![[CLIP] The Problem With Outdoors Sports | Off The Water Clips](https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/off-the-water-with/clip-the-problem-with-ItL-RYrNjhA-XJiaDzkYPEK.1400x1400.jpg "[CLIP] The Problem With Outdoors Sports | Off The Water Clips")
WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.599
This sport is welcoming to all, and this community is welcoming to all.
00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:11.039
And even in the midst of all these changes, here's my here's my question for you, Hank.
00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:16.640
In the midst of all these changes, what do you hope stays the same?
00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:22.640
I'm hoping, and that is a great question, and and I I I'm glad you asked this.
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:29.920
Uh I'm hoping we can get back to where we were.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:40.399
And I know that it's not only this sport, it's not only fishing, it's not only America.
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.240
Man, we have grown impatient with each other.
00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.000
Uh everybody's all about instant gratification.
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:54.000
So there's so many advancements made them from a technical standpoint to do shortcuts.
00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.119
I'm hoping we can get back to appreciate.
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.039
And I'm gonna tell you, uh Josh, man, you love hunting.
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.560
You love hunting.
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:12.959
And this will disappoint a lot of people, but I promise you, I've seen it and I've watched it, and it's so disappointing.
00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:28.480
When we started our hunting show 20 years ago, it was beginning to shift because of trail cameras, and I totally understand it, but it's it's messed the sport up.
00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:44.159
Now, honestly, we used to go and hunt with outfitters, and they say uh this Jim or Joe or farmer Bob or whomever saw a big deer cross the road up here, we know there's a big deer in this track of wood somewhere.
00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:57.280
Uh so you guys can go over there, we got a stand here or there, but you guys can go over there and scout it out and find a place to put up your stand and just know uh that there has been a big deer spotted in the area.
00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.680
And that's kind of the way it was everywhere.
00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:08.560
When I I mentioned earlier I'd gone to Saskatchewan and hunted up there for uh since 1989, and and uh I would I'd spend the whole season.
00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:12.879
I hunted with an outfitter named Harley No, and we did discovery all the time.
00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.919
We would learn, we would go to a different track of land and we would scout and we would do all the things that are really hunting.
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.840
And uh now it is all about trail cameras.
00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:32.879
They can identify every deer on the property, and if they do find a big deer, okay, this hunt's$3,500, which is pretty pricey hunt.
00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.599
Uh this is a$3,500 hunt for the week.
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:44.240
We provide you with food and lodging, and so you you you you belly up and and you provide the deer's birthday for you, exactly how old he was, all that.
00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.960
Well, but now it's the same deal.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:52.479
You pay$3,500 for the hunt or$5,000 or whatever that number is that's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.
00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:54.159
When we started, it was a grand.
00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:58.639
You could go just about anywhere, any outfitter, and for a week you can hunt for a thousand dollars.
00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.680
Well, that's that's when I started in Canada, it was eight hundred dollars.
00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:02.159
Right.
00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.560
So it it's it's it's gone up.
00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:08.240
But now, now we got a picture of this big deer.
00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:12.479
If you kill this deer, it's a ten thousand dollar trophy fee.
00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:12.879
Right.
00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.199
And some of them are twenty or thirty thousand.
00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:16.800
And then they'll put it out on the internet.
00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:21.199
Hey, I'm Jim so-and-so, and I own such and such trail outfitters.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:25.120
And if you want to come hunt this deer, now get sent a picture of it.
00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:27.840
Uh, you can come hunt this deer for$25,000.
00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:31.520
It's just gotten so much about money.
00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:35.599
So whoever catches who kills the biggest deer has got the most money.
00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:40.800
I mean, it's rare that a guy just goes hunts on public land and this giant shows up.
00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:43.919
It does happen, and that motivates a lot of people.
00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:50.479
But that hunting is not about hunting a deer with a name, with a price tag on it.
00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.960
It's just messed it up.
00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.680
And it's so discouraging to me.
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.599
I I I don't even I don't even like it.
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:01.759
Uh I'd rather hunt at home.
00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:07.599
I started hunting with a longbow because hunting is a personal deal.
00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:17.680
You set your own goals and you you mess it up when you fall into the category of being able to put a deer head on the wall and brag about it.
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.639
Just enjoy what it is.
00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.360
And that's the same way I feel about fishing.
00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.600
Fishing is a personal gratification.
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.399
Personal, man, you don't have to.
00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:37.600
I love it when I go fishing and I take somebody with me, they have expectations most of the time.
00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.319
Man, I'm fishing with this guy and we're gonna catch a lot of fish.
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:46.079
Yeah, or most people at the boat ramp have high expectations when they see me come off the water.
00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:47.199
Ben, I bet you caught them.
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:47.920
How many did you catch?
00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:48.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.079
You know, I love it when I don't have to catch anything.
00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:53.759
I don't have to catch anything.
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:59.439
And I tell people all the time that get so discouraged, but they only caught two bass.
00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:07.439
They went to Lake Murray or they went to Lake Hartwell or Lake Norman or Lake Wiley or wherever they went, and they only caught two bass.
00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.879
Well, hold on one minute.
00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:15.519
You put your boat in and you went out and you figured out how to catch a bath.
00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.199
Man, that's good.
00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:18.160
That's good.
00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:19.600
Feel good about that.
00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:21.360
You don't have to catch 50.
00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:22.720
You don't have to catch 20.
00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.399
You don't have to catch 10 to have a successful fishing trip.
00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:40.639
And that's what I'm trying to drive home to all these kids that get so discouraged with high school fishing, they watch Hank Parker's Outdoor Magazine or they watch Bill Dance, they don't realize we've been out there for six months to edit that 22 minutes.
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:41.680
Yes, sir.
00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:48.000
I think you said something to the effect of, you know, killing big deer, catching big fish is a lot of work.
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:48.720
It is.
00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:52.800
And it's uh now, unfortunately, killing big deer is a lot of money.
00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:53.600
A lot of money.
00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:53.920
Yeah.
00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:55.040
And and that's wrong.
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:55.680
That's wrong.
00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:56.639
I'm more impressed.
00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.040
I told this one time it if you go, and this is maybe a poor illustration.
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.360
I don't always give the best illustrations.
00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:04.480
Can you imagine that?
00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.600
But just let's just say you and I work in a textile mill.
00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:08.079
Okay.
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:09.680
I work for$2 an hour.
00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:10.079
Right.
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.680
You're executive, and you make$400,000 a year.
00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:14.079
Okay.
00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:15.839
So I'm not in your league.
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:22.639
And you get a week off, and you go to a high fence ranch in Texas and you kill a 200-inch deer.
00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:23.360
All right.
00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:32.319
All I have is I have my weekends and I go out and I scout and I got this little six-point that I killed on public land.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:43.120
And I figured out he was eating white oak acorns, and I found the acorn ridge, and I figured out where the wind drift was, and I set up and I learned and scouted and killed this deer.
00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:49.279
Well, now you went out, you big old executive, you went out and hunted on this public land.
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:55.040
I mean, on this private land where the the outfitter put you in the stand.
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.279
You had no decision on where to hunt.
00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.199
He had it all figured out for you.
00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:06.800
He's been feeding, he's run Corral Camera, and okay, I'm gonna put you in stand number eight and you kill this 180-inch deer.
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.519
Well, my little old deer over here won't score 100, but I figured it out all by myself.
00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:13.600
Who's the hunter in the deal?
00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:15.759
That's my point.
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:31.839
And so you can get all the information you want, you can get a guide, you can go fishing, but hey, feel good about it when you go out on a on a public waterway and you figure out how in the world to catch a bath and you're successful.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:32.720
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.160
Feel good about that.
00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:44.480
Don't set your expectations so high that you feel defeated that you didn't catch 10 or 15 or 20 or whatever number it was that you expected to catch.
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.079
Don't expect anything.
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:51.759
Just go out and have a good time and read the water and understand that it's rewarding.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.599
This sport is welcoming to all, and this community is welcoming to all.
00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:11.039
And even in the midst of all these changes, here's my here's my question for you, Hank.
00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:16.640
In the midst of all these changes, what do you hope stays the same?
00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:22.640
I'm hoping, and that is a great question, and and I I I'm glad you asked this.
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:29.920
Uh I'm hoping we can get back to where we were.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:40.399
And I know that it's not only this sport, it's not only fishing, it's not only America.
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.240
Man, we have grown impatient with each other.
00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.000
Uh everybody's all about instant gratification.
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:54.000
So there's so many advancements made them from a technical standpoint to do shortcuts.
00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.119
I'm hoping we can get back to appreciate.
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.039
And I'm gonna tell you, uh Josh, man, you love hunting.
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.560
You love hunting.
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:12.959
And this will disappoint a lot of people, but I promise you, I've seen it and I've watched it, and it's so disappointing.
00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:28.480
When we started our hunting show 20 years ago, it was beginning to shift because of trail cameras, and I totally understand it, but it's it's messed the sport up.
00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:44.159
Now, honestly, we used to go and hunt with outfitters, and they say uh this Jim or Joe or farmer Bob or whomever saw a big deer cross the road up here, we know there's a big deer in this track of wood somewhere.
00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:57.280
Uh so you guys can go over there, we got a stand here or there, but you guys can go over there and scout it out and find a place to put up your stand and just know uh that there has been a big deer spotted in the area.
00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.680
And that's kind of the way it was everywhere.
00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:08.560
When I I mentioned earlier I'd gone to Saskatchewan and hunted up there for uh since 1989, and and uh I would I'd spend the whole season.
00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:12.879
I hunted with an outfitter named Harley No, and we did discovery all the time.
00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.919
We would learn, we would go to a different track of land and we would scout and we would do all the things that are really hunting.
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.840
And uh now it is all about trail cameras.
00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:32.879
They can identify every deer on the property, and if they do find a big deer, okay, this hunt's$3,500, which is pretty pricey hunt.
00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.599
Uh this is a$3,500 hunt for the week.
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:44.240
We provide you with food and lodging, and so you you you you belly up and and you provide the deer's birthday for you, exactly how old he was, all that.
00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.960
Well, but now it's the same deal.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:52.479
You pay$3,500 for the hunt or$5,000 or whatever that number is that's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.
00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:54.159
When we started, it was a grand.
00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:58.639
You could go just about anywhere, any outfitter, and for a week you can hunt for a thousand dollars.
00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.680
Well, that's that's when I started in Canada, it was eight hundred dollars.
00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:02.159
Right.
00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.560
So it it's it's it's gone up.
00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:08.240
But now, now we got a picture of this big deer.
00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:12.479
If you kill this deer, it's a ten thousand dollar trophy fee.
00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:12.879
Right.
00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.199
And some of them are twenty or thirty thousand.
00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:16.800
And then they'll put it out on the internet.
00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:21.199
Hey, I'm Jim so-and-so, and I own such and such trail outfitters.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:25.120
And if you want to come hunt this deer, now get sent a picture of it.
00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:27.840
Uh, you can come hunt this deer for$25,000.
00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:31.520
It's just gotten so much about money.
00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:35.599
So whoever catches who kills the biggest deer has got the most money.
00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:40.800
I mean, it's rare that a guy just goes hunts on public land and this giant shows up.
00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:43.919
It does happen, and that motivates a lot of people.
00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:50.479
But that hunting is not about hunting a deer with a name, with a price tag on it.
00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.960
It's just messed it up.
00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.680
And it's so discouraging to me.
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.599
I I I don't even I don't even like it.
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:01.759
Uh I'd rather hunt at home.
00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:07.599
I started hunting with a longbow because hunting is a personal deal.
00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:17.680
You set your own goals and you you mess it up when you fall into the category of being able to put a deer head on the wall and brag about it.
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.639
Just enjoy what it is.
00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.360
And that's the same way I feel about fishing.
00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.600
Fishing is a personal gratification.
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.399
Personal, man, you don't have to.
00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:37.600
I love it when I go fishing and I take somebody with me, they have expectations most of the time.
00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.319
Man, I'm fishing with this guy and we're gonna catch a lot of fish.
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:46.079
Yeah, or most people at the boat ramp have high expectations when they see me come off the water.
00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:47.199
Ben, I bet you caught them.
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:47.920
How many did you catch?
00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:48.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.079
You know, I love it when I don't have to catch anything.
00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:53.759
I don't have to catch anything.
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:59.439
And I tell people all the time that get so discouraged, but they only caught two bass.
00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:07.439
They went to Lake Murray or they went to Lake Hartwell or Lake Norman or Lake Wiley or wherever they went, and they only caught two bass.
00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.879
Well, hold on one minute.
00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:15.519
You put your boat in and you went out and you figured out how to catch a bath.
00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.199
Man, that's good.
00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:18.160
That's good.
00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:19.600
Feel good about that.
00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:21.360
You don't have to catch 50.
00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:22.720
You don't have to catch 20.
00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.399
You don't have to catch 10 to have a successful fishing trip.
00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:40.639
And that's what I'm trying to drive home to all these kids that get so discouraged with high school fishing, they watch Hank Parker's Outdoor Magazine or they watch Bill Dance, they don't realize we've been out there for six months to edit that 22 minutes.
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:41.680
Yes, sir.
00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:48.000
I think you said something to the effect of, you know, killing big deer, catching big fish is a lot of work.
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:48.720
It is.
00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:52.800
And it's uh now, unfortunately, killing big deer is a lot of money.
00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:53.600
A lot of money.
00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:53.920
Yeah.
00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:55.040
And and that's wrong.
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:55.680
That's wrong.
00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:56.639
I'm more impressed.
00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.040
I told this one time it if you go, and this is maybe a poor illustration.
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.360
I don't always give the best illustrations.
00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:04.480
Can you imagine that?
00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.600
But just let's just say you and I work in a textile mill.
00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:08.079
Okay.
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:09.680
I work for$2 an hour.
00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:10.079
Right.
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.680
You're executive, and you make$400,000 a year.
00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:14.079
Okay.
00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:15.839
So I'm not in your league.
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:22.639
And you get a week off, and you go to a high fence ranch in Texas and you kill a 200-inch deer.
00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:23.360
All right.
00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:32.319
All I have is I have my weekends and I go out and I scout and I got this little six-point that I killed on public land.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:43.120
And I figured out he was eating white oak acorns, and I found the acorn ridge, and I figured out where the wind drift was, and I set up and I learned and scouted and killed this deer.
00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:49.279
Well, now you went out, you big old executive, you went out and hunted on this public land.
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:55.040
I mean, on this private land where the the outfitter put you in the stand.
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.279
You had no decision on where to hunt.
00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.199
He had it all figured out for you.
00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:06.800
He's been feeding, he's run Corral Camera, and okay, I'm gonna put you in stand number eight and you kill this 180-inch deer.
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.519
Well, my little old deer over here won't score 100, but I figured it out all by myself.
00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:13.600
Who's the hunter in the deal?
00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:15.759
That's my point.
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:31.839
And so you can get all the information you want, you can get a guide, you can go fishing, but hey, feel good about it when you go out on a on a public waterway and you figure out how in the world to catch a bath and you're successful.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:32.720
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.160
Feel good about that.
00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:44.480
Don't set your expectations so high that you feel defeated that you didn't catch 10 or 15 or 20 or whatever number it was that you expected to catch.
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.079
Don't expect anything.
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:51.759
Just go out and have a good time and read the water and understand that it's rewarding.
