Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Ep.16 Adventures in Moose Country with Nathan Robinson
How can one transition from snowmobiling adventures to capturing the majestic beauty of wildlife through the lens of a camera? Join us as we unravel the captivating story of Nathan Robinson, an avid outdoorsman and wildlife photographer, who shares his inspiring journey from the snowy trails of northern New Brunswick, Canada, to becoming a passionate moose photographer. Nathan opens up about his love for the great outdoors and how his encounters with wildlife led him to offer guided moose tours, helping others experience the awe of these magnificent creatures firsthand.
Get ready to be taken on a thrilling escapade into the wilds of New Brunswick with Nathan and a dedicated group of shed hunters, including Ian McKendry, Trevor Kline, Dawson Daigle, and Dennis Besteman. Discover the unique strategies and challenges they face in their quest to find over 200 moose sheds, despite the mild winter that scattered moose activity. With insights into moose behavior during the colder months and the fascinating use of mapping apps to locate prime hunting areas, this episode offers a deep dive into the demanding yet rewarding world of shed hunting.
Finally, explore the rugged terrain of New Brunswick and the physical demands of hunting for moose antlers, coupled with the joy of spotting live moose in their natural habitat. Nathan shares invaluable tips on logistics, ideal times for moose sightings, and essential gear for wildlife tours. We also discuss the serene experience of staying at Island Oasis on Long Lake, perfect for romantic getaways or hunting adventures. Aspiring wildlife videographers will find Nathan’s advice on capturing authentic footage particularly enlightening, ensuring an educational and thrilling experience for all nature enthusiasts. Don't miss out on this exciting episode as we journey through Nathan’s incredible adventures!
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this is hunts on outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken meyer. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories to how-tos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey guys, thanks for tuning in to the podcast the only podcast brought to you by jay's plumbing the only time a flush beats a full house.
Speaker 1:If you're into shed hunting, you're definitely going to want to listen to this one. As we talk to nathan robinson on his epic and fully filmed moose shed hunt 2024, with some good old american boys, these guys find a pile of sheds in just a few days. Nathan is a really interesting guy. I think you'll really enjoy this one. Uh, some quick facts about sheds before we get going. Sheds or antlers they are the fastest growing tissue in any mammal. A moose can grow up to one pound of antler a day during the summer growing season. An average sized shed in North America is about eight by 12, and most sheds are about nine to ten feet tall. Yeah, so, nathan, you're a really busy guy. I can see from your social media lots going on. Before we really get into your the podcast and get here, why don't you kind of say if you want some of your social media platforms you're on and the best way to contact you. That way, people might want to check that out as we get going along here, sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Instagram and YouTube currently, and I am in the process right now of actually building a building a brand new website, which would be Nathan Robinson photographycom. That's probably going to be up in a couple of months, but if you want to want to either reach out to me or check out my social media platforms just like Facebook, nathan Robinson photography, or same deal with with deal with YouTube and Instagram Just look under Nathan Robinson Photography and you'll find me there.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. Now, nathan, there's a lot of stuff to unpack with you about your job and work, and I'll let you just kind of start telling about what you got going on and how you got into it, and then I want to get to the the shed hunting video. But just yeah, I mean, how did you get into the line of work that you're in?
Speaker 2:you've obviously have a strong passion for the outdoors yeah, um, actually, I've always been an avid outdoorsman, fishing and hunting, snowmobiling, um, snowmobiling really, um kind of helped to grow my passion for moose. We did a lot of snowmobiling in northern new brunswick, which is on the east coast of canada, and the northern half of new brunswick has a has a large population of moose. So we just we were always encountering moose, and then it become a, become a competition to see how many moose we could find each day out on the sleds. So from that, um, you know you're you're into moose hunting, you're you're fishing all the time and you're you're having these cool encounters and you're you have nothing to capture them with.
Speaker 2:Um, I guess the and that this was back in the days of, just like a flip phone, right. So just one day I decided to buy a nice camera to take pictures of when we're snowmobiling, when I was moose hunting, and it kind of just spawned this crazy passion of mine to take images and videos of wildlife. And eight years later, this is my eighth year doing this and now it's just, uh, it's not my full-time job, but I do put full-time hours in. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's really nice.
Speaker 1:So I mean, you were just kind of out and thought this is so beautiful. Instead of just kind of uh know, taking a picture with my eyes and keeping it in my brain, why not, you know, get a camera and share everybody with what I'm experiencing out here on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:Exactly Like when I mean anybody that's into fishing or hunting. You know how many encounters you've had or cool or or cool things you have seen in in your life of doing that and it's just uh, you can visualize it yourself, but to actually explain it or share it with a friend that wasn't there, it's pretty hard. So just having that ability to take a picture or some video, um, just takes things to a new level, I guess.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's really interesting how you got started doing that and then also I noticed, so you do some wildlife tours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, actually, that's kind of one of my real passions too is because I realized how much I enjoy to have these encounters. What I did is I started offering, um offering a guided moose tours for other photographers or people who just wanted to see moose um the two years ago, and so that was, and I didn't realize how much joy I would have just to see somebody else experience what I experienced, so that that takes this photography journey to a whole new level too. So, yeah, it's, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean, do you primarily, do you just take people out that want to see moose, uh, just watching, or do you have, like a lot of amateur photographers come out, sort of thing, adding to, trying to add to their portfolio?
Speaker 2:Um, it's been kind of a mix. Probably probably 75%, I guess, are actual photographers. Um, but I have had people. I have had people come like I had two elderly ladies, ladies in their seventies, a couple of years ago, from Florida, and they had never seen a moose and they just wanted to see a moose.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's cool. Yeah, well, I mean, there's such magnificent animals, and especially for somebody, say, from Florida or wherever where they don. Yeah, well, I mean, they're such magnificent animals and especially for somebody, say, from Florida or wherever, where they don't have, you know an animal like that at all. Exactly, yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, yeah. And like we take people in New Brunswick not everybody, but most of us, we probably take seeing a moose for granted and then to see their excitement, it's like wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And then to see their excitement, it's like, it's like, wow, yeah, well, I find us here. You know, some of us are a little spoiled. We see like, oh, you know, wow, there's a moose. But I mean these other people like, wow, that's a moose, yeah, you know, yeah, it's great to see. And then you kind of think too, I find, uh, you, you appreciate it again a little bit more because you're like, yeah, that it is neat, like that yeah, yeah, it actually in.
Speaker 2:And. And another thing that's cool is, like for anybody that's into moose hunting or whatever, like seeing like moose sign, like like a scrape from like maybe the year before, or like a like an old rub or something. Um, when you, when you show those people, that for us it's just kind of a simple oh, we see that stuff every day. But when you, when you start showing your clients, but this is what a moose does when they're, you know, when they're, they're in their rat, when they're breeding, and like that just blows their mind when they can actually see, oh wow, there was a moose here and he tore that tree to pieces, like that's. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah, that tree to pieces like that's pretty cool. Yeah, oh yeah, uh, with your camera stuff. I mean, how did you? I've been on your youtube channel and watched your stuff how it's really good how do you get to that level? Did you take a course? Was it just kind of self-taught, I mean?
Speaker 2:where do you begin really, I just I bought a camera and I went on youtube. Okay, and I've never taken any courses, but I've spent a lot of time on YouTube and a lot of time in the field. I've learned from other people and that's yeah, that's really really how I've learned a lot of trial and error and just spending a lot of time in the woods and I've actually learned a lot about wildlife photography from being a wedding photographer and a portrait photographer and an event photographer, because you can pull different aspects of those different genres and you can make it work in in in nature, which is really cool too. So if, if anybody, if anybody's thinking about they want to become a wildlife photographer, um, I would highly recommend maybe trying to do some portrait stuff and some maybe not some wedding, but but you know, just trying some different forms of of photography, because you can pull, you can pull um you. What you learn from one genre you can use in the other genre.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that's interesting. And two with the wedding stuff. Just people. In general they're probably not quite as spooky as animals. You don't have to wear as much camo to get close to them, sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Slightly easier. Not as flighty, I mean, there's probably some that are but from what I've seen from most weddings it's not that hard to get close to them. So that probably helps with practicing and getting the shots just right.
Speaker 2:That's really interesting. Yeah, like it's all about I call it shutter time. It's all about taking pictures, whether it's a person, whether it's an animal, whether it's a sunset, a mountain whatever Shutter time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that. So the seat time time behind the camera, Exactly, Yep, Yep, so, uh, you recently just filmed, you filmed and photographed the uh the striper cup here in Mary machine, New Brunswick, which is a large uh fishing event. Did you want to tell a little bit about that?
Speaker 2:here in Miramichi, new Brunswick, which is a large fishing event. Did you want to tell a little bit about that? Yeah, this was my. I think the event's been going on for about 10 years now and it's based right in the city of Miramichi, which is along the Miramichi River. It'd be, I guess, considered northeastern New Brunswick, I guess, and it draws anglers quite from as far away from Ontario, canada. I don't believe there was anybody from the States, but I might be mistaken. But the majority is from, like, ontario, quebec, new Brunswick, I think a few from Nova Scotia and probably PEI, but there was over. There was 237 boats registered. Um, they can have up to four people per boat on for fishing in in those teams and they are fishing for, for striped bass. So it's um, it's a very unique event. It's a two-day event and, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's um, it's quite quite a thing to see when you see over 200 boats uh, blast off in the morning yeah, that's uh, that's a lot of line in the water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it is like probably looking like a crochet thing underneath the surface. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's neat, uh, yeah, so you, you've got a lot going on. Yeah, the main thing, I saw the trailer for your Shed Hunt 2024, and then I saw it and I was kind of like holy shit, that was awesome. And then I went on your YouTube, watched the whole film, and that's when I contacted you about coming on to the podcast.
Speaker 1:It kind of reminded me of a rainforest or jungle expedition. From what I saw, you handpicked your team that you knew were specialized in what you guys were heading out to do. You had a target like a mission that you set out to do and, from what I can tell, you guys definitely met your goal and then some, I believe. Yeah, did you kind of want to tell about the shed hunt? It's really neat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, um, basically, shed hunting I I I've been tracking and hunting moose for almost all my life now, but as far as shed hunting goes, I haven't done a lot of it. Um, but these guys knew what they were doing. So, um, but anyways, who it was was my buddy, derek Burgoyne, who has adventures in the wild. Um, we do some moose and together, and and um, we've we've followed some, some big bulls throughout the year together, and so he'd met up with um, um, a couple of guys, three guys from Maine and a guy from Michigan and they come over and basically they have a passion for shed hunting, and so does my buddy, derek.
Speaker 2:And so the guy's names are Ian McKendrick, from Beyond the Boundaries. He's got a YouTube channel, facebook and Instagram, so there's Ian McKendrickendrick beyond. There is, yes, beyond the boundaries yep, yep, yep, yep, and um. And then there was trevor klein from from maine as well a dawson dag from maine. And then dennis bassman I think that's how you pronounce his last name. He's a guy from. He traveled like 20 hours from Michigan to come here, just for shed hunting, just to shed hunt.
Speaker 1:That is awesome.
Speaker 2:Very, and they were here, I think. I think Dennis was here for like eight or nine days, I think.
Speaker 1:Really Shed hunting yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, shed hunting, yeah, and, and so I spent um, or me and Derek spent the better part of three days and I spent the better part of those days filming, but I did get to do some hunting myself, but it was awesome. These guys. It blew me away how these guys were able to go on Google Earth and their mapping apps and their mapping apps and basically they drop pins all over this section of New Brunswick where they figured these look like they should be good wintering yards for moose.
Speaker 1:So you guys were kind of up northern New Brunswick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the northern half of New Brunswick. Yeah, yeah, northern, the northern half of new brunswick. Yeah and um, man, there wasn't a spot that we went to, that we didn't come at it with these sheds like they were. They they were spot on and we did. We had a goal to find 100 sheds while we were filming. Um, I think it was Friday morning and we still had half a day to hunt. I think we were at 113, I think, and I think the whole time, the whole trip, I think they ended up finding 207 sheds.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's incredible. And these guys from Michigan and Maine, they, you know, never been here before and they just knew from looking at Google image and stuff that these are the areas we need to check out. And they were, they were paying on with it, yeah.
Speaker 2:Like they had. They had some guidance from from my buddy, derek and Ian from Maine, ian McKendrick. He had been up here last year doing some shed hunting with Derek last spring and they had a really good time. So they had a little bit of insight in what they were going after, where they had to go. But it was still pretty phenomenal how they picked it apart and how it worked out. It blew me away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was amazing watching it. So what kind of areas are they looking for? How does it work with the moose? We're on that in my area. We have some around, but not enough that I know a whole pile about them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, out them. Yeah, um, they were. It was a little bit different this year because where, where we didn't have a lot of snow this winter, um, we, we were finding that we were having a hard time to find like brown sheds from last that were shedded over winter. Um, because with the low snow depth the moose were just kind of wandering, they didn't really have to yard up over winter. So it was a little bit different.
Speaker 2:Um, we actually normally I guess you would maybe prefer, like the lower, thicker areas, the fir trees, those types of of areas that were, when the, when the snow got deep and the storms were kicking up, that these moose would hunker down in and and, but that really wasn't the case. Um, we would find like sheds from years past in those areas. But we actually found ourselves, we had to had to go high, we had to go up into some, into some hardwood ridges and stuff to find, to find some sheds, some Browns, because it seemed like it seemed like the moose had actually, um, spent part of their early winter still up high. They never did have to drop down because there really wasn't a lot of snow, snow depth, so they could just kind of wander and and do their thing right, do they?
Speaker 1:so they do herd up in yards kind of like deer will in the winter. If we're having a harsh winter they don't stay as individuals yeah, they do they'll.
Speaker 2:They'll gather in groups like um, I mean you'll, we will see them when we're snowmobiling and you'll see sometime like maybe 10 or 12 in a group or you might only see three or four, but they do tend to they'll. They'll kind of, they'll kind of I I don't know if they get in those big yarding situations that like maybe a whitetail will get, but um, but they do. They do tend to tend to roam together and you'll see, you'll see them. You know you'll get 10 or 12 in a group and I now I don't know how long they'll actually stay together if they just kind of mingle for a couple of days and they kind of go their own way. I'm not really sure I'm not go their own way. I'm not really sure. I'm not much of an expert on moose when it comes to wintertime, Still trying to learn.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like you guys are in the right area to be learning that. Yeah, for sure. So the brown sheds, those are the fresh ones.
Speaker 2:Those are the ones that would have been dropped in, like December, january of this past year Right and then the whiter they are.
Speaker 1:normally the older they are they have some green on them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so you call those whites, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you guys so did you find of all the sets that you found? I know you guys did see it looked like you guys found some matching sheds. Do they tend to shed them far apart in your guys' experience where you found that many?
Speaker 2:Yes and no, you'll find just one and then you'll find the matching set. You might only find one. I actually found my first brown matching set on this trip that I got on film and it was probably about 20 yards apart. Now my buddy Derek, he does a lot of shed hunting, like in early mid to late December, and he's found sheds like he's found one, and then he's found that bull matching set like a kilometer away. Wow, so they can carry them for a couple days. They can drop one and then carry one for a couple days, or sometimes they come off, you know, right together.
Speaker 1:I've seen. It's probably a rarity, but I don't know if you saw it, but there was this drone video that was taken and it was this moose that just kind of shook its head. It was that time of year and then plop, plop, both antlers just come off.
Speaker 2:Yep, I was just going to mention that that was actually my buddy Derek's video.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, yeah, Because I remember seeing it a few years ago and it was really cool. Yep, yep happened um, not this past winter but but the winter before. Yeah, so that would have been an easy set to find.
Speaker 2:So it just it really varies kind of, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, so the type of terrain you guys looking for, you said it's just kind of uh, like sort of you guys start up on higher ground, hardwood ridges, or I mean still around the swamps and stuff it's not not so much the swamps, but you're gonna, you're gonna look for, you're gonna need like a like a mixture um, some hardwood and some softwood, but they really like, like they like to feed on fur, fur, boughs and stuff in the winter time and like early winter they're hitting some of the like that young, that young hardwood and they're kind of they're peeling the peeling the bark off. So you're kind of looking for a mixture, but they need that. They need that thicker softwood in lower areas too to kind of hunker down in for when that, when those snowstorms come in too.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah. So that is kind of what they're surviving off. In the winter an animal that size can kind of get off on the you know tree boughs yeah, it's, it's.
Speaker 2:It's pretty remarkable that they can.
Speaker 1:They can survive on just twigs and and and boughs off of fir trees and yeah it's crazy, yeah, I mean I can see a rabbit getting by on that, but something the size of moose, I mean it is really incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, and that that's. The reason why they lose, you know, so much weight over the wintertime is they've packed all that weight on and then basically that, those, those boughs and stuff. It's not giving them a whole lot of nourishment, but it's giving them just enough to get by.
Speaker 1:Right, right, they're not. Yeah, just kind of helps maintain or hopefully, depending on the winter, what they already have going on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Yep. So you guys did you have quite a time getting the antlers out? Did you guys bring them all out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, most of them we brought out. The guys would load them on their back and take them back out to the road and then they would just there was actually, I think there might have been a clip of one of the trucks going through snow on that trailer where you can see a whole bunch of antlers loaded on top of it.
Speaker 1:So it's quite a job. How far away would you? I mean, how many kilometers were you guys putting on a day?
Speaker 2:uh, we were hiking. The three days I was there, we averaged 20 kilometers a day on our feet and there was.
Speaker 1:There's plenty of snow there at that time too, even though it's a bit, you know it's later.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but yeah, there was, there was. There was some areas that we were in in like a couple feet of snow and but I mean, 20 feet away there might have been no snow. It was just those those kind of pockets where snow had blown in and hadn't melted yet. Yeah, but um, yeah, it was, it was, um, it was. It was a lot of, uh, a lot of exercise, that's for sure. 20 cloners a day in moose country, in some of the most rugged country that new brunswick has to offer. It was, um, it was a challenge, but it was. It was very rewarding when you found them it looked well worth it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very, very fun scavenger hunt type of thing. Oh yeah, big time. Yeah, did you guys come across any deer sheds or uh, we, not that I know of, um, we did.
Speaker 2:I actually got video of Trevor finding a bear skull, which was super, super rare, so that that was really cool. That'll be on the video and um, other than that, um, I think there might've been a couple of deadhead span where basically, uh, uh, bull moose had died with its antlers on, and so basically they got the antlers and the skulls all intact. Um, I know one of them was found for sure, um, but so those are. Those are kind of unique to find too. So, but a couple, a couple winter kills, like where moose have have died over winter. We've found a few areas like that, but in the area where we are there's not a whole lot of deer, so finding a shed whitetail antler would be quite a gem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I suppose Did you guys happen to see any live moose while on the scavenger hunt?
Speaker 2:We did. The first morning I was there I think we seen probably 25 any live moose. Well, on the scavenger hunt we did um the first morning I was there I think we seen probably 25, 30 moves. Wow, yeah, oh yeah, there was, it was like a. It was a heavy, frosty morning, yeah, and it was. They were just, they were just out, they were everywhere, yeah, yeah, but I think the the rest of the trip we hardly seen one.
Speaker 1:That's a lot to see. Yeah, oh, yeah. So those are the type of areas where you'll take people on your wildlife tours, I'm guessing.
Speaker 2:Very similar. Not the exact areas that I go, because we were kind of targeting areas that they were going to be in the winter. Yes, but very I mean, yeah, pretty much the same moose, I guess, same moose population, yeah, yeah with the wildlife tours too.
Speaker 1:On that with the moose, are the odds pretty good that people going out they will see them uh, yes, very good, as good as it can be with you know wildlife, but yeah, yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 2:That's that's what I tell my clients. I mean, wildlife is wildlife. The? Um, the worst, the worst, uh, trip I ever I had was actually last august, which is august is a just a crap shoot because it's so warm. The moose, just if you don't see them early in the morning or or in the evening, like just before sundown, you're probably not going to see them throughout the day. But, um, the clients were very well aware of that. Um, they're actually from oklahoma city and but we we did end up seeing a nice, a really nice bull in velvet. Um, they only seen one moose in in um, they had me booked for two days but they really only spent like the mornings with me. So they really only spent probably like a day. But normally, like in my, my fall tours, when I do my tours in october, in november, it's anywhere from like an average day would be 10 or 12 months.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, so that's yeah, that's really good. Yep, it's really interesting people that are thinking about going on to that. I suppose it depends on the time of year, but what would you recommend they pay in for physical shape and wear for clothing.
Speaker 2:Kind of glad you you asked that question because that's um, yeah, that my tours can vary. I can, we can find moose. Honestly, the best way to find moose is to drive and cover ground. Um, so that works really well with people that are older and that can't put a lot of miles on their feet. Um, so most of my tours, that's actually how, how I spend most of my days. I do a little bit of walking with some people, but most people they're pretty happy to just to just sit back, relax in the vehicle and drive around um see the beautiful scenery of Northern New Brunswick and um, and then we'll see the beautiful scenery of Northern New Brunswick and um, and then we'll all have a few areas that we'll just walk in um overlooking certain spots and and wait for a moose, or there might be a moose there. But as far as gear, um, basically rain gear, I guess, any hiking gear, what's that I said?
Speaker 1:a bug spray.
Speaker 2:Oh, bug spray in the summer? Yeah for sure, um, but as far as, like, as far as camo, um, that's not, that's not really a necessity, just as long as they're, you know, neutral colors. Um, but um, yeah, like, like I've I've had people with me from that are very, very fit, very active, to people in their in their seventies and eighties and, and we're all I can cater to anybody I can. We can find moose anyway, like, like, we don't. We don't have to be right in the woods, walking 20 kilometers a day to find a moose, no, but if they want to.
Speaker 1:That is an option. That is, that is an option. Oh, yes, for sure. Yeah, all right. No, that's awesome. And then I noticed too that you also I don't know if it's a newer thing, but you did some filming for an outfitter in the province. Was it last year On a moose hunt?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I work with well, I guess I shouldn't say I work with. I'm part of the Long Lake Adventures team. Long Lake Adventures is a is an outfitter that is based in, like north central new brunswick. Um, if you go to, if you know where plasrock new brunswick is, and then you go east, northeast of there, they're, they they're on, they're on a private lake that's about 12 miles long and basically they're big into lake trout fishing and and bear hunting and then they then they have a moose hunt in the fall.
Speaker 2:So I've been working with Long Lake, for I think this is my fourth year which I go up and I film their hunts and I spend multiple days up there throughout the year Just capturing wildlife up there throughout the year. Um, just um, just capturing wildlife up there and um, they've actually they allow me to just just come up and and stay with them and um, hang out with them and uh, it's it's more of a friendship. It's never been a a business partnership. It was supposed to be a business partnership when we met, but it ends up being a friendship and almost it's. Actually I'm part of the family. I guess that's nice and so, yeah, yeah, so, so yeah, last year I did, I did film a hunt and that's that's right on my YouTube channel.
Speaker 1:Yep, yeah, well, I saw it too.
Speaker 2:You guys got in the you know a little boat, and then you went out on the water a little ways and you came out to this what was it like? A two, three acre island. Yep, so what it is on there is really cool. Yes, yep, so what that is? Um, long lake adventures.
Speaker 2:They, they lease this lake from the province of new brunswick. Okay, and they're the only, they're the only outfitter on it. There's no other dwellings, camps or anything on this huge lake. And nine miles down the lake there's a little island and they built a camp on it a couple years ago and it's called island oasis. So you can actually rent this camp for a couple nights, like throughout throughout the summer season, okay, and my wife and I, my wife and I stay there and it's absolutely just beautiful and it's all self-contained. So, yeah, basically, they, that's where they have, that's where they have their moose hunts. Their clients come in and we leave for the week and that's where we spend our spend our week moose hunting, and the days start with calling moose right from the camp, right from that island yeah, that's.
Speaker 1:It looks really neat. It kind of goes from, uh, from a love nest to a rut nest, I guess with the change of seasons yeah, and it's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty, pretty phenomenal, because you don't you feel like you're in alaska or somewhere. You don't feel like you're in new brunswick, that's for sure out there, because you, you're away from, there's nothing out there.
Speaker 1:It's so remote. Yeah, Very remote. Yeah, it looks very calm and peaceful. Yeah, just tell the cabin's set up there in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the lake. It looks awesome. Some people might freak them out, but it's very cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh it's, uh, no, it's very cool yeah, oh no, if it's, if, if anybody ever is in this area and they just want to get away and get away from everything, contact clay at long lake adventures and he'll hook you up. It's, it's an unreal experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that, uh, I actually might check that out this summer myself. Yeah, no, it's pretty cool. Now do the clients with some of the moose hunts, do they like? Have they requested that you film it, or?
Speaker 2:It was kind of it's kind of something that Clay Clay Harrison is the owner of Long Lake Adventures and it's something that he wanted me to film his hunts so that he can promote what he does. So basically, it wasn't something that that his client, um, asked to have done. It was just something that Clay said look, gw, um, I can, here's your hunt. He wanted, he bought this hunt and he said look, nathan can come film it if you want it, and. And he agreed to it. So I, nathan, can come film it if you want it, and. And he agreed to it.
Speaker 1:So I was there yeah, well, it's really neat. Uh, keepsake for the guy as well yeah, oh yeah, for sure, for sure, yeah and, as if you weren't busy enough, uh, you, we had our first non-resident turkey season here in new brunswick. Yeah, and you, you've done some turkey filming as well yeah, um, I filmed my second turkey hunt.
Speaker 1:I filmed one last spring, and then I I filmed another one this spring, which was, uh, also very, very cool yeah, how is it quite difficult filming the turkians because I've not been on turkey hunt, but I've heard before we had a podcast about it earlier with Mike Holland about they've got incredible eyesight and they can pick up any sort of movement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they are. I've. I filmed the two hunts, plus I've done some filming on my own just calling in turkeys and they are. They're very, very cagey. Um, they're, they're, they're a lot of fun, they're challenging and um, but yeah, they're, they're, they're a lot of fun, they're challenging and um, but yeah, they're, they're, uh, they're. If you ever get the chance to go on a hunt, I highly recommend it because they're they are a lot of fun, they're. They're almost right up there with moose hunting that's crazy.
Speaker 2:That's what I've heard, you know, yeah it's that, it's that vocal connection that you make with them, right, and you're calling and because that's what's exciting about moose hunting, is that vocal you, you can call them and they'll answer yeah, and it's. And it's the same way with a turkey yeah I suppose just a much smaller, fluffier, feathery version.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it is. It is the same thing, right, we hunt them at the turkey, we hunt in the breeding season, or the rut and the moose. We do as well with the calling, so that does make sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, very, very, very similar yeah uh, nathan, we've got a lot of guys to listen to this that are amateur video agfers themselves, specifically with hunting. I know you said just shutter time and stuff, but with hunting specifically, is there any other things you kind of recommend? Because I mean, from the looks of your videos you seem to really know what you're doing Just on trying to get that right footage with the animals and also doing the hunt itself, things like that.
Speaker 2:I think the key to getting good wildlife photos and film is the animals either got to know you're not there or they have to be comfortable with you being there, because that's when an animal doesn't stare at you and they start to do their own thing.
Speaker 2:They start to feed, they might bed down, they might just wander off. But I think that's that's the key, that's that's where um, that's that's where filming and photographing wildlife um in, in my opinion, is a lot harder than hunting wildlife with a gun. Because when you see an animal, when you're on a moose hunt or a deer hunt, when you see that animal with a rifle, you get your shot, you pull the trigger, it's over. But when you're filming an animal, you've got to spend time with that animal animal. You got to spend time with that animal. So how do you get within 50 yards or 75 yards of a 50 inch bull moose and spend a half hour with them so you can get those, those shots of him eating, maybe, a shot of him bedding down, or or him, him, his behavior when there's other moose around him? How do you do that? That's the challenge and that's where I guess a lot of patience comes into play and that will make you a better hunter.
Speaker 1:Okay, I was going to ask that too, if this line of work has helped with your hunting.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I learned more in a year doing this than I've learned in a lifetime of hunting. Wow, like hunting, hunting with a gun and and I'm not putting anything, I'm not saying anything, there's a. There's nothing, there's nothing wrong with hunting. I still hunt. I still put in for my moose tag. Um, I, I love hunting, but it's um, it takes hunting. Filming takes hunting to a new level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, I guess, with the hunting, you're trying to get in there for that split second worth filming. You're trying to get in there, stay in there and prolong the, the experience, yeah, you know to capture it.
Speaker 2:And that's that's to me.
Speaker 2:Um, in 2015, I, I got lucky and got lucky and I drew a moose tag and I was fortunate enough, we called in a 50-inch bull and I got a beautiful bull. I got him mounted on the wall and that was probably one of the most phenomenal experiences in my life, and when I'm filming moose, I that same experience, but it's prolonged, because I can spend. I can spend a half hour with a moose, or like 10 minutes with a big bull, or even like even getting close to a cow moose, I mean, they're just, they're just so so, yeah, yeah, they're just so, so, yeah, they're just so impressive. Or or even even a turkey, I mean, cause you know, you know how cagey they are, how good their eyesight is, and if you can spend, you know, 10 minutes with a turkey, that's like 30 yards from you, like it's it's pretty cool, so yeah, with your camera and your videography gear, that you basically draw your tag every year in a sense for turkey, which is really exciting yeah, yeah, like I I joke with my buddies.
Speaker 2:I say I mean, I still put in for my moose tag every year, but I, my camera is my moose tag yeah yeah, because I I'll be able to go on a moose hunt probably for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, no, that's exactly it. Yeah, you've got a. Yeah, it's a great line of work that you're experiencing it. Either way, it's getting shot with something by you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, nathan, oh, this has been a really good, interesting podcast. I want to thank you a pile for coming on and I hope everyone checks out the moose hunting video that we, or the moose shed hunting video that we talked about, and the actual hunting videos on your YouTube and social media platforms and it's yeah, you got a lot going on. You have really great work and that's why I'm really glad you were able to come on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no problem, I really appreciate you asking me.
Speaker 1:Ken. Yeah, much appreciated, awesome Thanks. Hope to have you again soon, yep.