Unbroken Arrows: Healing Through The Hunt
Episode #13 - "Happy Thanksgiving!"
(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Welcome to the Unbroken Eros podcast, the Thanksgiving edition. I'm Greg. - And I'm Catherine. - And we really don't have a script today. - No. - We are just gonna kind of have a conversation about different things that have been going on and things that are going to be happening in the future, I guess. So anyway, it's been a while since Catherine and I have just sat down and talked about nothing. To quote a Seinfeld episode, that's what the show is all about. Nothing. And maybe that's a good segue to what our podcast is all about. But no. - Nothing. - I hope that's not the case. - The podcast episode title. Nothing. - Well, so anyway, we've had, let's see. Well, I think we recorded four or five podcasts to kind of get ahead of the game because we were really going week to week and it's been several weeks now since we actually sat down and recorded anything. And I just, to prove the point, I forgot which button to push to start the podcast. So there we are. But, so how have you been, Catherine? - I have been good. Busy, hunting. - Yeah, and how's the hunting been going? - It's been going. Dear hunting so far, I'm still unsuccessful. I joke that this is the year of me being a guide 'cause it seems like everyone I go with shoots something, but I have not-- - A Teresa did. - Teresa shot one, Nate got his out west, I took Nate back out. Well, I took Nate more or less. Back out this last weekend for East River rifle opener and he shot one. Yeah. - So how's the pheasant hunting going? - Pheasant hunting has also, compared to what it has been, it's been a little bit slower, but that's also just 'cause we haven't hunted with a big group yet this year. Like Greg joked, he's like, I thought you kids only ever shot limits, but this year you're not shooting as many. Like, yeah, but we're also hunting with five to 10 people versus 15 to 20 people. - But what about numbers that you've seen even in the smaller groups that you're in? Have you seen a lot of birds that you just didn't get an opportunity because you didn't have enough blockers or-- - Yeah, it's kind of depend, yes and no. Some places were like, wow, just where are the birds? It was also, and it was a weird year because there were still so many crops in that first weekend that we hunted. So that the birds were just standing in the cornfields. They weren't in the grass or the saloons, but there has been definitely enough times that there just hasn't been enough people and they're busting out the ends or out the sides and just nobody's really getting a shot at 'em. - Well, that's good for pheasant numbers for the future. - For everyone else, yeah. - For everyone else, but-- - What about you, Greg? How's hunting gone for you? (laughs) - As you look over your microphone and laugh at me, I haven't hunted, and that's why you're asking me that question. Let's see, I did. I did, I did go out a couple of times looking for squirrels. - And you forgot. - And one time I did forget my shells so I had to stop at a bomb-gar store at a small town outside of Sioux Falls and pick up a box of shells. I did remember everything else, though, but I was disappointed because this fall, I really wanted to, I've been searching for box elder trees and I think I mentioned that on a previous podcast because I have box elder mushrooms doing a little foraging and box elder mushrooms are my favorite and it stopped raining. Just period it, so dry that, well, and I haven't been able to get out that much even to look for that. Your mom had knee surgery, so that had a little bit of something to do with my availability, but yeah, I have a place to hunt deer and I have an archery tag, but I have not even gotten to the point to go out even once. - When you were looking for squirrels, you went down by like Newton Hills, right? - Yeah. - Did you ever find any dead deer? - I did not. - It might have been a little early. Apparently, EHD has been really bad south of Sioux Falls area. - That's what Nate was just saying, yeah. You know, that's interesting and I wonder if, you know, the flow of that, because let's see, two years ago maybe, at least two years ago, the deer population really took a hit in northeast Nebraska and I didn't see anything in the news about it, but one of the land owners farmers that I talked to, that's what he said, was that the EHD was really, really bad and I think some of the tells on that is to find deer near water because they drink a lot. - Well, it's like the midges in the water, which apparently when it's dryer can make it worse too because then like all the water level goes down and this is where, I don't know, this is all, this could be hearsay for all I know. - You're treading into the science area and-- - I haven't done enough research, but supposedly what I've been told is that when it's dryer water levels go down and then there's more eggs that get hatched for whatever reason. And then these midges like bite the deer and that's how they get it, but it's in the water. So when they're drinking, they end up getting it from there and then that's also part of it is they get, I don't know if they get thirsty or if it's kind of like when deer get gut shot, you can find them by water a lot. I don't know why, I don't know what the correlation is, but that's a thing. - Well, I think I might be having an update in the weeks to come just to verify some of these things because-- - Well, actually research it. - Yeah, I think that I guess I always thought that once a deer was infected, one of the traits or one of the symptoms, so to speak, is that it just can't quench its thirst. - Could be. - So-- - I do know that they usually get bit when they're drinking. - Well, and I'm also assuming that midges probably part of their reproduction cycle is like mosquitoes that they hatch in water. - Yeah. - That makes hatch in water. So I think that's probably the big correlation between water and deer populations getting infected, but there's something about drinking, so we'll-- - Yeah, but even like, I know of a couple counties that GFP offered people to, if they turn their tags in, they'll get their money back 'cause they're like, we just don't, there's not enough deer for the amount of tags we gave out. - Really? Is that like something that happens often or? - I think it happened a couple of years ago when the antelope numbers went down a lot, but I don't know. I couldn't tell you. This is the first time I've heard of it with deer, but it could happen before. - Funny you mentioned antelope because it's one of the things that I was reading about, I think it was after you and Nate went west, and I think we are more appropriate by referring to them as pronghorn. - That's true. - Not antelope. - They're not antelope. - They're not antelope, so. - But the tag says antelope, so. - Yeah, I know, so that's kind of confusing, but. - It's a species of antelope, isn't it? Like it's a subspecies of antelope? - You know, again, I'm not so sure about that, so folks, stay tuned. There's two things now that we will do a little bit of research on and talk more about later on, but there's-- - Mom, sorry, get her up. Mom, I don't know what we were talking about the other day, but she's like, yeah, she's like, you wanna know what I learned? I was like, sure. She's like, what's the biggest deer species? Like, what's the biggest? And I was like, is this a trick question? Like, is it something I'm gonna know is it in Africa? And she's like, no, not in Africa. Like, is it a moose? And she's like, yeah, she's like, how'd you know that? I didn't think moose were a deer species. And I was like, yeah, there. - Well, a plug for meat eater trivia, because your mom and I, well, you've got in on a couple of rounds of that. We listen to it quite often when we're traveling. And it's kinda fun to learn some of those kinds of things, but I think I got it right. - Did you? - Yeah, I think so. - Moose are huge. I don't think people realize how big. - I would agree. - Moose are. - I've ever told you this story, my uncle, my aunt, and my uncle, my dad's sister. She was my aunt, my aunt, Leatris, and her husband, Uncle Russell, and he was in the lumber industry. And they spent most of their time in Medford, Oregon, a little bit of time down in, was it Prescott, Arizona? And then spent some time in Alaska. And she said that they would have moose alerts in the wintertime when the snow would get so deep that the moose couldn't even find, or had a hard time finding food in the wild. And I said, why, you know, why is that such an issue? Well, she said two reasons. One, they're mean. - Yeah, they're super mean. - And people think that they're, you know, oh, it's a moose. - It's like a deer and you just cuddly. - And they're nasty. And the other thing was that at that time, one of the most prevalent cars that people drove in that area were Volkswagen beetles. - Yeah, there's a lot of them in Alaska. - Because they, the engines in the rear, and so that's added traction. So the drive train, you know, is in back. And so they're easy, it's easier to get around. But the problem is moose, people don't also, people don't understand that moose are so tall and they have such long legs. Exactly right. They drive, and when they would hit one, the moose would flip literally into the driver or the driver in the passenger. - Oh gee. - And very high incident of, you know, people getting really bad injured or dying from a car accident by hitting a moose in a Volkswagen beetle. That sounds-- - I do remember there being a lot of slug bugs as we called them in Alaska. - Do I recall that? How would I recall that? - I said I recall. - Oh, you were, okay. - Did I say you remember? - I thought you said do you recall? - No, I thought I said I do remember. - Oh, I do remember. - I guess I don't know if I actually remember it or if I've just heard it so many times. - Sure. Yeah, I know, that was one of the more interesting, not more interesting stories, but I remember at a very early age her telling me that story and I haven't forgotten it. - Yeah, makes sense. Have you heard mom's story about when she chased him as? She just recently told me this and I was like, "Mother, you are insane." - Well, let's fill in, fill in everybody on this story. - I think they were in Montana elk hunting. It was my mom and dad and she had said that she was getting really annoyed because they had been hunting like hard for five days and they haven't seen a single elk, but they could find, it was always moose, there's moose everywhere. And then she was saying that they went up, had hunted basically all day, was hiking back to wherever their vehicles were, whatever, and there's like three, two or three moose, just basically standing next to their cars. And she was so annoyed that she just took off and started running at 'em. And she's like, they ran away or whatever, and it wasn't until after the guides had told me 'cause they like take you and drop you off and say you go hunt here, so it's not like the guides were with them, I don't think. And they were like, that is like crazy. And then she ended up getting some nickname, it was like... - Can I make some up? - It was something, it was like something bitch, moose, chaser, or something. And she's like, yeah, that's just my nickname, that's what they called me. - No, I don't think I've heard that story, so I'm gonna have to go to the source now. - Yeah, she told me this like a week ago. I was like, how have I never heard this story before? - Well, somehow maybe the moose connection to the biggest deer, was that the... - I think that's how it came up. And I think we were talking about how I wanted to go elk hunting. So then she was talking about elk hunting, and then how they saw a bunch of moose, and yeah, but... The up above and to your left, I see some pheasant feathers that are in a wreath here, and that reminds me that I asked you to get some pheasant feathers when you went hunting. - Yeah, Zach called Dibs on 'em, 'cause they're gonna use 'em in the wedding. - Oh, what? - So Zach and Janie took 'em all. - Okay, Zach, Janie, I suppose that is a good excuse. Our Christmas tree will wait. - I've got like a pile of 'em downstairs. I just wanna back when you're done, don't throw 'em away. - Speaking of this year's Christmas tree, we are... - Speaking of Thanksgiving. - Yes, no, speaking of Christmas trees. - Oh, yeah, same thing, same difference. - Speaking of Christmas trees. - Greg had a fact about this, so I'm not sure what's going on here, but... - Well, okay, well, I did, and while I was fact checking that you went back to EHD, and you've got some information that you can share too, so why don't you do that first? - I did Google it to make sure I wasn't spewing lies, and I think Greg might've misunderstood what I was saying, so I'm gonna clear that up too. The deer don't get EHD from drinking the water. The midges, or the bugs, or the noceums, or whatever you wanna call 'em, hatch in the water, so that's where a lot of times these deer get bit. - Okay. - And it doesn't spread deer to deer, like, deer to human or anything, like if they have to get bit by this bug. But then, like, symptoms of it are like your loss of... They don't fear humans anymore. The fever, which Greg was saying is when they drink a lot of water, which is why you find them dead by water a lot, what else? - I think you said blood in the feces. - Oh yeah, and increased respiration rate, salivation, excesses, yeah. So, and then I was saying that someone I know has found 10 to 15 dead deer, and he's got a video. He came up on one that he thought was dead, and was just gonna look at it, and he's got a video of it, and it's just laying there, and it's blinking. That's the only reason you can see that it's still alive, 'cause it's just opening, closing its eyes. - That's sad. - That is sad. - Well, I think that EHD, and you hear about that more now, I do, I can't say that it's more prevalent, but I hear of that more now than I do of CWD. - It depends on what area you're at. - That was just gonna say that, yeah. It'll depends on where you're at, because there are different areas that have different diseases that are more prevalent, so. - I think further east, there's more CWD, like Wisconsin. - Right, and I'd like to know, I've heard on several different podcasts and some radio programs that talk about the outdoors, about deer farms, and I'd like to know whether or not are those deer farms that raise deer like trophy, is that what it is, or is it, do they raise deer for? - A year in. - I will finish my sentence at some point in time here, folks. But like cattle, farmers raise cattle to butcher to sell the meat, is it that what it is, or I just don't know what a deer farm is, you know, need to find out from a deer farm. - A lot of different deer farms. - Well, like you've got your high fence deer farms that people are like breeding big deer to sell them for thousands of dollars so people can come in and shoot them. And then you've got like-- - These are on large pieces of land that, you know, but the deer are trapped in the high fence? - Yeah, it's a high fence. And they like specifically will breed different deer to figure out what the best genetics are, and basically just breed really big deer. There's one out by like Howard, South Dakota, that you can even shoot an elk like an hour from Sioux Falls. You just have to pay like seven grand. And then it depends on how big the deer is. They have different like tears. So if you shoot a 200 inch deer, it's maybe $8,000. If you shoot a 250 inch deer, it's, well, I don't know, I'm making up numbers, but-- - I could tell. - It's close. You'd be surprised how much people will pay to do that, which I don't know. - Yeah, I think that the jury's out on that, I think, maybe. - That's like-- - But I don't think I really wanna-- - Texas is pretty much all like high fence stuff from the way I understand it, for like deer hunting. - Really? - 'Cause then they have like the axis too, and different exotic. - Oh, exotic, yeah. I knew on the exotics where they have the farm, or the exotics, they're oftentimes very large acreage farms, high fence, and you can go in and do that, but-- - That's, I, if I had to guess, it's a large amount that's either high fence or some sort of like lease. - I wonder what the draw is to that being a, you know, small town kid from Nebraska, is that to do that instead of like the axis deer wherever they're found, Africa? Is it cheaper than going to Africa, or wherever they are found? - I don't know. - You can go to Hawaii too, I think Hawaii would be cool, 'cause there's like certain islands that they have them on, and then you just hunt the whole island. - Well, and Hawaii has a problem with some of those species that are just getting overpopulated, and they're really almost, well, they are in nuisance, so-- - Is it chickens? Don't they have a bunch of chickens? - Well, yes they do, and I've got-- - That just like roam everywhere. - Yeah, they're like street gangs. Yeah, and I've got a story to that. I was, when I went out to meet up with my daughter, Sydney, on the, for the tiger cruise, I'm lying in the hotel room in the morning, and all of a sudden I hear this, what I think is a rooster crow, you know? And it's like, oh man, what am I dreaming, you know? And all of a sudden I hear it again, and I go out on the patio from the hotel room, there's these roosters all over the place. Now they're like the ornamental chickens, you know, they're not just like the white chickens, you see, you know, driving down the road, and the trucks or those kinds of things going from one place to the next. They've got the really fancy, yeah, colors, and really, you know, bushy, you're not bushy, but ornate tail feathers and things like that, but yeah, there's chickens everywhere, but-- - But the other deer farms then, like you said, if they're like butchering deer, they're raising deer for people to hunt, or like Mrs. Dopee is the one that we carry, that they raise deer and then collect, it's urine and bottle it and sell it. - By we carry, she's referring to that she works at Sheel's, not that we-- - Yeah, we just stock it all the time. - We stock it here at the house. - Mom's actually not happy that I have some in the fridge right now. - Yeah, I just think we can't believe you. - We've been careful with that, so. - It's a close bottle. - Yeah. So let's see, I was talking about a Christmas tree, and what we're going to do with our Christmas tree this year, and it was inspired by, and that's what I needed to fact check, was an event at Good Earth State Park, which I'm going to make another plug now for state parks. During this time of year, there are a lot of activities that are going on, go outside, there's going to be, I don't know how many, but maybe every state park, or many of them have a first hike on January 1st, activities for people to get outside, and with maybe a new year's resolution to get outside. But last year, your mom and I in tree, so went out to Good Earth because they had holiday trees display, and different organizations or sponsors would decorate a tree. And so different businesses, and corporate type businesses from around the area, set up a tree, and of course it has a theme that usually goes along with them. But anyway, one of them was really nature focused. So what your mom and I decided to do this year was that we collected pine cones from your aunt and uncle, her aunt and uncle, I guess it is, right? - That's what that big box was, right? That fire pit box. - Well, yeah, but the funny thing was, is that we brought back like four grocery bags full, and then they brought that box back. We have enough pine cones for, you know, everybody in southeastern Sioux Falls right now. Not anymore, but we did. But anyway, back to the Christmas tree, they are doing that again out at Good Earth. It's, they're actually having a holiday tree display set up from December 1st through January 6th. But on Saturday the 7th from 5 to 7, there'll be, you could go out and look at the tree, Santa will be there, there's gonna be music and more, it says. - Not great, can anybody put a tree out? - I don't know. - Or do you have to like sign up? - I think you'd have to sign up. So if you have questions about that, contact Good Earth State Park, and you can Google that or go to GFPSDGFP.SD.gov, and look that up. But, and again, one of the things that I do want to emphasize with regard to our local state parks is that they have different types of programs against specific to Good Earth little acorns, which is for little tics, obviously. And they've got programs, so it looks like a monthly program for them. And one that I went to a couple of times last year, it's Good Earth State Park, Fish, Acronym, F-I-S-H, and you're gonna get a kick out of this, Catherine, because this is why I like going. - Why don't you talk to this? It's like something for old people. - Man, be careful how you said, how you talk young lady. Friendly, interactive, senior. - There it is. - What's that last word? I can't. - Can't read it. - We have to put your pineapples on. - That's enough, young lady. Go to your room. - Go to my room. - Okay. See, ladies and gentlemen, you enjoy the fact that she just absolutely tears me down. - I do not. - I do not, don't make me sound you old. - Just a second, I'm crying now. - Yeah, I'm sure you are. - I want to get my tears out of my eyes first. And then another type of program, they have a Thursday talk series, 7 p.m. on Thursday nights. And the next one is biomimicry. Catherine, what is biomimicry? - That is when animals or plants pretend to be other animals and plants. Do plants count too? I just threw that in there. 'Cause I feel like it feels like it's more animals. I think it is more animals, yes. But, biomimicry can be. Can be, because-- - I feel like-- - Well, I have to-- - I'm trying to think of a plant right now that-- - That looks like a different plant. That might be poisonous, but this one's not poisonous. - Or what about like the fly trap things? - The biggest fly trap? - They sit there with their mouths open to look like just a flower. - Yeah, that's true. - I don't know, I'm making things up. Again. - That was impressive, though. You didn't think I was gonna get that right. - No, you didn't. I didn't, but. So anyway, but fly tying basics. - That one would be cool. Is this like, how to tie the actual fly or how to tie the fly onto the line? Or a little build? - You know, that's an excellent question, but these are the actual ties. - I'll say there's a lot of different knots to tie flies on. - You know, that's true. And through my talking with the people at the Casting for Recovery, and then a friend of ours on the podcast, Jason Nelson from the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks. You know, everybody that I've talked to said that everything that you see, whether it's like a river run through it, you know, the movie. - I love the movie. - I love the movie too, but everybody. - Is that Brad Pitt? - That's why you love it. I like the scenery. You like, because Brad Pitt doesn't. - That movie doesn't really have like a plot though. It's just Brad Pitt fly fishing. - That's because you were just watching. Boy, it has a very good plot, Katherine. You need to watch the game. - He dies, doesn't he? - You know, I don't remember. It's been-- - I'm pretty sure he dies. - 30 or 4 years. - Well, it's like, there's a bar fight and he dies. - Well. - I was first. - I was first. - We don't know if I'm sure exactly. - 30 hours. - Katherine's memory. Sometimes his record's suspect when it comes to debates. - 30 hour movie. There just wasn't very much action. I love the movie, I thought it was a great movie, but. - Yeah, I think that you had to have been pretty young when you watched it, I think. - Julianna and I watched it at the late cabin a couple of years ago in our annual trip. - Back to my point with fly tying and fly fishing is that nearly everybody that I've talked to said that all of the things that people normally see and associate with fly fishing, they seem to make it intimidating and it's really not. - It's hard. - Well, to learn how to cast like somebody in that movie, yes, that's very difficult to do. But they're talking about, you know, fish are not the smartest things in the world. And if you think you have to tie a perfect fly, you're wrong, you know, I went to one of those workshops a while back and just to kind of observe and a guy sat me down and helped me tie my first fly. And I said something like that. I said, this really isn't too impressive. And he said, just remember fish have little brains and pretty much bite on anything. So that's it. - Kind of like turkeys. - Well, except they always aren't smart you. - No, but, but-- - See what I have to deal with people? - I meant in general, they have smart me too. - I would love to have some kind of support, you know, anybody that just would send an email saying, "Greg, stick in there, stay with it." - You took that personally and I didn't mean for it to do personal. - They keep that with you. How else can I take that? - It was a general statement, no, but I fly fish before and it's difficult. - Well, I'm not saying that it's not difficult. It's not the same as bait casting or, you know, you're like-- - I also can't use it bait caster. I've learned that the hard way. - Well, I've tried. - Well, anyway, I think that, well, like my brother Terry, there's a trout stream in Northeast Nebraska, the Vertigri Creek at its source is near Grove Lake. And, but it's a narrow stream and you can't really, you know, cast like you would in a normal situation, but he uses his fly rod and he catches nice trout all the time. - I'd like to do more of that, but the only time I did it was when we were in Colorado. - We have some of that trout in the freezer, of this smoked trout, it's good. - I'll take your word for it. - You don't want to try it? - Maybe I'll try it. - Is it already cooked? - It's smoked. - So it's just like frozen? - Yeah. - Smoked? - Smoked? - Like jerky? - Well, it's got the flavor of jerky because it's smoked. - Right, but you still have, you would still like warm it up. - You could, you could eat it cold. - I don't know, I'm gonna feel about cold fish. - Mix it up with, you know, like cream cheese and make it into a dip. Oh yeah. - Gosh, I don't know, I'd try it. I just don't really like the taste of fish. - It tastes like fish, I just. - We're having fish tacos on Wednesday. - That's fun. Fried, like how grandpa makes fish? - Yeah. - It's basically chicken. - Well, okay. - It doesn't taste fish. - Bill, no offense. I've made fish several times here for fish tacos and have you eaten them? - Fried. How else are you making the fish? - Well, you know, he now has-- - You're battering it and fried. - He has, well, we douse it in flour. He even douses it flour. He doesn't make a batter. - Right, okay. But it's got some sort of-- - Coding on it. - Coding and then it's fried. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's fine. - But. - And I like grandpas where he does like the skin on with the walleye. - Okay. - But I just. - What about the flat top? Have you ever had it off the flat top? - I don't know. - That's what he's into right now with fish. Butter on the flat top. No coating. I don't know if I've ever had that. - No, I'll have to maybe make something that way. - Maybe. - So. - I don't really like seafood though, either. Just like that fishy taste. - I, I'm sorry. I really am. - Crab lobster, not a fan. - Tuna. - Oh, tuna. - Salmon. - I need to get to see them. - You always have those salmon patties. - Yeah, they're delicious. - No, I don't like those. - Oh. - Catherine. Let's see. - Okay, so Christmas tree. I'm looking forward to that. - So what all are you putting on it? - Right now we have, we made. - Just pine cones. It's gonna look like a real tree. - Again, I will be able to finish my sentence. - Sorry. - It will actually listen to or look like a real tree. I cut down a tree and saved some of the branches and we cut cross sections of those. There's a pine tree. And we, your mom took like little wooden balls that looked like cranberries. So we made a couple of big garlands with those. We have purchased a few different ornaments that have the outdoor theme to them. Your mom made pine cones, the pine cones. We took some things from Hobby Lobby and cut like the evergreen branches off of that. And she glued them on and then like little, little red holly berries that are attached to that glued those together. And some of them she painted with the chalk paint. So it looks like they've got snow on them. - So. - And-- - Do some birch trees too. - Though there were some birch something in the garage. What's that for? - Right, that's for like a display out in the front porch. Speaking of which, I was supposed to work on cutting some logs today and I forgot. - Whoops. - So hopefully, hopefully by the first part of December that will be done, or maybe later today depending upon what your mom says. So, anyway, this is Thanksgiving. This is actually going to be published on Thanksgiving Day. And Thanksgiving, October and November, have since I was a young boy, a wee little lad. No, October and November, you've never heard that. Anyway. - I've heard that. - Yes. - You haven't heard me say that. - I know. - Anyway, October and November have always been my favorite months. Fall was probably my favorite season. Thanksgiving was always a time growing up. When I was growing up, it was a time that at some time or point over the weekend, all the family would get together, cousins and stuff like that. And we have this huge field below the house that we grew up in and we'd go down and play football. And as we got older, one of the traditions that we would follow is that oftentimes we would go hunting in the morning. And of course, that was before we grew up and had to do all the cooking and those kinds of things. So most recently, actually, my brother Pete and brother Terry and I, I think it was the first year I met your mom. I had Thanksgiving with my mom and Terry at their place but Pete and I went out, kind of, Pete, Terry and I kind of went hunting. We walked through some fields. I had a gun, neither of them. - We went for a walk with a gun. - Yeah, kinda. But we went out and walked a field and they're both, what are the R3 initiative? It's a retain. - Re-vive. - Re-vive. - Re-use, re-use, re-segal. - No, for the R3, it's-- - I don't know, you're the one that always says it. - Yeah. Recruit, retain, and renew. - Re-use, re-use, re-use. - And I'm in that category where, you know, getting back into all those things that I used to do when I was much younger and both of those brothers are in that same boat. So that was kind of one of the first things that they wanted to do, so. - Have you ever heard the saying that guys hunt because it'd be weird if they went for a walk together without killing something? Like, hey, you wanna go out for a walk? Or they're like, there's one with the duck hunting, they're like, guys hunt because it'd be weird if they went and sat in a boat on a lake together for hours at a time and didn't kill anything. It'd feel too much like a date. - Interesting, no, I've never heard those things before, so, interesting, okay. So Thanksgiving. - Yes, Thanksgiving. - We're, I think, broke a family tradition on the Peter's side of the family because I asked if we could host Thanksgiving here at our house, and I think if you could all see the face that Catherine's in here right now, but I think that, well, you're not even gonna be here, are you? - Oh, you're not gonna be here. I'll be here for a little bit at the end. As you get older, those things happen, you know? Going to Nate's families, right? - Yeah. - So, anyway, I asked if we could host Thanksgiving just because I like to cook, and Thanksgiving is one of those meals that it's kind of hard to mess up, so I think I should be okay, and your mom's offered to do some things too, so that's gonna be fun, we're gonna do it together. - It's impressive. - Yeah. - I don't like cooking, so. - Everyone's in a while, Catherine, you just, you render me speechless. - I've been better about cooking lately. I've lived a couple times. - Yeah, but are you going to learn to love to cook or are you just gonna cook to survive? - Cook to survive. - See, that's what your mom always says too. I love to try different things and new flavors and things like that, and she's like, I cook to survive. - I just cook 'cause I have to. - I think that's so sad. - Well, and it depends. - Food is so wonderful. - It depends too, I think if I just had more time, I wouldn't mind cooking, but it's a time commitment to some extent. - To some extent? - Yeah. - Yes, it's a time commitment. - Right, not everything though, some things you can throw together in like 15 minutes, which is why I love to make tacos and spaghetti because it's quick and easy. But you, well, depending on how you make it. - Well, yeah, okay. The way I make it, it's quick and easy. If I had just time, I think I would enjoy it more. - Okay. - 'Cause I like finding recipes, and then I just send 'em to a gring. - Well, you know, you have a point there because since I have more time on my hands, since I'm retired, I do enjoy cooking more. So I think maybe you're onto something there, kid. So. - Yeah, so. I think I, it's definitely grown on me more since I've gotten a little bit older. - Okay. - But I still, if I had to choose, I would let anybody else cook. - Well, just understand that whenever you do cook, you know, it's appreciated. - I know, you always say that. - And, but Nate's a cook. - Nate can grill. (laughs) - Wow. Folks, that was Nate getting run over by the bus. - No, he can do meat. - Okay. - If you want, I think it's a man thing, like a bachelor age 20-year-old man thing. - Yeah, AJ said that the other day, he said Mackenzie cooks, but like when it comes to wild game, he cooks. It's like, okay, if you always cook for wild game, substitute chicken for dove, or chicken for the pheasant for chicken, or, you know. - No, and Nate's is like any meat. Like, if you want meat, he would make a steak, and that's it, where I'm like, all right, let's like have a spargot, or like potatoes with it, or even french fries. - Well, but that's a pretty good combination. If he cooks the meat, he's very good. - But a lot of times, he'll just be like, yep, we're having steak, I'm like, sounds good. Just a slav of steak. - Good protein. - The carnivore diet. - It's okay. - Or wings. Like if we have wings, it's usually just wings, unless we happen to do, like, french fries or something. - My sons are that way. They will buy like a truckload of wings, and then they make their own sauces. I mean, hats off to them, and they're really, really good, and they're really, really good at it, and they either, you know, use the Traeger, the air fryer, all those other kinds of things, and some of them are dry, and some of them are wet, and they do a really, really nice job. But I'm not exaggerating when I say a truckload, it's like, okay, back up the truck, we've got two cases of wings. - Yeah, I don't think Nate, Nate's made pasta wants, and that's 'cause I asked him if he could just like, boil the noodles, and he made the entire box of noodles. We did not need this money. Should have specified how many noodles I wanted. - Well, I think that you need to just help out in the kitchen a little bit more. - I do. I've gotten better. Don't scowal at me. - Well, I mean, cooking-- - Grapes me in faces. - Yeah, well, you've been calling me old and stuff, so my face is a lot less intrusive than-- - I made a chicken bacon ranch sliders the other day when you guys weren't here, and I cooked the chicken all by myself. I did it in the oven 'cause I didn't wanna do it on the stove, but it turned out really good. - Well, some of the things then that you're cooking then, it's kinda like Bigfoot because people talk about Bigfoot. Now you're talking about chicken bacon ranch sliders. - Ask Theresa, Theresa was there. She like them. - Who made the bacon? - I made the bacon. Yeah, I made the bacon in the oven. - Really? - Also because I didn't want grease splatter. You asked Theresa, I mean, and it was the, I didn't realize they weren't chicken breasts, they were chicken thighs, so that was threw me for a loop when there was bones, but we figured it out. - I figured it out? Well, that's good. You had a little bit of a, you had audible as they would say you had-- - I definitely didn't do it in the way that you would have done it, but we don't have to go, we don't have to talk about that. - We don't have to talk about that, okay, well. So what about you and Thanksgiving? Do you like Thanksgiving or this time of year as a whole other than just you're a hunter? - I don't know, Thanksgiving, if I had to list all the holidays, like my bottom two would be like Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving. Okay, I just, if they, if one year, we were like, we're just not gonna do Thanksgiving anymore, I'd be like, okay. - Really? - Yeah. - Oh my. - I just, I never really cared for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner anyways. And so it was just a day off of school. - Wow, I'm learning so much today. - I love the holiday of Christmas. I hate Christmas day. - Why? - Just 'cause there's always so much pressure on it. - Like what kind of pressure? - Well, just where, like, where's everyone gonna go? Even growing up, it was like, who's house do we go to? Who's cooking what, like, what are we bringing? What presents are people buying? How much money do I have to spend on different things? We just did pizzas, frozen pizzas, and played games. That'd be amazing. - A lot less pressure. You know, you've got, you've got some valid points there. I, because it's about spending time with family and friends and those kinds of things. So it should be, well, we've really lost focus on those things because think of when you start seeing Christmas decorations in the store, like Halloween. - Yeah, it's crazy. - So, anyway, one bone of contention or point of contention, bone to pick, would be, I don't count Valentine's Day as a holiday. In my book, you've got Thanksgiving, Christmas. I'll go with New Years as a holiday, Fourth of July. - Fourth of July, that's my favorite holiday. - Well, and, but, Easter. - Easter. - So, I may be missing something, but, you know. - St. Patrick's Day, not a holiday. - No, no. - Valentine's Day is not a holiday. - No. - Halloween's not a holiday. - No, I don't view those as holidays. And I know that Memorial Day is the official kickoff to like summer and those kinds of things. - I wouldn't call it a holiday. - And I have a problem when people tell me happy Memorial Day or something like that. It's kind of like happy Good Friday. It's like, but, you know, those are the kinds of things that I definitely, you know, want to honor, like Memorial Day, for what it is, what it's purpose is to remember those that have, you know, fought for what we, what the freedoms that we have and honor the fact that they have gone either in battle or after that. And Veterans Day, we just had Veterans Day on November 11th. So thank you for your service to all of those that served and are serving and what else? - I think you covered it. - I think I covered the Memorial Day and Veteran Day. So I'm going to contribute to those in service and those that have served, those that have given their all for the freedoms that we have. - So I'm very patriotic of you. - Like our chicken fried. - Cold beer on a Friday night. - There you go. Ah, speaking of cold beer on a Friday night, we have a, we have a special birthday coming up here, don't we? - Oh, yeah, we do. - Somebody, somebody's going to have a big birthday, but we're not going to say anything more about that. - No. - 'Til later. - Why? - Just because. - Okay, works for you. - We're just going to wait on that. Let's see, what else? Thanksgiving, I'm really surprised though that you just, you know. - It's pretty, what's the, I just don't really care. It's the word for that. - You're indifferent. - Thank you, indifferent to it. - Okay then, I said that my favorite months historically have been October, November. My life experiences here as the last five years have kind of shaken that a little bit, but with you. - One of my favorite months. - Yeah, without thinking, you know. - I have no idea. - No. - I love warm weather. - Well, you said 4th of July, so. - I sat, 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I love warm weather. I love being at the lake, I love fishing, but I really like content too. So I think if I had to pick a month, it'd probably be like September, 'cause it's still warm, but you can hunt. You've got deer hunting, you have dove hunting, antelope opens. - Pronom. - Yeah, whatever. No, at all. - I'm just trying to be accurate. - Elk opens in a lot of places, but it's still warm. - Well. - I hate being cold, it's like the worst. - Yeah, which I don't get cold super easily either, but I hate being cold. - Last thing I heard, you were going out hunting this morning and someone decided to sleep in. - Actually, I got up, was pretty much had gotten ready. I had most of my clothes on, went to grab my heavy stuff and realized that it was still wet. - Who? - I had pulled it out of the dryer last night and just assumed it was dry. I didn't really look that deep into it, and it was not. So, I thought, I even woke up at, hey, it was half an hour before my alarm went off and was just said, whatever, screw it, I'm awake. Like, I'll just get up. And I had thought, I'll just go throw on the dryer for 20 minutes and it'll be fine, but can't do that right now. - Yeah, that's another story for another time, but. - So, yeah, I wasn't gonna go sit in 20 degree weather with 25 mill an hour winds with cold clothes or wet clothes. - But you know what, it would have been a, I think it would have been a good morning. - I had a deer by my stand, a dowel. - On the, yeah. - Which kind of sucks, but. - Yeah, I noticed this morning when I got up to make coffee that where your car was parked, I could see that there was snow on it. So, at some point in time, it snowed a little bit anyway. - Oh, by the way, thanks for moving my car. - Oh. - I told mom to wake me up and I'd do it, but. - Yeah, Mesa was on the way down to wake you up to do that. I said, just wait, I can move the car forward, so. - Yeah, that's me being a good guy again, but I don't know, I'm an old, nice guy, evidently, and one that needs reading glasses to get my bifocals. - You did that to yourself. - Yeah, I do. So, anyway, everyone, happy Thanksgiving. - Yeah, happy Thanksgiving. - We hope that. - Happy holidays. - Happy holidays, the advent season leading up to Christmas is always one that I prefer it to be a white Christmas. Mesa, when anybody mentions snow, Mesa's favorite word is yuck, yuck, yuck. - I like snow, I just don't like it when it's cold. I don't like wind, I think that's a better, better. - I'm scratching my head here, I just don't, I like snow, but not when it's cold. - No, I hate to like, gather in the only snow. - Super cold, windy, I don't like wind. - It could be 15 degrees and I'd be fine as long as it's not windy, which is an awful place to live, because it's always windy here. - It's always windy here, yeah. - There's no such thing as a day without wind. - Well, I wonder if it's going to be like two years ago when we had over 60 inches of snow or last year when we had like, you know, less than 10, I think. So, it's gonna be interesting to see. But anyway, we digressed again, so. - Yeah, happy holidays, guys. - Happy holidays, happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for joining us. - Listening to our ramble. - Yeah, well, hopefully it's one of those things that, you know, we should put a poll out there and see, you know, if people like it more when I scratch my head of things that you say or if you say things that make me cry. I don't know which ones, which one, which what people would like more to hear, so. - A little bit of both. - A little controversy there, so. Anyway, okay. As always, if you or someone you know is thinking of suicide or in need of crisis intervention, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. You have to remember that the world is a better place with you in it. To all of our listeners, take some time to get outside, enjoy the outdoors, and experience its healing powers. With that, on behalf of Greg and me, until next time. (upbeat music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)