Son of a Blitch
George Bowe Blitch has been a Wildlife Manager, Texas Rancher, Professional Writer, Videographer, Photographer, Editor, Speaker, Brand Developer & Designer, Cartographer, Touring Musician, Teacher, Coach, Entrepreneur, Finance Manager, and the owner of numerous businesses.
George has met some wildly interesting people in his lifetime, and this "Son of a Blitch” is sure to share some impactful stories, interviews, and messages that will be informative, educational, and highly entertaining!
"I've met some incredible people in my life, and I want to share their stories!" ~GB
Son of a Blitch
Ep. 95 John Stallone on his Bow Hunting Journey, Hunter Advocacy and Conservation Activism
Hunting has long been a tradition, deeply embedded in human culture and survival. In this episode, we explore the journey of John Stallone, a passionate bow hunter, whose adventures in the outdoors have not only shaped his life but also inspired many. The core theme of this episode revolves around activism and how individuals within the hunting community can come together to educate and inform others about the benefits of hunting, conservation, and wildlife management.
John's formative experiences in hunting provide a compelling backdrop to discuss deeper topics around the misconceptions of hunting in today's society. Especially in an era of increasing environmental concern, hunting often faces scrutiny and skepticism, usually driven by misconceptions. John's personal narrative reveals how engaging with nature allows for a more profound understanding of local ecosystems and conservation efforts.
As John’s journey progressed, he transitioned from just being a hunter to becoming very influential in the outdoor community. Through filming his hunting adventures and sharing knowledge across various platforms, John began to demystify the hunting process, showcasing it as a vital component of wildlife management. The highlight of this transformation was the launch of his online hunting channel, which served as an educational hub for those eager to learn more about hunting techniques, wildlife habitats, and ethics.
One of the most significant initiatives that emerged from John's journey is Howl for Wildlife, an organization that focuses on advocacy for hunting rights and protecting the interests of hunters nationwide. Understanding the urgent need for hunters to unite, John and his co-founder spearheaded campaigns that have encouraged thousands to step forward, sign petitions, and rally behind crucial policies affecting their passions. By bridging the gap between hunters, policymakers, and the general public, Howl for Wildlife aims to voice the concerns of hunters in legislative matters affecting hunting and conservation.
The goals of Howl for Wildlife extend beyond just campaigning; they encourage new generations of hunters to engage in advocacy work. Through membership options that offer educational resources and platforms for members to voice their concerns, the organization strengthens the community while continuously adapting to the challenges hunters face. This becomes particularly important as hunting continues to evolve in response to societal changes and emerging threats to wildlife management practices.
As John confronts the ever-present challenges ahead, the key message from this episode is the need to engage and educate others about the realities of hunting. By connecting with non-hunters, emphasizing the values of conservation and wildlife management, and dismantling stereotypes, the hunting community can create a network of support. The tales of camaraderie, responsibility, and success should prompt conversations that resonate far beyond the hunting grounds.
Finally, listeners are encouraged to consider their roles in promoting understanding around hunting. Whether through joining organizations like Howl for Wildlife or participating in local discussions, the responsibility of protecting the future of hunting lies within each individual. As hunters, we should be willing to plant the proverbial trees of knowledge and advocacy for future generations to enjoy.
Learn more about the host, George Blitch at:
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Speaker 2:Hi, this is John Stallone and you're listening to Son of a Blitch Podcast.
Speaker 1:Hey John, how you doing today.
Speaker 2:I'm good, can't complain.
Speaker 1:Right on, right on, man. I love that background. How for wildlife? Now we're going to chat about that and so much more, all the different things you've gotten going. But I'd love to just kind of start at the very beginning. Man, why don't you tell everyone a little bit about where you're born and raised and how you got into the outdoor lifestyle?
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, um, well, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, new York. If you haven't heard it from my accent that I'm from New York, um, my dad and my uncles, he, my grandfather they all hunted. Um, now my grandfather lives in Italy, not here, um, so I never actually got to hunt with them. Actually, we went hunting with them once, cause he came to the United States to go hunting, um, well, not just specifically to go hunting, but he came here and we went hunting. Um, yeah, my, my first introduction to hunting was me holding a rifle at five years old, aiming it at a deer up in, uh, binghamton, new York, and, uh, and, and taking my first deer went at 35 Marlin, with my dad's help, of course. You know I was five, but, uh, we were leaning on a fence post and the buck was like 80 yards away or something like that.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:So technically I've been hunting since some. I mean not technically, but I really have been hunting since I'm young, really young, five maybe, even younger than that.
Speaker 1:So obviously deer the first, and then you kind of it started off a whitetail.
Speaker 2:Um, I found bow hunting by myself because nobody in my family did it. Uh, I shouldn't say by myself. My cousin fred and I kind of picked up compound bows and we started messing around with that and I did that. Uh, that was like a third. Well, I had a bow. Way before that my dad bought me a bow, one of those like, uh, it wasn't plastic, it was, was like fiberglass, long bow, 25 pound draw deal. I started with that, real young, and then he bought me a recurve which I could not pull back. It was like a 40 pound bow. I couldn't I was short stroke it, you know. But awesome cedar shafts with these giant Zawiki broad heads on them and whatever. It was pretty awesome, uh, but uh, I actually ended up breaking that cause I didn't know how to string it up, right, um, but that was my introduction.
Speaker 2:Then, by the time I was 13, uh, so 13, 14 and 15, my cousin Fred and I would kind of dabbled in, uh, bow hunting on long Island and, um, then it wasn't until, really, oh, so I moved here. I moved here when I was 16, which here is arizona. I live in arizona. I've been living here since 1991 and, um, I moved here and you know we hunted, but it wasn't with the same, because there was this learning process, you know, of trying to figure out things. And then I got really heavy back into bow hunting. Um, in my early twenties probably is what I would say when I got really heavy into it and I like really got crazy about it when I was about, I want to say, 22, 23 years old, so about 30, almost 30 years.
Speaker 1:What were you chasing at?
Speaker 2:that point in time. Well, we were chasing everything they had here, so that was mule.
Speaker 1:Deer goose, deer elk were the primary and at some point in time you decided start, you know, filming your shows. Obviously you've had, you know, quite a lot of following from uh all those different hunts and things on your youtube and uh, you know I'll put some links down below in the show notes because there's some really great ones you guys got to check out. But why don't you kind of talk about like that idea? Was that something like you know, filming was uh kind of things you had been involved with before? Did you decide what I'm doing this? I'm going to go ahead and try to document it. How did this kind of come about to where you know you rose to where you are with, you know, having such a successful hunts and getting out there, you know?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, basically, like in 2001, I started my first quote, unquote professional endeavor. Um, I got on a, I got on Matthew's pro staff, um, and that came about from shooting 3d tournaments and having success and, I guess, taking good quality photos and whatever they like kind of liked what I was doing, and I was also writing articles. Um, in my infinite wisdom, I thought I was uh already uh, a master, since I had been hunting so long, but, um, so I started writing articles and then, in 2004, I started the hunting channel online and it was the first of its kind was kind of like it wasn't really before YouTube, cause I think YouTube kind of had started but it wasn't popular. Um, we, I developed the technology with with uh, various partners and we had streaming online TV, and part of my goal at the time was because I was hungry for knowledge and there that knowledge wasn't there in a digestible form.
Speaker 2:I read books. I see, actually, some of the books that I read behind you right there back on uh back country, bow hunting is one. I got it sitting on my shelf back there somewhere, but you know I read books, and not to cut down on any of the authors, but it was, I felt like every book I read was like, if you want to find big deer, you got to go where the big deer are Okay, sweet, where the frick are the big deer? You know, but you're not teaching me anything, you're like, and I got really frustrated with that and so I started, you know, progressing, um, my skillset, and every time I figured something out, I'd put it out there. I put it out there in video form or an article form or whatever.
Speaker 2:And then the hunting channel online. Part of it was, yes, you could come here and watch TV shows and whatever and digest that, that type of media, but it was a hub for information, like to plan your hunt, moon phase charts, uh, you know all the tips and tactics. And I started doing this, um, uh, the hunting channels tip of the week. So I would learn something, I would figure it out and adapt it into my skillset. And eventually I was like, okay, this works really well, I'm going to share this with people. And then I I put those out, and then the TV show came about around about 2006. I think my I might've started it beforehand. To be honest with you, I don't even remember to have to go back and like it's all a blur now.
Speaker 1:It's been a while Sure, sure.
Speaker 2:Um, so I would go and I would, I would. I started filming my adventures, um, adventures, um, but it was. I did it because I was using that to promote the haunting channel. Everything was like about I was never promoting john stallone, I was never like, yeah, I didn't start branding me as me till like 2015 or something like that. So for years it was just about trying to gain members and you know, push the, uh, the honey channel online.
Speaker 2:Um, I stopped doing the, the TV show Like I was actually had. I had a stint where I was on wild TV. Um, I had the lone star channel and I had a couple of like where we I was actually physically on TV, but most of it I did it online and you know, I kind of pioneered that there wasn't, there wasn't anybody doing online stuff and um, or streaming type stuff. And, you know, as things change, people followed. There were some other pop-ups of happening that were like the hunting channel online. And then you know um whole long story but I I ended up losing the hunting channel, along like access to the hunting channel admin, because of one of my partners. Uh, I lost it for a while, which kind of like became the demise of it, um, but it also kind of happened during the time where YouTube and Vimeo and all these other platforms were like really taken off and doing very well, so, um, and then everybody, like in 2015, 2016, everybody had a freaking TV show, like everybody had a camera and they were filming and, just like, everybody has a podcast now like podcast too. So the podcast, I my, has a podcast now like podcast too. So the podcast I my my podcast.
Speaker 2:I started it as a product of, if you had a membership to the hunting channel, you had a podcast that I just won a month and my, my podcast was called interviews with the hunting masters and I kept that name for a very long time. So I did that for a while and I would produce one a month and I say a while, I don't, I didn't even remember. I think it was like six years and then I stopped doing it and then there was like a like a two year break and then in 2014, I think, or 2015, I brought it back, but I brought it to the masses and I did it Like you would have a traditional podcast. Now, you know, you go to iPod or or excuse me Apple, or excuse me, spotify or whatever you know, and you could digest it on any platform and take it with you before you had to be a member and used to have to download it to an actual iPod or stream it through um through the honey channel. So, yeah, most of it always was a product of wanting to to be better, even the podcast like hey, this was an opportunity, but opportunity for me to interview people who knew better than me and you know, over time that morphed into me being the guy that people wanted on their podcast and you know, so on and so forth.
Speaker 2:And I, I, I wrote a book about whitetail hunting. Uh, what I wrote a book. It's called uh, uh, the whitetail hunters blueprint. It's still actually um available through Amazon as a downloadable, like on a Kindle or something like that. You can't get the hard copy or paperback anymore. And then the other book was Secrets of Haunting, western Game. They were designed to how-to style Now that if I read them I would probably go back and I would kind of want to revamp them a lot. I think I released that, I don't know. I want to say 2013 or 2014.
Speaker 1:Do you have a goal to maybe do that and have another edition or maybe an electronic form at some point. I mean, you got nothing else going on, right?
Speaker 2:You know two other books that I that I started writing, that I that I haven't completed, Um, uh, one of them being um that I haven't completed, um, uh, one of them being um, diaries of a waiter, cause I was a waiter for a very long time as a kid, uh, you know, and that's more of a, a becoming of a man type uh, book. But the other one is, uh, something has to die for in order for you to live, and it's kind of tackles a lot of the stuff that I deal with and how, uh, with anti-hunting and uh, and educating the non-hunting public and having them, you know, bridging that gap so they understand the difference between what is portrayed of us, you know, by anti-hunting the elmer, fudd, toothless hillbilly redneck drinking beer, that whole, um, you know, caricature, caricature. Why can't I say that word? That that whole identity, um, or that whole persona, um, and how, that you know that's, that's a false, like a false way to look at it.
Speaker 1:So, but Well, you know, jumping into that is as far as like how for wildlife. I'd love for you to kind of talk about the genesis of this. How did this begin? Uh, when did this first form? And you know, we'll kind of go into some more specifics about it. I'd love to hear about the membership and how people get involved and how we can kind of get listeners, uh, you know, on board. But yeah, why don't you just kind of talk about how did this uh come about?
Speaker 2:it really just came about out of necessity. Really, um, charles and I charles is the, uh is the president and um founder, co-founder I'm with myself on it and uh, he's what he's really, the one that kind of like turned it into what it is. It originally started off as as um well, he had. He had come to me, like I said, told the whole story, if anybody hasn't heard it by now. Uh, but he came to me. He's like hey, they're trying to get rid of bear hunting in California. You know, what can we do? I'm like let's start a changeorg. And he wrote this awesome, like changeorg piece which um sparked a lot of what we do today. Um, but he, he wrote this out and we had like 20 000 people get involved on it, sign and donate money, which the donation doesn't go to us goes to changeorg.
Speaker 2:Changeorg is a for-profit company, not, yep, not a non-profit, by the way, um, and because of that it was like, okay, we need to. We need to start changeorg for hunters specifically. And you know this, eighteen thousand dollars that was donated for this deal. This could have went to an issue directed to exactly towards hunting and fishing. That part hasn't really worked out.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, the funding part's always a problem, um, but the engagement and involvement and being able to move the needle we've we've been able to move mountains with thousands of people and it's makes me very, it makes us all very optimistic in how because there's, you know, many anywhere from 14 to 16 million hunters in the United States and if we're able to affect the change that we are with 30, 40,000 people. Could you imagine if we had, you know, four or 5 million people doing this, or 14, 15 million people doing this? So, yeah, there's um amazing potential to to um not only save hunting and protect hunting insulated from from the anti-haunting movement, but also the ability to get stuff back that we've lost and to change the, the overall optics on what hunting and fishing and and outdoorsmanship is really.
Speaker 1:When you got, like your hunters and anglers that are kind of working in tandem with some of the decision makers that are actually working on these policies, right, why don't you give me a couple examples of some things that were, maybe you know, very successful campaigns through, how that you can kind of talk about, you know, maybe a little feather in the cap of some of the things that you're like, man, this is something that shows that we can make a difference when we're all collectively on board and just kind of give some folks you know an idea of maybe, some of those things that you're doing kind of on a week to week, month to month basis. Sure.
Speaker 2:Well, I think. I mean I don't know the exact numbers but to date, every policy or every issue that we've gotten involved on, we've either with exception of like maybe four, four or five we've been able either able to progress forward or have one. So that in itself says a lot. Um, you know, if I, you know 800 pound gorilla in the room, one of the one of the one of the most obvious things that we've done in recent past is the mountain lion issue in Colorado. So that's one of the other things we do.
Speaker 2:We take state-level issues and we bring national attention to it. So that could have been a state-level issue and could have stayed there. May may not have passed. That could have been a state-level issue and could have stayed there. May may not have passed. You know the guys working on it, the guys that we partnered with. You know CRWM was spearheading that. They may have been able to. I don't know. You know it's hard to say, but I do know that we had our hand on everything and we had, we had the ability to take that and make it like everybody knew about.
Speaker 2:It didn't matter if you were in florida or if you were in here texas, yeah, california, whatever texas everybody ended up hearing about it and we had an huge, huge uh rally that even the anti-hunter said this is something they had never seen before. So, to me, if the the other side's bitchin, you know, you know you're doing something right, right, so they woke up the sleeping giant. You know they poked the bear too many times and now it's now, it's time for us to get involved on and on every single thing. So we're hunters for hunters. Anglers for ever have never been, uh, very involved there. They've been very to themselves. That's it's that. It's that mentality you do you, I do me.
Speaker 2:It's a good way to live in a lot of ways, but unfortunately, like in this particular instance, in this time, you know, in this time frame, we need to be activists, and activists. Activism has always been a dirty word. It's always been a in in political sense, has been a left side thing. You know, like um, and people don't necessarily um, want to want to be involved. They're very apathetic to stuff that doesn't physically or seemingly affect them, right? So we're trying to change that mindset.
Speaker 2:That's the biggest thing right now is really, you know, you're not a deer hunter in Washington or whatever. You hunt coyotes in, I don't know Texas, whatever. And why does it affect you? Like, why does it mean something to you that this guy might be losing his ability to hunt what he loves? If I don't hunt there and I don't hunt that species, like, why does it affect me?
Speaker 2:And there's, you know we can sit here and draw the excuse me, connect the dots or draw the lines or whatever. But just hear me when I'm saying we're all interconnected. Um, but just hear me when I'm saying we're all. We're all interconnected the way that the system in the United States works. We're all interconnected financially somehow.
Speaker 2:Um, we all occupy a place at what we call the conservation table and there's various stakeholders at the conservation table and because hunting is a user pay system, a pay to play, so to speak, we typically have one of the largest voices at the conservation table, even though we're not necessarily the largest population. You know we only occupy 5% of the population. 5% is anti-hunting and then the rest is in between. You know that's oversimplifying it. There's other, there's other pie pieces of the pie there, but, um, you know, in the grand scheme of things, five percent's not a whole lot. So we rely on messaging good science and and sharing the truths about hunting and fishing with those other people, with that strong 90 in the middle, so that they don't make rash decisions and get inside with anti-hunting ridiculousness.
Speaker 1:So no, it's super important. I mean, you know, I remember the Outdoor Stewards Conservation Foundation did a study and I was talking I think it was like around the 85% number of people who support the idea of hunting across our country. And you know, as you kind of lay down that five, five, 90 number there too, like you think about it, there's a lot of folks who do that. Now there's people who like, don't like the idea of, like, trophy hunting, and that may be a different thing, cause but that's also a lot of misinformation and we're seeing this along the lines. I mean, there's a lot of big media that you know, especially in the podcast world too, and organizations such as your own that are really kind of laying down a lot of educational things, especially for those non hunters and people who have been anti hunting for a long time, and I think we're seeing a little bit of a, an eclipse of change, hopefully, um, with with groups like yours that are getting out there and making sure that the real truth is laid out and that we're not losing these things, cause what happens in Washington does affect the other things that are happening in Florida, whatever policy nationwide, and I think it's great when we have things like the collective efforts that came around to speak up for those folks in Colorado.
Speaker 1:I mean it was a big win for a lot of people. You know, and just kind of in ties with that, you know, being that that was one of the groups you worked with there in Colorado, why don't you tell me a little bit about some of the partnerships and some of the different you know kind of affiliations of some other companies and you know policymakers that you're working with? Um, you know again, maybe a week to week, month to month basis, whatever may come up, and I'm sure you know big red flag things that come up. You're like we're going to put our voice out here, but you know, just as far as an organization, who all are you kind of teaming up with and working with in that realm.
Speaker 2:So I mean, how's really we're? We're willing to work with anybody who sees the big picture, you know, anybody who's willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved, and you know we'll use Colorado as an example. You know we are. Well, I think we were instrumental, in my opinion, in rallying the troops, so to speak, and talking to some of the legacy orgs you know RMEFs and Mule Deer Foundations and so on and so forth and getting them to understand why it was important that we needed their involvement. You know that's always been a big problem for, for hunting is that we all have our own little niches and we all hunt. There's a lot, a lot of money and effort that goes into hunting. Lots, right, but why are we always behind when it comes to um? Um, like any issue that's involving anti-hunting? It's because we don't lock arms and do things in unison, right, where the anti-hunting groups do the exact opposite. They are very good about getting on each other's things. We go to a game and fish meeting. You see the same bad actors there all the time Got the representative from Houston, got the one from Coyote Project, he got the one from Wildlife Forever, and this and that and so on and so forth, and they're there and they all have the same messaging and they all so I have on good authority, but I've never personally, you know, been involved in like or jumped in on one of their meetings. But I can guarantee you there's a lot more collaboration going on on their side than there is on ours. So when you say who, you know, who, do we get involved? We, you know, I, I don't want to, I don't want to start throwing names around and here's I'm going to tell you right off the bat too, that is not what I personally handle. In alpha wildlife, um, that is mostly ran. That stuff is ran through charles and through mike costello, um, where they're more on the uh, the, they, they get involved in meetings most of the time with other uh interest groups and so on and so forth, to come up with plans and so on. So I'm, I'm apparently I'm I'm too stupid to do that stuff. So, um, I'm best suited uh, talking, talking to hunters and uh, and and hunters and moving that needle.
Speaker 2:But anyways, you brought up Florida. That was another big national thing. That was a positive thing. We just got the right to hunt and fish. And I say we, we were part of thing we got. We just got the right to hunt and fish, and I say we, we were part of it. Travis Thompson was the main spearhead there, the guy Um, but we were. We brought that to a, you know a national level where people were getting involved, so like when there was, you know, fundraising and and when the open comment period was right, you know, to get it on the bill that we were a part of that.
Speaker 2:That was, that was us Um. So you know, there, that's that's what we do and that's that's the goal for for the future really is to keep creating this unity amongst all the groups and doing an outpacing, outpacing the, the anti-hunting groups and what they're doing. You know, we were, I think, as how, as a group, is very good at recognizing what our enemy does really well and taking that and using it against them. So if, if, if, if there's anything, that's the underlying thing. What we're doing is and and also looking at things like more holistically, not just through the eyes of our wants and desires.
Speaker 2:There's stuff that we don't get involved in because we know it's going to, you know it's going to cause backfire, or it's going to backfire, it's going to cause conflict or whatever, and we've, unfortunately, um, we got involved in something here in Arizona that we were kind of on the fence, that we didn't want to Um, and it kind of blew up on a frasel a little bit. Um, it's one of the things that we lost actually, and it was. It was a hunter problem. It was hunters and hunters, hunters against hunters. So, uh, we typically try to avoid stuff like that because, uh, it never bodes well. You know, I'm going to throw a little statistic out there, like I don't know the exact numbers, but whenever there's an issue like I'll give you another example here in Arizona we Banned trail cameras several years ago there was hunters on both sides of that.
Speaker 2:There was hunters that were for it, hunters that were against it. When, when that happens, if it's an issue that there's anti-hunters don't want us to use, most anti-hunters don't want us to use trail cameras. So they saw that they jump on that opportunity, they jump on the bandwagon automatically. You lose. So, you know, you always got to kind of keep in mind what are you giving up? Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face Like, oh, you want to stop these guys from using trail cameras Cause you don't have. You don't have the success that they have and you don't have the time or the money to go buy them or whatever the whatever the reasoning is. I'm just throwing out arbitrary reasons, but what you're really doing is helping out the anti-hunters. You know you're not, you're not hurting. I mean, you're not really hurting that guy. You just you're trying to level the playing field for yourself.
Speaker 2:But what, what? Where's? You know? Where are you? Where is that driving from? Where's that deriving from?
Speaker 2:You know, like, where, where's that coming from? Is it coming from because jealousy of what this person, other person's been able to do, or is it coming from you really want to help the deer herd? You know you got to kind of look at that and figure out, hey, what am I really doing here? Hey, what am I really doing here? And when you figure that out nine times out of 10, and you're honest with yourself, you start figuring out you're like, okay, I'm doing this for my own selfish reasons, whatever they are, and I'm just arbitrarily throwing stuff out there. I'm not calling everybody who doesn't want trail cameras jealous of the guys who use them, but you know you got to look at stuff like that and it's. It's been hard for me. I mean, um, I'm no freaking saint, I'm no, you know, I'm not up on my soapbox talking, talking to people, talking down to people. Um, a lot of what I'm saying is because I've had realizations of my own life, you know, and, um, so it's always about trying to be better, you know.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure. Well, you know, as far as folks who want to get involved with Hal um and become a member, why don't you walk through some of the you know membership options, some of those benefits and kind of where they can go? And again, I'll have all the show notes below. So if anybody uh, you're not writing fast, you're driving you want to go ahead and find this out, just make sure you come back to the show notes. But why don't you go ahead and lay that out for everyone, if you wouldn't mind? Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2:So you know, lowest level, the lowest lift right there there's no shirt off your back is we have a free membership and that you just go in there and you sign up. And basically that you just go in there and you sign up, um, and basically what that means is you're going to get all the notifications, um, so we did that because we wanted people to be involved. We didn't want to say, oh, you can't get involved because you don't want to give me $30 a year. You know, we want you to be involved. So if you're going to do that, get involved. When stuff comes up, go put your name in the hat, whether it's something you do or not. That's the very lowest lift. It literally will take you 10 minutes the whole year. We're not talking about a lot of time here, but that 10 minutes will go a very long way. Then there's our Howl annual membership, which is $30. Then there's our Howl annual membership, which is $30. And that comes with some features and benefits and certain giveaways and mostly like discount codes and stuff like that that other partners that we have have awarded people who you know, put their money where their mouth is, and then you start going into our partnership memberships. Now we have a partnership with Pope and Young, we have one with American Bear Foundation and we had hoped to do this with other organizations and it might still happen, but right now it's these two.
Speaker 2:So you want to be a member of Pope and Young? You want to be a member of Howl? You don't really have, you can't spend the money to be on both. Right, you can't spend $30 with us and $45 with them, but you want both. You come to Howl for Wildlife. You purchase that membership for $45. What would? It would have been at Pope and Young and we split that. Okay, half goes to Pope and Young, half goes to Howlful Wildlife. You got dual membership, kind of a no brainer, yeah. Then we start going up to um, gohunt is one of our premier partners and, uh, by the way, they've been awesome.
Speaker 2:If you don't have a GoHunt membership, and even if you do have a GoHunt membership, you come to Howlful Wildlife and you purchase their membership through our website. It costs the same as if you would have went to their website and bought it, but now GoHunt donates 50% of that to Howlful Wildlife. Now GoHunt donates 50% of that to Half of Wildlife. As a result, you can claim 50% of that on your taxes as a 501c3. You can claim that to get a tax deduction. But we have special discount codes. You have the ability to buy stuff on GoHunts website for 15% less, so you can essentially buy gear through them and pay for your membership. Uh, through the discount code. Um, there's special giveaways and so on and so forth. Plus, you get to feel good about it Like, hey, I just did something more for wildlife that I didn't do beforehand and it's an excellent tool. I use it all the time. Matter of fact, I'm doing my tag research right now. So, um, um, I'm kind of going through that. But, um, and now this is like creme de la creme.
Speaker 2:We partnered with the guys over at Elk Bros or Blue Collar Elk Hunting, and we have put together a program called the Adventure Club and basically, you get the Elk Bros online course. You get the elk bros online course, so it teaches you how to become a better elk hunter through their online course, and I've gone through it. I've, I've actually gone through most of them, most of the big name ones. I'm not going to mention them because I don't want to throw these guys underneath the bus, but I looked at their curriculum versus what I've seen at the other ones. And the curriculum on this is on point, and I've been a student of elk my whole life. I've been guiding for elk for 15 years and I think it's excellent. Just the value of that. So if you went to elk brothers to buy that coursework, it's $350 a year. Through us it's $300 a year. Okay, you get that coursework, you get this adventure club and the adventure club is a whole slew of discounts, like some of them were like 40% off, like camouflage and stuff like that. So if you go there and you, you can basically again you could recoup that $300 through these differential, different programs.
Speaker 2:But the huge thing about this whole deal is every 100 people, every 100 members, we draw one person to win a coached I say it's, we call it coached elk hunt in New Mexico. It's basically a guided hunt on a private ranch where you're getting taught how to be a better elk hunter and you're hunting awesome bulls. You know we're talking to New Mexico, right? You know Washington over to counter tag, this is a New Mexico bull. So one out of one every hundred, and it's not the first hundred. And then, uh, you know your odds keep getting worse. It's every time you're in a block of a hundred. It doesn't matter where you purchased, you're in a block of a hundred and every year it rolls. So like if somebody drops out, you roll into that hundred. So it's, it's really.
Speaker 2:You basically have a, you know, one in 100 chance of winning a giveaway hunt and, um, we cut that off at 3000, 3000 people. Um, now there's other giveaways within that too. So like if you didn't win the elk hunt and you're one in 100, we have one in however,000 people, let's say, let's say it's uh, it's filled up, one in 3,000 chance of winning or of winning something rifle, bow, vortex, optics, stuff like that. So there's other giveaway. In my opinion, I'm like man, I just went to Wyoming, like I just did my Wyoming tag stuff, I just spent $2,500 for a chance to go hunting and it's going to be on my own. You know, like this is a guided hunt on a private place. I'm just, I was trying to get. You know, I spent quite a bit more money to get an opportunity to go hunt on a public land. Whatever, you know, you get, you get done.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that is, that is an excellent um matter of fact, like I signed up right away, like I, of course, I have how memberships already, you know. But I put my $300 in because I wanted to get that opportunity. Like, hey, win this. I know it'd be probably pretty poopoo if I wanted it, but, uh, you know, if I win this. I know it'd be probably pretty poo-poo if I won it, but you know, if I win this I would be awesome. It's just to me. I throw out like $30,000 a year in tag you know acquisition stuff and you know I get a lot of it back. But it's like I can see the value in just winning the hunt. But even if you didn't win the hunt, there's so much value there it's totally worth 300 bucks.
Speaker 1:Well, that's awesome. Well, again, I'll have the notes down below for everyone to go check that out. You know you mentioned the guide service and you know there's been so many places you've hunted around, there's so many places you've guided. Why don't you talk a little bit about that and kind of you know some of the trips that you offer and you know I know obviously right now kind of into the season for most people and we kind of you know, got some other things coming up here. Turkey I know we're going to talk bow fishing here in a second.
Speaker 2:But yeah, why don't you kind of just lay that out and you know, and, uh, where all you go, what all you're hunting for? Sure, um, I would say I'm kind of like a boutique outfitter and that, and I don't do a whole bunch of hunts, um, we offer a couple, a couple of hunts here in Arizona, uh, for for deer and for elk, um, and for sheep I have, although I haven't had a sheep hunter probably four years now, because this whole damn drama but the, you know, that's the mainstay. But I I'm very selective in my process. So when people call me up for a hunt, I don't tell them what they want to hear. I tell them what they need to know and it helps me kind of weed out people that I don't tell them what they want to hear. I tell them what they need to know and it helps me kind of weed out people that I don't want to take Um, and then I, we, we take a couple people every year, up to four people in South Dakota every year for mule, deer and whitetail Um, and uh, you know. So, like our main bigger hunts that are a little bit more what your, your commercialized hunt would be, um, and I don't even want to say that cause it's still very personable, uh, but we could take larger groups is when I do, uh, javelina hunting and that's probably like my biggest um endeavor every year is, you know, we'll take anywhere from a little. This year, I think we we have eight, but we'll take eight to like even 20, 20 different hunters on throughout the the three seasons and, uh, you know, we'll have bigger camps with.
Speaker 2:We stay in a nice house and everybody's got an own route, their own room, we have a camp chef and it's kind of a nice and neat thing and we have a very high success rate on it. I think in 10 years I think it's been about 10 years that we've been doing it I think we've only had two guys go home empty-handed and both of them quit early and they both had shots they missed. Unfortunately, they got the opportunity. That's the, yeah, had the opportunity. So 100% opportunity and nearly nearly 100% on the success rate. Although we have. We have some people coming in with some young, young youngsters coming in this year for and they want to do it with the bow, so they're really adding some extra hurdles, so we'll see how that goes. But, yeah, and then, like you mentioned bow fishing.
Speaker 2:We do the bow fishing year round, but I would say the busiest times for us are from right about now all the way through May. It gets really busy, march and April being the two best months, only because the spawn happens that time. So you see quite a bit more fish, uh, up top. Uh, but the boat's awesome, it's one of a kind in in the United States and, um, it's probably, it's probably the best boat in Southwest. I'm going to reach back and pat my own back on designing it and help them build it.
Speaker 2:But, um, yeah, yeah, guys over at tiny boat nation, um, check out their youtube channel. They, uh, they helped us, they helped us, they built the boat. I shouldn't say helped us, they, we helped them. I helped them build the boat. Um, so it's, it's, it's really neat. And then we do quite a bit of predator hunting. Um, you know, guys will come out for a day or whatever, two days, and we'll take them out predator hunting. So I I specialize in bow hunting for predators, you know. So guys want to try out that. We'll take you, you know, and uh, hopefully put a coyote or fox or bobcat in front of you know, in bow distance.
Speaker 1:That's exciting stuff. There's some great videos that are on your YouTube page. Definitely we'll have the links on those for some of the great predator hunts as well. And I was kind of curious, you know, obviously you know these are things that keep you real sharp up for that, you know, kind of fall winter time and I was curious what your hunts looked like for your personal hunts. You know what do you got in the freezer that from all the bounties from this hunt this last year.
Speaker 2:This year was probably my worst year ever.
Speaker 1:You're like ice cubes, that's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have, I have some. I have some bear meat left. I have a. I have a mule deer from uh from South Dakota. Uh, have my son's black buck that we came to Texas for.
Speaker 1:And, uh, I think that's all that's in there right now. Yeah, I mean busy man, so it's hard to kind of get all these things going on.
Speaker 2:I typically spend 90 days a year a field and I think maybe I did 35 this year. It was furry, so yeah, and 10 of those were in South Dakota, you know. So I didn't, I didn't spend, I didn't spend any time like so. We just got done with our over-the-counter archery deer here in Arizona and I got out for half a morning or half a day one morning for deer and one morning for javelina and I had an opportunity and I whiffed it. I actually hit a branch, Just you know. I was like, oh cool, I'm going to get it done First day, first try. And then I didn't.
Speaker 1:These things happen, man, it's hunting right, it's not just shooting every time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I know, it still hurts, though.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know it. I know it. There are so many moments I wish I had back, but you know, you just live and learn, right? Yeah, 100%. So what else you know you got coming up at this year is, as far as me, with how or with you know, maybe some personal hunts or some of the things that you got going that you're really excited about. Is there anything else that's kind of coming down the pike with any of those that you'd like to go ahead and share with some of the listeners?
Speaker 2:yeah, we have some stuff that I'm kind of we're still kind of keeping close to the cuff, close to the chest, um with how, because there's been stuff that was popping up that we were able to squash before it became a public thing. And there's still a few more things out there that might be that way. Um, there, I will tell you, there is one more huge molt I think it's going to be a national thing um popping up. So keep your eyes peeled for that. I I don't want to talk too much about it because, one, I don't know all the details of it yet Um, and two, I'm not 100% sure it's going to come to fruition, but I think it will. Um, so just keep your eyes open because it's going to be. It's going to be bigger than the line thing, Colorado.
Speaker 1:Well, that's something I again encourage everyone to go over there, sign up for Howley. Even if it's a free membership, obviously, $30 goes a long way and isn't really a big drop in the bucket. Obviously, with Elk Bros, there's a lot of opportunities for you guys out there. That's something that I know you'll be keeping everyone abreast of. As far as sending that out and those updates and how you get involved, signing things, getting your voice out there, because it's an important thing for all of us these days to let our voices be heard so we can kind of collectively like you said too, man and our hunters, they are collectively getting things together and being strong as one voice, one fist.
Speaker 1:We've got to kind of do the same thing and that's not an advocacy for any violence, people, that's just as, yeah, standing strong here is what I'm talking about. You have to clarify that. I know, right, you know what he means. Yeah, no, goodness gracious, no, but I mean you know our a lot of our way of life, uh, you know, and all these the ancestral wise, you know these anti-hunters wouldn't be here unless there were hunters and gatherers that were so successful in their past lineage too. Right, this is uh kind of a new thing for us to be anti against this way of life, because it's what sustains us to get here anyway right, we're talking the last you know 50 years of millennia, right?
Speaker 2:yeah? Yeah, this is a brand new thing. Yep, the idea that humans are not or shouldn't be hunting is crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's in our blood, man, it really is. It's interesting to see all the different reactions and I think that's important too, you know, for any listeners too, you know, to be able to whether you're inviting someone out into that lifestyle, sharing some of your meat, talking to those folks, your neighbors, about our way of life, and you know, it doesn't have to be something forceful down their throat there. But as far as, like, I think it's important to educate folks who don't know. If you don't know, you don't know what you don't know, right, but it's important for us to get out there and, uh, you know, maybe folks share a link, uh, to how, for wildlife, let you know your neighbors get involved, you know, and it's for them just to free sign up and kind of get that educational. Uh, you know Rolodex spinning, you know, for them.
Speaker 2:So I think that's 100%, and I I think, um, well, that's what you just said really is is what I've been preaching, cause I think it is the key to, especially at a grassroots level, the key to saving hunting, um, is having those, you know, those conversations, being able to put into words what your why, why you hunt, why you fish, why you love the outdoors, um, and humanize it. You know, sure, there's, I'm sure there's people out there that just want to do it because they like a big rack, or they, they do it because of the you know, they're an adrenaline junkie or whatever the case may be, but there's probably a bunch of ancillary things that they also enjoy about it, um, and it, even though that might not be their primary goal, the goal, um, but for the most part, the majority of us, those things that are probably viewed by ancillary stuff by those guys are, are the main driving factors. We want the meat and we want the camaraderie, we want the connection with the earth, we want the you know, uh, to feel, feel one with what we're doing, um, you know all these, all these human intrinsic values that nobody discusses. You know it's always a bloodlust, it's never you know about, you know what, what? What it means to us. It's always about what they could portray. So, um, I think if you go out there and you have conversations, think about it.
Speaker 2:There's, I said earlier, there's 14 million hunters in the United States. 14 million, I mean, I'm not, and 14 million people were talking to one, one person and changing one mind a year. One person can change in one mind a year. Like what, 20 years Am I doing my math right? 20 years you'd be, you'd educate the whole population in the United States and they'd have a different view, and that seems a little crazy, but it's the reality of it. Like, we can effectively save hunting by keeping that, that middle class or that middle class than I'm the middle class, but the middle, the middle ground, the people in the middle of hunting and anti-hunting, the non hunters, and if we can give them a reason to stay with us and to to be a uh sympathetic to what we want and and that way of life, then that's all we need to do.
Speaker 2:Like you know, you mentioned that um study that uh, outdoor stewards did and usually that's done, I think, every four years, and it was done after two years and it showed a decline. It showed a huge decline. Um, it went from like well, it's been declining. It went from like 85%, when you and I were kids probably, to now it's 70, something which tells me, you know, if you look at the, if you look at the numbers, right, if there's 5% hunters and 4% anti-hunting, right, excuse me, 5% anti-hunting, if you look at the numbers, there's only 4% that identify in the world.
Speaker 2:I think that identify as vegetarian, 1% identify as vegan, and I'm not saying that all vegetarians and all vegans are against hunting, because they're not. I've met plenty. They just, you know it might be a health thing or they view it as a better way of life for them. It's not, they're not against hunting. Actually, a lot of them actually commend hunters because they're not getting food commercially as much or whatever so, getting food commercially as much or whatever so. But if you look at it, those are the only that 4%, and then that 1%, that 5%, right, there is the only people that should have a moral soapbox to stand on to be opposed to you getting your own meat and so what? That tells me that there's 20, 20% of hypocrites in the united states 21, I think, that can go to a store or go to a restaurant, take a selfie with their hamburger and still poo-poo the fact that you're going out in the field to kill a deer to bring home to feed your family.
Speaker 1:So yeah it yeah it's, and even, like you're vegetarian, you're vegan the different things that actually happen in the fields, too, whenever people go through and they clear, cut those, and they're I mean the, the field mice, right, I mean just any of the different things that are on ground, habitating animals, or even just the runoff that that can cause from whatever it is, or even things when are sprayed, as far as the development and you know, all these different types of, maybe pesticides or whatever it is that's going on to treat those or keep animals from eating those plants. There's so many different things that come into play that I don't know if everyone has that 360 view. I look at it and I'm like there is, like you said, too right. Uh, at the very kind of beginning, it's like something had to die in order for you to live, like, no matter what it is that you eat, it doesn't matter Vegan, vegetarian there's something that has happened.
Speaker 1:There is some causality of your actions, of of eating and just existing where it's going to hurt another species. So is this species, uh, more important than the other? And then you kind of get into this dividing area, which is a really weird gray area, and the idea of someone wanting to be able to know where their food came from, whether that's your, you know local farmer's market and you know someone who grew it there and you know you have some connectivity in your local uh, you know farmers in that sense or whether it's going out there and hunting and knowing exactly that you know this was a wild animal that lived in a wild atmosphere of wild foods and you become a part of that too, and so I think it's important for us to make sure that you know that. You know people don't get too high on their soap boxes as far as those kinds of things, because it's everything. There is an action, a reaction to every action, right, so it's all around.
Speaker 1:But, um, no, those are some good points that we brought up today. I think, uh, you know, maybe we'll have to have you back another time to talk about some other updates, anything that may be coming up, that, uh, we want to chat about some hot button, uh, but, uh, you know, as far as for that, if anyone wants to go and check out your website, you know for how. Why don't you go ahead and get the socials real quick?
Speaker 2:how sure? Uh, well, for me personally, it's pretty much anything john stallone, um, facebook or instagram, and uh, even youtube, whatever, if you just search john stallone. But for how? For wildlife? Uh, on instagram is where we do our most, most of our communications and stuff um, we connect with, with a community the most through there, and that is uh, uh, how underscore org. Um and uh, the website is how helpful wildlifeorg.
Speaker 1:Right on, man. Um, I will definitely have all the show notes again and you know, just kind of, uh, I wanted to ask you ask a lot of the questions, a lot of my guests. The same question is one about legacy and it's, you know, with all the work that you're doing, all the things that you've put out there, all the educational platforms that you've kind of helped to develop there, I was kind of curious as far as how you view your legacy, how you hope that this is left behind. What are some of the goals when you're doing this on a day-to-day, and is that something you kind of think about?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I think about it all the time. Actually, you know, the older I get, the more I think about what I'm leaving behind. You know, of course, first and foremost, I'm trying to leave something behind for my children, right and financially, and you know other other stuff like that. But the grand scheme of things, one of the things that drives me the most with how, you know, yes, selfishly in my, in my hunting, in my, in my timeline, I want to do things to help protect hunting so that I can continue to hunt and I can continue to do what I'm doing. But the reality of it is hunting is probably not going to go away in my lifetime. I'm going to be 50 years old, you know, and really it's like you know what? Am I saving it for me? No, so I take great pleasure and I'm actually driven by the idea that this is something that I can help protect and preserve for the future generations, for several generations, and I've said this a hundred times now.
Speaker 2:It's probably getting old, but I uh, some years ago I heard a um, I was introduced to a Greek proverb that says society becomes great when old men plant trees of which they know they'll never enjoy the shade of, or sleep underneath the shade of, or wrestling the shade of, something, something along those lines. It's translated Um, and that stuck with me and I'm like you know that's. I feel like that's something we should all strive to do, you know, in our, in our lives, not just in hunting. But for me, I feel like that's something I can do in hunting. I can, I can plant those trees right now, and that's that's a lot of why I'm, that's why I put my, that's why I have the sleepless nights, that's why I cut back, you know, going hunting for myself this year, um, because I feel like you know I'm, I'm in a unique position to plant those trees, basically.
Speaker 1:So well, I, I'm glad that you're doing that, man. I, you know I I applaud all your hard work and efforts. Um and you know we all need to step up and do things together, and how, for wildlife is a great organization that I suggest everyone go and become a part of. Um and following all your you know socials there, make sure you go over to YouTube. Check out some of those hunts You've been filming for so many years. Some great ones there. A lot of educational stuff, a lot of entertainment and uh, yeah, thanks again for joining me, john. Looking forward to chatting with you again down the line.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thanks for having me. I'll see you next time.
