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.19 Conservation Efforts and Hunting Stories with Jesse
Imagine managing a vast, diverse forest while balancing the delicate dynamics of conservation and profit. Join us as we chat with Jesse, a seasoned forest technician and passionate hunter from southern New Brunswick, who offers a wealth of insight into his unique career. From discussing the pesky challenge of deer munching on young saplings to recounting his hilarious and sometimes frustrating guiding experiences with his father, Jesse paints a vivid picture of his daily life. Listen in to hear his practical advice for landowners and hunters alike.
Ever been curious about the thrill of a first waterfowl hunt? Jesse’s stories about Youth Heritage Day and his adventures in goose hunting will keep you on the edge of your seat. Learn the strategies that have made him successful, including the art of setting up decoys and mastering goose calls. Moreover, discover the significant conservation efforts by Delta Waterfowl and the SNB Wood Co-op, and how their initiatives, like installing wood duck boxes, are making a difference in preserving vital waterfowl habitats.
The episode wraps up with an in-depth exploration of bear hunting, offering listeners a treasure trove of tips and anecdotes. Whether you're interested in the subtle techniques of assessing bear size or the best culinary practices for preparing bear meat, Jesse's expertise is invaluable. From dealing with black flies and using thermocells to the nuances of guiding clients with different hunting preferences, Jesse’s experiences and advice provide an intriguing and comprehensive guide to bear hunting in New Brunswick. Special thanks to Jesse for his contributions and to Ryan for enriching the conversation. Tune in for more engaging discussions in our future episodes.
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
this sun, sun 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, all right. Welcome to hunts on outfitting podcast, the only podcast brought to you by mike's coffee shop. We serve you decaf. If you're rude, all right, that seems fair enough. If you're new here, listening, welcome. If not, welcome back. All we ask on this podcast is that you share so with the people you know. This week we had a great chat with a very hardworking and talented young hunter and guide. We talk a bit about his guiding experience and some of his stories. With that, we also talk about Delta Waterfowl. What is it, what's it involved and who's it for? These questions and more will be answered today on the podcast. But first, who is answering them? Jesse? Welcome to the podcast. Jesse, you've got an interesting job. We want to get to know you. So for my resources here, you dress up as a woodlot manager and go around and find other people's deer hunting spots.
Speaker 2:Is that pretty much sums it up? Yeah.
Speaker 1:I go take pictures of people's deer stands and figure out how I'm gonna go hunt them right?
Speaker 2:okay, all right, so my resources were correct. No, but what do you do, jesse? Uh well, I'm a forest technician. I work in southern new brunswick and I go manage wood lots. I look after like harvesting and a little bit of thinning sometimes and do you guys put in like culverts for?
Speaker 1:uh well, sometimes we make roads for harvest blocks, but like we don't do a lot of road building?
Speaker 2:yeah, basically just do the management for people and yeah, whatever they're looking to do, what would be a typical day.
Speaker 1:Do people like I just want it all cut, or they're like I want this managed for generations and my grandchildren and all that?
Speaker 2:yeah, most people are just looking for money, so they just want a clear cut.
Speaker 1:Okay, Like well, I don't need to go to forestry school to tell you how to do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some people they like. Let's say they want to have sugar maple growing on their property. They want to have a sugar bush of some sort. Okay, so try to figure that out for them and just cut everything else but the maple.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would make sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Some people like to hunt, you know so.
Speaker 1:So you guys help manage it for hunting. You guys do like some acorn tree planting stuff like that, do you?
Speaker 2:We plant saplings. Okay yeah, like we mostly just like softwood species of trees. But yeah, sometimes we do special projects if people want maples planted or oaks, but they don't last long in this part of the province. Deer, go, chew them off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I suppose. So do you guys do a lot of work for people that want it for deer? No, not too often.
Speaker 2:No, no, I guess the company I work for now. They used to do a lot of that because they had a. I don't know what the chapter was, but it's a QDMA or something.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, yeah, and they'd help with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they do a lot of that. Right but they don't have that anymore.
Speaker 1:And then Jesse, you're a bit of a hunter yourself sort of thing. Yeah, you want to tell a little bit about that. You've been, you were telling us about. You. Do some guiding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So my father, he's been taking me out, since I could hardly walk and I scared lots of deer away from him for sure so you owe him yeah. Yeah, so I owe him.
Speaker 1:So I definitely take him out, try to put him on deer, make up for all the stuff you screwed up on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we still hunt together all the time and we just deer hunt, bear hunt, waterfowl.
Speaker 1:Yeah, try to do it all. Then you got into guiding as well and helping a local guy near you do some guiding yeah, so each like my father and I, we each got our guide license together oh, okay, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:so he's been guiding moose for quite a few years now I think six or seven years but I've only been doing it for three because I was in school and starting a career and everything Right.
Speaker 1:that gets in the way.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:When you're out guiding and you have people come in. What's the biggest pet peeve? You might say, when people like they don't listen to you, they're not quiet.
Speaker 2:When you tell them to be quiet, yeah, so the biggest pet peeve would probably be like you take somebody out and being loud all the time and blaming you for not having a moose come out. They will, oh yeah, really oh yeah, like last season we had one fellow there. Went two days and he never seen a moose, but he was kind of deaf too. There was moose calling back all the time.
Speaker 1:He didn't think he was being that loud.
Speaker 2:Put him in the stand. The second day did one moose call. And as soon as I did the call, just heard the moose stand up across the bog and he's up in the tree stand and I'm sitting at the bottom of it and you could hear the moose just raking its antlers going through the trees. You could, oh, yeah, he couldn't. And then all of a sudden I was like never heard the moose again. Really oh yeah, it was gone.
Speaker 1:You know, I'd probably carry a slingshot on me, and when I got the client acting a little loud like that, I just give him a quick crack you know, with it and I just tell him before the hunt, like they feel a sharp ping in you. Yeah, that's me.
Speaker 2:That means shut up oh, I took him out of the stand. They said did you, did you hear that moose? He's like no, no, never heard anything and there was moose like cows bawling behind us, really. So he's really deaf, oh yeah, and that moose would like be 125 yards away, probably across the, across the bog.
Speaker 1:At least he wasn't blind, because you doing some calling might result in some friendly fire.
Speaker 4:So you do some bear guiding as well, on top of the moose guiding yeah.
Speaker 2:So I guide bear for the first time this year. It was two weeks.
Speaker 1:Would you recommend it?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's pretty good, it's pretty easy, like easy money if you're.
Speaker 1:Easy money. I've pretty good. It's pretty easy like easy money if you're easy money. I've never heard those words put together before you got you basically don't do much.
Speaker 2:You you go bait for a week ahead.
Speaker 1:A lot of work baiting though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah I guess so, and then you just go sit there in the woods and wait for guys to shoot a bear did you have to do much tracking? No, tell them to shoot it right in the neck and it drops right there.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, you guys didn't do any tracking.
Speaker 2:Nope, we did track it in one, but the guy missed it.
Speaker 1:Oh, did he tell you he missed it? No, but when?
Speaker 2:you tell them to shoot in the neck and the bear's not sitting at the barrel it's probably so.
Speaker 1:did you guys start tracking and then you had to break the news to him?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I tracked for about 45 minutes and he kept asking me so do you think the bear's dead? Is it here? I don't know. I didn't shoot it, I just tried to keep telling him yeah, there's a chance.
Speaker 4:They're pretty loud. If they die anywhere nearby you'll hear them do kind of a death moan anyway, yes, definitely, I've always had mine drop at the barrel, so I've never heard, I've never heard death moan before. But yeah, it's pretty freaky, is it? Yes, well, especially if you shoot your bear, you know, half an hour before dark or something like that, and all of a sudden 15 minutes later and it's getting dark and you hear it yeah, screech or a scream or whatever kind of thing I'd be like yeah, I'm getting that tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Yeah I shoot all my bears with the bow, so they oh you do yeah, so they usually run away and then you hear them do the moan. It's like yeah what do you?
Speaker 1:what's your bow setup?
Speaker 2:uh, now I can't remember what bow I got. It's bow obsession. I can't remember the model of it you got an obsession?
Speaker 1:yeah, nice, me too I just bought it.
Speaker 2:A year ago I had a bear, I got the defcon. That's the same one I have.
Speaker 1:Really Nice, good choice.
Speaker 2:I bought it out of Quistam. You get an obsession.
Speaker 1:They are the Cadillac of bows.
Speaker 2:With 80% let off, how could you go wrong?
Speaker 1:And they look cool too. And they're comfortable in the hand and all that nice so does yours have 70 pound limbs? 65.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I put 60s on mine just because 70 is a little much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what they say. They said 60, I think will pass clean through a moose.
Speaker 2:Oh easy.
Speaker 1:So I mean, why do you need more than that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got the weighted tips on it and everything's pretty nice. Air Shoots pretty fast. Yeah, yeah, hits hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's neat. The all right Nut Phillip Session Shooter. You don't hear those guys much.
Speaker 2:There's not many in the province.
Speaker 1:No, it's just they're not as good, I guess. But just you know, it's like fine wine, like not everyone has that kind of taste.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Or, you know, aged whiskey, because I guess we're not wine drinkers here, but and then we got you on here. We want to talk about some Delta Waterfowl. Yeah sure, what is it? Where'd it come from? Who's got it? How do you find it?
Speaker 2:So Delta Waterfowl is out of the States and anyways, they have like representatives that go around try to get chapters going, and so I just started a chapter, along with the guys that help out with it, and we are going to be having an event coming up this winter. We basically raise money and we set our goal to help get kids into hunting.
Speaker 2:So, that was our goal. So we're going to raise money and then after the event we're going to take kids out skeet shooting or something start off In a few years. We want to take kids out waterfowl hunting for like a heritage day kind of thing, and the reason I want to do that is because that's what got me into waterfowl my first hunt waterfowl was a heritage day.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's what got you into it. Oh yeah, but you've been hunting before that. That wasn't your first hunt.
Speaker 2:No, I hunted.
Speaker 1:Deer and everything before that. Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 4:Where's the chapter that you're setting up at?
Speaker 2:So the chapter's out of Moncton, it's called Moncton's Muddy Water Delta Waterfowl Chapter.
Speaker 1:New Brunswick, Canada.
Speaker 2:Yeah, new Brunswick Canada.
Speaker 1:So you're saying, though, when you start a chapter, they come to you and they want you to have a goal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a realistic one. Are you going to promote like, are you going to take kids out hunting, or are you going to try to promote like habitat and stuff, like nesting areas?
Speaker 1:You guys can do that regardless. Oh yeah, we can For sure.
Speaker 4:Well, delta Waterfowl as an organization is big into like a conservation of of waterfowl species, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely they're more for like. They're for the hunter, like delta waterfowl.
Speaker 1:They want to see hunters do things like and it's funny, you should bring that up, because that brings me into another subject you guys sound very similar to another group. Uh, ducks unlimited yeah so can we get into kind of this? You can say similarities or differences between you guys and ducks unlimited. Yeah, like what's the or differences between you guys and Ducks Unlimited.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like, what's the biggest difference between you guys and Ducks Unlimited?
Speaker 2:So what a lot of people see with Ducks Unlimited now, like they used to make a lot of wetlands for the hunters to go hunt on. But a lot of people are upset because they're not doing as much as that or they're not maintaining those places.
Speaker 1:Is it the cost you think?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I think a lot of people think they're getting too wrapped up into the pictures and the.
Speaker 1:They're not for the hunters and gone a little hollywood on us, have they? Yeah, allegedly. Yeah, this is not my words.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, but you're saying that's yeah, so like delta, waterfowl wants to see hunters going out, shooting ducks, promoting it and getting people into it. And people say that maybe Ducks Unlimited now is just selling pictures.
Speaker 1:Not as much into the hunting.
Speaker 2:Not as much. For hunters, not as much what they use.
Speaker 1:I know they were really big into it before. They had a magazine for kids and had a lot of hunting stuff in puddlers yeah, puddles, something like that. I think it's puddler, I don't know and uh. But you find they've gotten away from that a little bit yeah, that's what.
Speaker 2:That's what a lot of people are like switching over to delta waterfowl for it's just, I just happened to come across delta waterfowl and wanted to start a chapter in it.
Speaker 1:No, it's good I mean anything to promote hunting.
Speaker 2:Then you have your own goals and you can do your own things right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And then the name where Delta Waterfowl came from Ryan, this is where you come in.
Speaker 4:Yes, yeah, it's originally from a marsh, the Delta Marsh in Manitoba.
Speaker 1:Manitoba, Canada.
Speaker 4:That's interesting, that's I didn't know that it is research and then, yeah, their headquarters are just south of that, in north dakota, I believe that is the duck hunting mecca of north america, is it not north dakota? Yeah, that is waterfowl in general. I mean ducks geese, yeah, everything that'd be your biggest fly away yeah yeah, no, that's it.
Speaker 1:So that's where the name came from. So I mean, how long do you know how long they've been around?
Speaker 2:for no, I don't know I don't know how long they've been around. Like I know, there's chapters in the province that been around for quite a while.
Speaker 1:I don't know when they all started, yeah, but they've I mean they're not a new company by any kind of no organization by any means Right. So your goal, that's your chapter's main goal, is to you know, you guys want to get more youth into waterfowl because that's what get you into it?
Speaker 2:And yeah, so we want to put kids through like hunting courses and take them out shooting. Eventually we want to take them out to do the ultimate go on a hunt and get to experience it you guys.
Speaker 1:you're not particularly ducks or geese, it's just waterfowl in general yeah just waterfowl.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so your first ever. Uh like, was it a duck hunter? A goose? I'm guessing duck it was goose it was goose.
Speaker 2:We were gonna go on a duck hunt and then we went, drove by a field like that the night before. It was full of geese. We went in there and it was just like they were just landing the whole time, like we shot our limit four of us and then we were packing up decoys, geese were still coming in. It was. There were so many geese.
Speaker 1:So that was your first waterfowl.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it was on a youth heritage day yeah. Okay.
Speaker 4:It's the last, the youth heritage day in New. You would know more about it, but if you bring like a younger hunter with you, they're able to shoot their limit of ducks in like a special one day season for a youth hunter.
Speaker 2:Only the youth can shoot ducks that day.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:That's why we were going to go duck hunting. But then we can go goose hunting Everybody can hunt and it was probably a better hunt than if we went duck hunting. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:No, it's a great way to get you know kids, youth into hunting, because it's uh more action, typically, depending on who you know, who takes in where you guys are going, but it's a lot more action.
Speaker 2:It's a great way to uh, yeah, yeah, it definitely spoiled me like you do that for your first hunt yeah I probably hunted for two or three years after and never shot a limit of anything no, no, until like spoiled, then ryan, yeah, yeah, well, once you learn, how to do it yeah, oh yeah, it's not you can't just go and set up and expect to kill them every time like it doesn't work there's a bit to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, ryan, you can tell about this more. You know, with the calling and setting up the decoys, finding the right location, the wind location's a huge thing too, because it's so competitive.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, Like deer hunting, you can go to any woodlot around if you wanted to. You set up a tree stand and you're good. But geese especially, they're only hitting a few fields. It's hard to get permission for and ducks. You know you're on ponds or rivers and it can be tricky. Yeah, it definitely is. Yeah, so it's a tough thing to get youth into without some sort of mentorship, I guess yeah, yeah, that's true, and I mean there's a little bit of a startup cost as well oh yeah, it costs a lot with yeah
Speaker 1:if you're starting off a geese the blind, the decoys and all that. Do you guys tell the youth that, like I'm just going to give you a heads up, hopefully, your parents are going to check a bowl of candy after this hunt.
Speaker 4:Duck hunting's not too bad Duck hunting. You can buy a dozen duck decoys for 50 bucks and as long as you've got a shotgun you can set up on some water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Do you do a lot of calling Jesse.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I started with duck calling and then that's pretty much all I did for years, and then I got into goose calling and I'm starting to get the hang of it pretty good.
Speaker 1:How'd you learn A mentor or YouTube?
Speaker 2:Just using the call driving around using the call.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, calling the cup holder. That's my favorite way to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, my calls on center console all year round.
Speaker 1:Is it? You just grab it every once in a while, throw some honks out there.
Speaker 2:Listen to geese too. You just go sit in the blind, listen to the geese honking or whatever, and try to mimic them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do what you're driving. How can I take your order? Oh?
Speaker 2:sorry you might hear me driving around sometimes they're honking.
Speaker 1:Well, you know that's the way to practice with it. What's your gun setup? What are you shooting?
Speaker 2:So I shoot a Mossberg 930. It's a semi and it's chambering 3-inch.
Speaker 1:There's a story behind that. When you tell us that gun kind of came to you in a winning way.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I was looking to get a new 12-gauge because the season was just starting up, so I seen this draw for one one, so I put in my 20 bucks and got a ticket. Then we were skeet shooting that night because getting ready for the upcoming season decided I should probably go check to see if I won that gun, and there was a message there on my phone saying I want it. So it worked out pretty good for me. I didn't have to spend all that money no, no, and it's the guns.
Speaker 2:Done you well so far yeah, I went through all season, never even had one jams that's yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, can't beat that with your. So with the delta waterfowl do you guys do a lot of work with?
Speaker 2:you know nest boxes and things like that so through work like I work at the smb wood co-op they have a chapter there it's SMB Delta Waterfowl chapter and their goal is setting up habitat for them.
Speaker 1:So we put out 50 to 100. What's the habitat?
Speaker 2:So wood duck boxes or hen houses, we do about 50 to 100 a year. Last year I think we put out 50 wood duck boxes, probably 15, 20 hen houses. Oh yeah, 20 hen houses.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's pretty good. So when you guys are looking for a spot to put up a wood duck box, where are you putting it? I don't see a lot of wood ducks. Are they that common around here?
Speaker 2:No, they're not common around here, because we don't have big oak trees and maple trees along the rivers, which wood ducks nest in.
Speaker 1:That's what they, that's what. Oh, that's what they nest in, that's what they nest in they eat them too, don't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they eat the acorns.
Speaker 1:You'd think that'd choke them. Those are hard.
Speaker 2:I shot a few and they had seven of them down in the throat.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Couldn't imagine how good that would feel they were still breathing.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, not after you shot them, but before the shot they seemed to be fine.
Speaker 2:Around Gemseg area there's a lot of wood ducks, A lot of wood ducks.
Speaker 1:I don't think I've seen many in the wild.
Speaker 4:We have them locally here, yeah, but they're very pocketed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've seen more teal.
Speaker 2:The Canaan River has a lot of wood ducks.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because there are some pretty mature trees along that river that they can nest in.
Speaker 1:But that's what they look for along the rivers or bodies of water. They want oak and maple trees.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like they put their nests in cavities of trees. So you need something that has like some rot in it. Okay. So really just like specific areas.
Speaker 1:And does that make them unique, as most ducks have their nests on the ground, do they not?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty unique, really Like. Really like been driving around or fishing somewheres and I see a duck sitting in a tree.
Speaker 1:it's pretty weird to see like they sit on the branches and stuff, hence the word wood yeah, kind of throws you off for a second.
Speaker 2:For sure, yeah, because are they?
Speaker 1:I don't know if you know, but are they the only duck that nests in a tree? Maybe there's others, but you?
Speaker 2:see most them. I don't think they're on the ground.
Speaker 1:No, but they're one of the few. It's not common.
Speaker 2:Like I'm pretty sure Maganzers will use the duck boxes we put up. Oh yes, that's what I've heard anyways, there could be other ducks as well.
Speaker 1:So do you guys do anything for ground nesting ducks?
Speaker 2:We don't in the province but I know in Newfoundland they do for eider ducks.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you guys put the hen houses up though. Yeah, we do so that'd be for your mallards, yeah.
Speaker 2:We put those in ponds, like we do it when the ponds are frozen in the winter, and put a pole down into it and then mount these hen nests on top of it.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, so it's still like it's on the ground, so no, it's hovering like over the water and they'll use that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, okay, yeah I've seen those out before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just just a tube yeah, we do some for geese too, like I think we put out a couple for geese this past winter oh yeah, because geese normally make quite a nest on the ground, though don't don't they, yeah, they do.
Speaker 1:Somewheres, yeah, but they'll use the houses that you guys get.
Speaker 2:I think, so I never checked them.
Speaker 1:Get crawling around there.
Speaker 2:face first there's definitely some around gem sags like wood duck boxes. I can guarantee you there's going to be eggshells in those. There's so many around.
Speaker 1:So you find they are used? Yeah, when you guys set up the wood duck boxes, they're used.
Speaker 2:Not usually in the first year, I don't think, but once they have a season and see that nest there, they'll probably come back and use it.
Speaker 4:The way ducks work. Correct me if I'm wrong on this one. You have ducks that hatch in a certain location. So then when they migrate south, in the fall, when they come back up, do they not come to the exact, do they not come to the same location where they were hatched?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I've heard. I don't know if it's true or not, but that's what I've heard. They come back to the same area.
Speaker 1:Do you guys your organization, do you guys do banding?
Speaker 2:No, we don't Like. I imagine delta waterfowl does probably do some banding?
Speaker 1:yeah, I don't think we do it here in the province. You watch the guy that's in charge of that. He's probably just like band for the ducks band for around my neck you know just like, yeah, he's got quite the necklace. Yes, yes, get the sky jewelry on him yeah yeah, that's interesting. What else do you guys do with, like this, other ducks that you guys try to make habitat for and everything?
Speaker 2:We don't really do anything else that I know about.
Speaker 1:The wood ducks need the most help around here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, here we pretty much focus on wood ducks for most of it.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because there's just not the habitat for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you hunt them much, the wood ducks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hunt wood ducks and gem seg.
Speaker 1:Quite a bit. What's the best setup For hunting them? Because I kind of want To hunt them now this year.
Speaker 2:Just need a canoe and you just Got to find the pocket, like a pocket Within trees of water Around oak trees and. You're golden.
Speaker 1:That's it. So if you're hunting Out on a pond somewhere, the odds of seeing one oh, you'll see them Every once in a while, every once in a while, but not as good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I've shot them On rivers and stuff.
Speaker 4:Okay, just yeah. An old beaver dam In the woods works good.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, yeah, yeah, that'd work good yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I have certain holes when I I will only shoot wood ducks at you, won't shoot nothing else.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll go get a limb of the wood ducks or something.
Speaker 1:Wow, so the population in some areas is quite good. Are the duck boxes there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there are duck boxes. They work. Yeah yeah, there's a lot there.
Speaker 1:Do they face a lot of predation from, say, raccoons climbing up into those trees getting the eggs?
Speaker 2:I don't think raccoons would hurt them too much because we have the holes have to be a certain shape and size. Mm-hmm be a certain shape and size to like make sure that the raccoons won't be able to get in there, but other animals like weasels and stuff oh, yeah, yeah, weasels.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I never thought of that. They would take a lot of ducks, wouldn't they? Yeah, probably so if you trappers need them yeah trappers. Trappers are probably duck's best friend, I imagine. Oh yeah. That and coon hunters, but for the ground nesting ones. Yeah, it's interesting. So if anybody's looking to know more about Delta Waterfowl, you guys, you know there's the website and go in there.
Speaker 2:Yep, there's a website online all the information.
Speaker 1:You guys have a lot of clothing too, because we were talking before we started and I was saying that's how I knew what they were was the. I thought it's a clothing company.
Speaker 2:To be honest, you guys have a cool stuff. Yeah, coolers you guys have a cool logo yeah, yeah. So we like in our events, delta waterfowl gives a whole bunch of stuff to give out. So basically, you, you kind of give hats and the lunch boxes, or if you're drawn for a gun or something, well, you sell a lunch box, lunch box, get a membership of the Delta Waterfowl with it, and then you get a ballot for your gun.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's how a lot of people are like. That's why you see a lot of people wearing the Delta Waterfowl logos around.
Speaker 1:You knew that they tried to get a free gun. Yeah, pretty much. So you can ask them about it. Yeah. Depending on their reaction, you'll know if they got it or not. That's interesting. If you had to pick you know you do the guiding thing with delta, waterfowl and all that what would be the one species of animal that you would prefer to hunt over anything else?
Speaker 2:that's a hard one it is I really love deer hunting like yeah it's got its ups and downs, but yeah, if like, the fun hunt would probably be going on a moose hunt if you could do that all the time yeah, it's exhausting but yeah yeah, it is exhausting, like one week, if it's enough, really a year yeah, especially guiding.
Speaker 1:So do you find the clients getting back to move something? I guess, uh, do they let they listen to you? Most of them listen to you fairly well. Yeah, they keep up. Do you guys do a lot of walking?
Speaker 2:there's, like there's some guys that they don't want nothing to do with the guide, like you're just there to be with them.
Speaker 4:They want to have their own hunt oh, which is great, like yeah, you're just there, you just kind back, you just point them to an area.
Speaker 1:Yeah, bring them to a spot and they just kind of like take it from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some guys they just want you to like lay it out for them, oh yeah, and huh see, you get like the two extremes, huh yeah gee so some guys kind of tell you that like don't you just take a spot, we know what we're doing.
Speaker 1:You just hang around and we'll tell you if we need you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty much like usually the younger guys, like the guys that come now. They're from quebec, they've been coming year after year and they just want to go out do their own thing. They want to hike around and call the moose in their cells that makes your job pretty sweet, yeah, and then you get the other guys that are deaf and blind, deaf and blind and blaming you for not having a big old bull come stomping in. Yeah, what can you do? Right, it's hunting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. Have your hunts all been successful thus far?
Speaker 2:We've got every moose so far, that's pretty good Got some pretty nice moose too.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, had a 50-inch there, I think two years ago.
Speaker 1:Oh too, yeah, yeah, it had a 50 inch there, I think two years ago.
Speaker 2:Oh, really spread. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. You know what it weighed? No, never weighed it.
Speaker 1:No, probably heavy enough no, we don't really weigh the moves do. Uh, when you're guiding, do the people help you, your clients help pack them out, or they oh?
Speaker 2:yeah, like they always do, or do any of them just kind of watch? No, like a lot of guys, they're now like they, the guys that we have coming now. I guess they do everything Like you're got in the moose, they're right there with you. Oh yeah. When you're cornering up, they're taking the quarters to the freezer, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:As they should.
Speaker 4:Well I mean. So they're paying for the experience and they're getting the whole. They want the whole hunt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like if I was to go pay for hunt I'd want the whole thing, I wouldn't want to just like shoot something, or you'd want to help, you'd want to be standing around being useless sort of thing. Like it's still my hunt, like I like doing that stuff, so why?
Speaker 1:wouldn't yeah. That's why you're going on a hunt.
Speaker 2:The hunt's about more than the bill of seconds that you pull the trigger. They crack a beer and they take out. Yeah, literally literally you're doing the rest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really, yeah they don't normally help no or ever, like it's actually kind of rare yeah, kind of rare.
Speaker 2:Like I'll ask them when I'm like skinning their bear or something if they can hold a leg for me, like I guess yeah, is it like that?
Speaker 4:oh, not really. Do you skin them right there, like you probably? You probably take them back to camp and then do everything up at the camp.
Speaker 2:Depends on what time they shoot it. I'll do it at the camp or I'll take it back to the lodge and do it at the lodge. Because, there's lights and stuff. Put it on the tractor, raise it up.
Speaker 1:What's your secret for getting them out of the thick woods, the bear.
Speaker 2:Using a sled. They're kind of lazy, I guess, but the sled yeah, or just drop the bear right there at the barrels and you're fine well, yeah, if you're shooting, that's what you do, but yeah that's what you tell them. Shoot them right the neck, drop it.
Speaker 1:Some people listen, some don't do you deal with many bow hunters?
Speaker 2:no no too many now. The stands aren't really set up for bow oh, okay yeah, like the outfitter, he doesn't want people shooting the bow because he doesn't want them, wounding them and running away. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Well, that adds a lot of tracking on you guys. And then that adds a lot of tracking on a guy saying that he had a what he thought was a heart shot. But he shot at the back leg and you're going out there chasing a drop of blood pitch black at night.
Speaker 2:And you don't know what you're getting to. Three or 400 pound bear. Then you got to drag that out the extra 80 yards.
Speaker 1:Or you've got the guy telling you like for sure he hit it, it's a good shot, and you're tracking for a while. You come back to see, you know if there's any more blood, than you happen to see the area on the tree and realize yeah, yeah, probably hit it even off a good archery shot.
Speaker 4:You don't get a lot of blood from a bear no, their fur like covers up the hole. So they clot up quickly it clots up and then so much of that blood just gets absorbed in that fur.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it was the wild boar there. They. They're similar. They don't bleed, really not much at all yeah.
Speaker 2:So I was trying to tell that guy that like missed the one. Oh, I was like, yeah, they don't bleed too much, but you might not find blood.
Speaker 1:Oh, you just kind of keep his spirits up Like he probably hit it. Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:After half an hour looking though, it's kind of like yeah, I don't think he hit this thing.
Speaker 1:What did he say when you told him?
Speaker 2:Oh, he asked me you know what man Like I don't think the bears did why the thickness of your glasses and how your eyes and face go in the same way.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't know you probably don't want to see it in the other.
Speaker 1:Do you, when they come in? Do you get them to shoot their gun a bit before going out?
Speaker 2:If they want to, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Do some of the most of them do, or?
Speaker 2:No, they usually show up. They Most of them do. No, they usually show up.
Speaker 4:They know their guns, yeah, so even you get guys traveling in, they don't shoot their gun just to make sure it didn't bounce somehow.
Speaker 2:The first group they did this year. They shot their guns just one shot. Yeah. And anyways didn't help them at all, but still missed a bear.
Speaker 4:I mean that can happen. I don't know if you still call it buck fever, but I mean that happens in the heat of the moment, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Boar fever. He told me he's like I shoot 180 inch deer all the time Like.
Speaker 1:What? Where's he from?
Speaker 2:Oh, he's from Ohio and he's like I've never never shaken that much like in my life.
Speaker 4:It's something I mean he's used to. 180 inch deer walking out at this point, I mean there's probably still a thrill to it, yeah. But all of a sudden, when you get a 300 pound black bear, that's probably what 30 yards in front of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know how close you guys be. Yeah, 30 yards, 20, 30. That's a different experience, yeah.
Speaker 1:You guys aren't set up for bow, but you're 20, 30 yards away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it takes a lot of room to draw a bow back. It does. The stands are all brushed in. There's no room to move. You've got your rifle barrel stuck out there and you're just kind of pivoting it towards the barrel.
Speaker 1:They're close. Do you tell them to do much for scent control?
Speaker 2:No, not really.
Speaker 1:If it's going to smell you, it's going to smell you, right.
Speaker 2:You tell them a big bear is not going to come in if you're smoking or doing whatever.
Speaker 1:Do they do that much? Some people do, yeah, really. Oh yeah. They'll be sitting up there smoking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some people you tell them like I don't know, it's probably pretty heavy smoker. Yeah, yeah, he was just killing to sit in the stand up there.
Speaker 1:So did he smoke at all? I don't think he did. No, no, I don't think. So Just be like vibrating by the time he got to the truck, though, yeah, a little cranky as soon as you show up to his stand like let's go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was lighting a smoke, oh yeah, yeah. And then there's one guy he chewed tobacco, which you don't think it's much, but for a bear they can smell it.
Speaker 1:They'd smell it yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, and you're spitting too.
Speaker 1:Did he get one?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he did A small one.
Speaker 1:A small one, yeah, yeah, that's the thing we've talked about on here before is that anybody, any Tom, dick and Harry can go out in the woods, put out a bag of Doritos or whatever and have bears come in. Like I got bears coming in, but there's a difference between something that comes in looking like a black lab and something coming in that's the size of a small cow.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and those guys that have never seen a bear before, they think every bear is huge yeah.
Speaker 4:Well a bear looks a lot bigger on the hoof. They do they do they? A bear looks a lot bigger on the hoof like standing there not on the hoof, I guess, but just standing there compared to when you actually shoot and come up to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they definitely do, yeah what do you, yeah, what do you tell the guys that you're guiding what to look for for a bear? To look big. So I know it's big.
Speaker 2:Like I show them on the barrel, like if you have a bear that like the height of the barrel and look at its belly. If it's got a pretty low belly, you're shooting a big bear do you say much about the ears.
Speaker 4:If the ears look, yeah, if they're wider yeah yeah, but I guess if they don't know what a why, if they don't have nothing to compare it to, then this might be their first or second time seeing a bear. What's a wide set of ears compared to a? Yes, that's why I tell the barrel and like the guy that shot one.
Speaker 2:When he shot, I texted him or whatever he said. It was like at the second line. I'm thinking man, it's probably like he shot somebody's dog.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's probably like a hundred pound bear, but he was actually he happy with it. Still, I mean, yeah, I guess, if he's happy about it, then yeah he wasn't when he's sitting on the ground.
Speaker 2:he asked me, like, how much it weighed, and I said you don't want me to tell you. We weighed him with the guts in. It weighed. I told him 125. It weighed 123. And he was happy that I had a white V, though. Are they able to?
Speaker 4:get a second tag. Yeah, they can Okay.
Speaker 1:Now here in New Brunswick. So anybody listening to this and wondering you can shoot two bear on the same trip, yeah, on the same trip. Yeah, legally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like it costs them quite a bit of money, like 700 bucks for another tag.
Speaker 1:But if you're all the way down here from you know who knows where it's worth it. You've already.
Speaker 4:You've already paid for the trip. You've already paid for the stay at the outfitter. You're already there five day hunt and you shoot a bear your first or second day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they all like asked about it, but nobody did it. Oh, they all were like can we get a second tag? Yeah, I gave him an opportunity, but they didn't know. No Kind of sitting there in the black flies for a couple of days probably gets to them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you set up your clients with a thermosel?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you I've shot the first thing that come in before black bear hunting in the spring because the bugs are just driving me nuts.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's bad. They take two thermocels in with them.
Speaker 1:They do.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Do you just evening hunt or do you set them up in the mornings? Just evening? Yeah, it's a better hunt.
Speaker 1:You don't find there's any point in the mornings.
Speaker 2:Oh no, there's definitely a point to it like there's yeah, I got bears coming in the mornings all the time, but really it's really it's hard to get their asses out of bed.
Speaker 1:Basically, is what you're saying yeah, all right, come on, leroy, you don't want to go in there are you?
Speaker 2:you're probably then baiting stands at some point, yeah, when you put them in the stand, then you go out and usually bait check your cameras and then if then you can see what was there the night before, or whatever, and send the guys there if they want to the next day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a lot of fun really.
Speaker 1:You get to meet all kinds of kinds doing it too and this and that.
Speaker 2:Lots of personalities. Yeah, egos too sometimes, oh yeah definitely Get people who think they can shoot great big long ranges and brag about that.
Speaker 1:Most of the guys that you have come in Are they hunters. Like, have they shot other things before? There's some of them coming in that this is their first hunt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like some guys, they're all hunters usually. Okay, they all usually hunt whatever, mostly deer. They're mostly all deer hunters. And like one group this year. They were brand new to the bear hunting. Never even seen a bear before. Mostly deer. They're mostly all deer hunters and, uh, like one group this year they were brand new to the bear hunting. Never even seen a bear before. Next group that come in. They've been doing this for seven years in a row. Okay. They come every year and shoot a bear.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it's just a mix between everything. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And the people that like like bear hunting. They eat the meat.
Speaker 1:The guys that just come in because they want you to bear, they just they don't eat it no, yeah, they just want the quilt or whatever yeah, that's the difference between the two. People like do you eat it?
Speaker 2:oh, I love I eat bear.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's good, it is good. I've only had spring. I've never had fall bear I've had both much difference.
Speaker 2:I don't, I don't find there you'll find.
Speaker 1:No, I just bottle it, make roast out of it. Oh okay, yeah, that make it all taste pretty similar.
Speaker 2:It tastes good yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1:Uh well, jesse, thanks for coming on. It was interesting talk about delta waterfront, the bear hunting stuff. You know, that's just a bonus. I didn't expect to talk to you about the guiding stuff, but it was interesting and uh, yeah, I definitely think we'll be having you on again yeah, thanks for having me no problem, ryan. Thanks for shooting in there once in a while, yeah, it's perfect, all right, see you.