also wanted to talk about some of the other things in his history being a game warden and his love of, and creation of music with his band, and so we kind of jumped into that. He said that was first time, you know, he really kind of talked about it to that nth degree in a podcast, but it was really fun talking about music and that kind of set up another interview, which will be coming out fairly soon, with him and Mike Vellekamp, who is the founder of V-Knives called the trailblazer, which is my EDC knife, my everyday carry knife, as well as a few friends. We've had to mark ours down to make sure we don't get them mixed up, if they ever, you know, get put on the kitchen table at the ranch or whatnot, but we talked about that and the development of that that you know, creating that, that trailblazer knife, you know, to support the thin green line, and so that was a fun conversation there. You know, john's just a wealth of knowledge and we had a great, great chat and I think you'll also enjoy the other one that's coming up in this third year with him and Mike Velikamp. It'll be dropping soon.

Speaker 1: 48:23

Episode 61 was with Dirk Durham. He is working, he's the marketing manager over there with Phelps Game Calls, again working underneath that media during Vela. He is a world champion elk caller. He's won multiple contests and we kind of talk about his history in the outdoors and how he became to be such a prominent caller and someone who is looked at in that community as kind of, you know, one of the grand champions and someone that is there to teach so many wonderful things. Uh, that was a really great conversation. We really kind of uh took it kind of cradle to grave on on all the things that he's been a part of and you know it was really neat to kind of talk about how he got involved in hunting and really had this tenacious attitude to uh become the best hunter he could. And now you know there's no telling me how many hunts he's gone on and how many world-class elks he's uh taken in his life, as well as these other hunts. But we talk about some of the you know his, his highlights of this last year and some of the things he's got coming up and some turkey hunts he was going to go on and some of the productions that were coming out um as well. And so yeah it. That was great chat. Dirk's a great guy, real fun conversation there.

Speaker 1: 49:32

Moving on, we had episode 62 with Elias Cairo from Olympia Provisions. Eli and I got connected through our mutual friend, jesse Griffiths. It was kind of cool. Jesse's like hey, man, do you mind if I send you some friends? I think there's some folks that I think would make good guests and he would send a text and it would be like hey, george, this is Eli, eli, this is George, and a little bit of one-on-one on what we're doing, and I think it'd be fun to hear a conversation between the two of you. So Eli and I hopped on a phone call, really hit it off. I think we ended up talking for like 40 something minutes and uh I could tell that we were going to, uh, produce a fun podcast as a result, and so we did just that and really explored you know how he kind of got into his outdoor lifestyle and how he was brought up in Switzerland and really kind of taking an nth degree level in like the curing of these meats and like learning about charcuterie and then coming back to the States and creating Olympia provisions, which is by far the best producer of charcuterie that I've ever had in my life. I've tried multiple things. I think I have like eight different of their products, maybe nine actually, with last night opened up a new batch that we got shipped for Mother's Day for my wife, meg, and so all of those all nine of those products are the best that I've ever had of that version of that man just phenomenal. This guy and his team make the best. So definitely encourage you to go check out OlympiaProvisionscom and there's a really cool book you can order too. It comes with a sampler as well, so I suggest you go do that.

Speaker 1: 51:22

And yeah, then episode 63, I got to sit down with Mark Green, a former US Navy SEAL and officer and the author of the book Unsealed, which is over here behind my shoulder as well. That has already become a bestseller came out a couple months ago. We talked about his service and becoming a Navy SEAL. He had kind of had a trajectory of going into being a professional athlete, being an elite quarterback. An injury sidelined that idea. He had these transitions he went through, became a U S Navy seal uh the traditions, uh transitions of coming out of being a seal into civilian life and how that was a really tough transition for him. Luckily he met some amazing people who helped him along with that transition. But you know we talk about too, about him hitting kind of the lowest of the low and hitting some very deep dark moments and what it took to get him out of those and kind of being an example of someone who has hit those lows but can still pull out of them with the help and support and love from people around you that want you to succeed. So that was, uh, you know kind of a cool thread that we talked about throughout that podcast. But really, you know, shining a light on that, that book that he did unsealed, which is just phenomenal. I highly suggest you go check it out.

Speaker 1: 52:47

Um, and you know I've done some other podcasts since then that have not hit the pod waves as they will but are about to. One was with Robbie Kroger with Blood Origins. That will be coming out here next week. That'll kind of be the first one that'll be dropping in. I guess you know season three or year three as it will.

Speaker 1: 53:12

I just ended up having a podcast with Keith O'Brien, a New York times bestselling author. Uh, the most recent book is Charlie hustle. Uh, the rise and fall of Pete Rose in the last glory days of baseball. We really talked about, uh, you know, pete Rose, this book being probably the most in-depth book, subject matter wise, and kind of a 360 perspectives, really not just the black and the white about Pete Rose, the polarizing baseball figure, but a lot of the shades of gray in the middle of who he is, what made him be such an outstanding baseball player, and that ongoing debate on why is he not in the Hall of Fame, why is he not allowed on the ballot, will he ever be? And we really just talk a lot about that and kind of a little bit of some of the current things that are going on with Major League Baseball right now, which I found fascinating as well. So he's also again put together three other bestselling books, and I think you guys should go check that out. All the links below are there for Keith O'Brien and his website and all of his socials. Definitely go check that out.

Speaker 1: 54:21

What else do I have coming up? Well, next week I will be actually sitting down with Giannis Poutelis with Meat Eater. You know, giannis is somebody who I have greatly admired for many years. Uh, I've been, you know, a fan of of meat eater and what they've been a part of. Uh, but there's something especially with Giannis that always resonated just the way that he carries himself and, uh, I don't know, there's something that I just always connected with him. So I am thoroughly excited to sit down and chat with him, um, and talk about a lot of different things. You know how. You know his role with MeatEater, how he got involved, how he and Steve met his trip back to Latvia after 45 years of never being there, and you know, being of Latvian descent, and really what that uh meant. There's also a really cool uh two-part uh video about that as well that you should go check out on the meat eater channel. But, yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. Uh, giannis is just someone who I've highly admired, and so that'll be a fun sit down.

Speaker 1: 55:24

Uh, then the next day I'm actually going to be chatting with Pete Mueller. Uh, pete is highly involved in the national wild Turkey federation. I really kind of got aware of them, I've known about what they've been doing, but whenever the turkey book came out, they did a really cool bundle package where you could also join the NWTF and get a book, and I decided to go ahead and do that, and so then I really did a deep dive into NWTF and what all they are involved in and the history of the program and the organization. And boy, I just realized right then and there, uh, I needed to put you know, shine a spotlight for those who aren't familiar with NWTF and interview someone there. So that's pretty cool. I'm excited to have that podcast.

Speaker 1: 56:11

Uh, the following week I'll be sitting down with Madty Nelson with Seekins Precision and the Hat Creek Training, the long-distance shooting range out there and instructional facility. Matty is just a really cool guy. You know, for anybody who knows him you'd probably agree he's quite a character, just a very, very knowledgeable man, and so I'm really excited to talk about all the things he's been involved in. Some other ones that are coming up Graham Jones he was a game warden here in Texas and he is a guide out on the rivers and waterways of Texas, a mutual friend of Jesse Griffiths. Again, he was another one who he said you should chat with Graham, and so I had a wonderful couple of conversations with him and really looking forward to recording a podcast with him.

Speaker 1: 57:00

And another one I got coming up is with Tyler Vander Kolk. He is the owner of Archery Country in Austin, a very well-known archery spot man. You can go in there and get outfitted. You can go in there and practice outfitted. You can go in there and practice. And it's not just people in the hunting community, anybody who wants to go out there and learn about archery. And he's made it a point that if you may be nervous about walking up and you know approaching the counter and talking to somebody, because maybe that's something that people might have some questions about, getting into that and be a little intimidating, that is the place to go. They will meet you at whatever level you are on at Archery Country and walk you through.

Speaker 1: 57:39

And you guys have probably heard the name of the shop dropped on Rogan, you know. I know he recently had something out there with Cam Haynes. There's a lot of people who are very familiar that are endorsing of Archery Country and again, this is another one that Jesse Griffiths introduced me to him. Uh, he's also done some great work, uh, with the boys and element there, with Casey and Tyler Jones and, um, you know, there's some really cool stuff coming out there too. But yeah, so I've I've had some great conversations with Tyler Vander Kolk on over the phone and we have pinned out a date and I'm going to be doing some filming of going out there in a store. I'm going to go there and get outfitted with, you know, basically archery equipment for myself, because I want to get in and learn. I have very little experience for my youth, but I want to become an archery hunter, and so I'm going to go there and get outfitted. We'll be doing some filming and stuff along the way too. So that'll be not only a podcast but there'll be some video episodes around that as well too. So I'm looking forward to that.

Speaker 1: 58:42

One that I have been looking forward to for over a year now will be a podcast that I'm going to be recording with Jack Carr, the New York Times bestselling author of the Terminalist series. He's got book seven in this series coming out, red Sky Morning. He's got another book coming out too, in October I believe it is It'll be his first nonfiction, but he's coming through doing his book tour. And when he does this, you know, like I said, last year I met with Freddie Cruz, who did this live interview. I talked to his publicist, david Brown, and he had said that they had not booked anybody to do a live interview, kind of hosting that chat, q&a that they do over at Murder by the Book. And he asked if I wanted it. I said, well, as long as Freddie Cruz hasn't already, you know, signed on to this, I don't want to step on the toes of my friend. I called up Freddie and got his uh, you know thumbs up and approval. He said, heck, yeah, man, go for it. So I ended up saying, yes, I'd love to do that. So I will be hosting a live conversation, uh, interview and Q and a. That will be a podcast as well. Uh, I will put it out the following day. I might even do a live broadcast podcast, but at the very least I will be recording with him at murder by the books.

Speaker 1: 59:56

The event starts at six 30 with Jack Carr and then, you know we'll probably do a lot of 30 minute interview, question answering thing, you know, for maybe 15 minutes or so, and then he'll be doing photography. They have a professional photographer that comes out, so you'll kind of get to do a little meet and greet, say hello, get a photo with Jack, get your book signed and any of the other books too. You can pre-order them and he will sign them too, so you can walk away with all seven. If you don't own them yet, I highly suggest you guys put in your pre-order if you have not and there's some really cool shot through title pages that Jack Carr has you can go to his website and order those through some of the small publication bookstores throughout the country that he tries to help out and support. So, really looking forward to that, that's going to be one that I've been looking forward to, like I said, for about a year now. Jack's done so many wonderful things and been involved in so many great projects. His books are just top shelf. I love them.

Speaker 1: 1:00:55

Obviously, I'm a big fan of the Terminal List, which Chris Pratt, as you guys may know, stars in, and there's some really cool stuff coming out there too Prequel. There's some other films going on. That'll be kind of a sequel to that on Amazon Prime. So just to keep you guys abreast of that, I will, anytime anything comes along, I'll be sure to promote that on the site. But yeah, very much looking forward to sitting down with Jack Carr. That's going to be a great one. So I tell you to get there early too. I think there's like three, 400 people there last time and, man, those seats fill up fast. So make sure, if you guys are going to be there, I'd get there a little bit early. But I'll have all the information about that on my website too and how you can get a part of that. And, you know, order your books ahead of time through murder by the books website.

Speaker 1: 1:01:37

You know there are a bunch of other folks that I've been chatting with about getting on the podcast. There's Jonathan from black duck revival. That will be a one that I think I'll probably record. I think in July is when we set the date. There's a lot of other folks who have agreed to be on, but until we've kind of recorded them or set a date in, I'm not going to necessarily announce that. In case you know, things change. There's definitely some folks that I'm looking at that I want to interview I've reached out to and so hopefully those come to play here. There's some big names there, some people that I think you guys will find very entertaining, some great interviews that I can't wait to say. When those are officially signed into play, I will let you know about those. I'm excited to announce them. But, you know, just wanted to take a second to kind of let you guys know about if you haven't, you know, if you're new to the podcast, and you know these are some that I've great interviews I've had this last year and, you know, let you know about some of the ones that are coming up and just to kind of mark this as a little milestone, you know that I've been doing this for two years.

Speaker 1: 1:02:47

You know, started this kind of on a whim, you know, as you guys know, I used to travel around uh, maybe you don't know uh, interviewing folks and kind of putting out their life stories and messages, and so this kind of felt like an extension of that and doing a podcast and uh, you know, like my mama said, I had a face for radio, so we have face for podcasting too, you know. So it's been fun to, uh, you know, do this and I feel very honored and privileged to sit down. You know, time is the most valuable thing we have, and so for people to sit down and give their time to me and to allow me to interview them, I take it very serious. As you know my wife can probably attest I spend a lot of time prepping for each one of these podcasts to take it very serious, and it's been a lot of fun. It's a lot of work that goes into these. You know I'm a one-man shop doing this, so I don't have sponsors. I don't have people that are, you know, giving me money, that are paying me to do this. It's all something that I do on my own, out of my own interests and my own. You know artistry and you know my own passions. So for you guys to tune in, to listen to these, it means a lot to me.

Speaker 1: 1:03:55

It really does, and you know, the only thing I can kind of ask of you guys, if you haven't done so already, is you know, if you're following this podcast, go ahead and rate it too, if you. You know, if you feel it's deserving of five stars, put five stars down there. I'd love to get reviews. If you could take a minute to leave a review and submit that. There's definitely some ranking thing that happens. The more people rank and rate these and leave reviews, there's some quantitative analysis that comes to play and those will be probably shown to more people in their queues and their podcasts. So I really think that's a way that you know someone asks me how can I help you.

Speaker 1: 1:04:36

It's really kind of just getting this out there, you know, uh, trying to expand my listenership, um, to have you maybe share this with a friend or maybe you find a particular episode. Man, this was really fun. I really liked that one with so-and-so. Share that with your friends If you wouldn't mind. That's what helps me out is kind of getting this platform out to other people, because what I want to do is I want to share the impactful, educational, informative stories of people and what they're doing and really interview these interesting people and the interesting things they're doing and try to provide a platform to maybe, you know, project that out there and help be a kind of a, maybe a springboard and getting their words out. You know, some of these people are world famous authors, so it's not like they necessarily need my help, but the people who may be listening for my outdoor stuff, might be interested in listening to something about baseball or this musician, or vice versa, you know.

Speaker 1: 1:05:30

So I feel like it's um, kind of a melting pot of people that you know. I know it's not just one niche thing. I'm not just talking about, you know, wild game chefs. I'm talking about people in all sorts of industries, or people who host shows, or people who are touring around the country putting out books or maybe just doing something small in their local community that I want to shine the spotlight on. So again, it's a an honor, a privilege, it's a true joy to do this. Can't believe it's two years now and that year three is starting, and I hope you guys join me for what's to come on the horizon, because there's a lot of interesting folks out there and I want to go ahead and interview them. So thanks again, everybody for listening and supporting and sharing this. It means the world to me. And, yeah, here's to years three and beyond. You guys take care. Thank you so much. Cheers.