When did you start hunting?
Raised in a hunting and fishing family. My father began taking my brother and I hunting for smaller game such as rabbit or pheasant at an early age. We would walk in a brush and push the rabbits out for my father to shoot at. Just being able to help our father, instead of hunting with him, taught me more than I could ever ask for with the fundamentals of hunting. As time went on and we started to hunt for deer and waterfowl my father and brother eventually stopped hunting, as did I, once I went to school for 11 years to become a podiatrist. I’ve always thought you are born to be a hunter, and I’ve always felt the need to get back out there and do it. I met a friend that was 30 years older than me that I still hunt with till this day. He taught me the finite details of hunting that takes your hunt to the next level, such as wind direction, how high your stand should be, what kind of movement you should expect to see according to the elements. Since then, I have been hunting as much as I possibly can and continue to improve every year based on what I have learned years previous, but I owe everything to the people who taught me.
When did you know that professional hunting could be a part of your career?
It all started with me meeting a best friend, and one of the founding and best hunters of Blitz TV, Doug Crabtree. After hunting so many years around the Ohio area, I started to make a name for myself. It just so happened that Doug was looking for a person to film hunts with him in the Ohio area to go on hunts with him. I received a phone call from him telling me that everyone that he has talked to recommended or at least mentioned me, so immediately he took me to go along with him on these hunts. Just knowing a lot of people in the area and making connections within the hunting community can really take you far. The opportunity found me, just by making a name for myself in the community.
What is your craziest hunting experience?
Doug Crabtree and I went on one of our turkey hunts with another big hunter Dave Nelson. Dave Nelson took us during the fourth week of the season, so many of the turkeys were called shy and decoy shy. We were in a bow hunting only area, so our effective range was just shy of 25 yards. The odds were not in our favor, we needed to pull all strings to land us a gobbler. We touched up 250 turkey decoys with paint and even rehearsed our calling procedures as much as possible to be prepared. One of the mornings we went out, we encountered a dominant bearded hen that started harassing the hen decoy Doug was holding out. Eventually, the dominant hen starts full on attacking the hen decoy, other big gobblers start to get interested and come by. Before any of them could get much closer, the bearded hen was tangled in the fire line we had tied up with the hen decoy. It finally escalated to the point where the bearded hen choked itself to death with the fire line. We had to end the hunt, because we only had one tag. I have never encountered a situation like this that had the game I was hunting kill itself with a decoy.
What is your greatest accomplishment in hunting?
Getting my friends and family involved. I get more excited watching my daughter kill a buck vs. myself. Watching my 100-pound wife reel in a 50 plus pound halibut is more rewarding than watching myself ever catch anything. We are all in this together. Preserving heritage and being able to share memories with loved ones having fun in the sport we love is everything.
When did you meet Trent and become familiar with Blitz Outdoors?
I met Trent very soon after meeting Doug Crabtree. Doug was one of the original members of Blitz Outdoors, just my relationship with him, and filming almost assimilated me into Blitz Outdoors immediately. Once I met Trent and discovered the values of conservation, learning, and expanding the love of hunting was aligned with his down to earth demeanor. I knew that Blitz Outdoors was something I was proud and very lucky to be a part of.
What do you hope to give back to the viewers of Blitz Outdoors?
We need to get families involved in outdoors and local conservation. Rather than me showing off trophies and boasting bragging rights, we need to deliver the message of what’s really holding our tradition together. I believe convincing people to get their own land, and manage their own dirt is a great way to take care of the environment around you. We also need to get back to conversing about the sacrifice it takes to get to this level for everyone. Such as pro-staff members recounting how cool it was and starting up, sacrificing in school. Let’s learn about how we can all make each other better.
When did you start hunting?
Raised in a hunting and fishing family. Started taking his brother and him when he was 3 and was raised in a hunting and fishing family in Ohio. My father began taking my brother and I hunting for smaller game such as rabbit or pheasant at an early age. We would walk in a brush and push the rabbits out for my father to shoot at. Just being able to help our father, instead of hunting with him, taught me more than I could ever ask for with the fundamentals of hunting. As time went on and we started to hunt for deer and waterfowl my father and brother eventually stopped hunting, as did I, once I went to school for 11 years to become a podiatrist. I’ve always thought you are born to be a hunter, and I’ve always felt the need to get back out there and do it. I met a friend that was 30 years older than me that I still hunt with till this day. He taught me the finite details of hunting that takes your hunt to the next level, such as wind direction, how high your stand should be, what kind of movement you should expect to see according to the elements. Since then, I have been hunting as much as I possibly can and continue to improve every year based on what I have learned years previous, but I owe everything to the people who taught me.
When did you know that professional hunting could be a part of your career?
It all started with me meeting a best friend, and one of the founding and best hunters of Blitz TV, Doug Crabtree. After hunting so many years around the Ohio area, I started to make a name for myself. It just so happened that Doug was looking for a person to film hunts with him in the Ohio area to go on hunts with him. I received a phone call from him telling me that everyone that he has talked to recommended or at least mentioned me, so immediately he took me to go along with him on these hunts. Just knowing a lot of people in the area and making connections within the hunting community can really take you far. The opportunity found me, just by making a name for myself in the community.
What is your craziest hunting experience?
Doug Crabtree and I went on one of our turkey hunts with another big hunter Dave Nelson. Dave Nelson took us during the fourth week of the season, so many of the turkeys were called shy and decoy shy. We were in a bow hunting only area, so our effective range was just shy of 25 yards. The odds were not in our favor, we needed to pull all strings to land us a gobbler. We touched up 250 turkey decoys with paint and even rehearsed our calling procedures as much as possible to be prepared. One of the mornings we went out, we encountered a dominant bearded hen that started harassing the hen decoy Doug was holding out. Eventually, the dominant hen starts full on attacking the hen decoy, other big gobblers start to get interested and come by. Before any of them could get much closer, the bearded hen was tangled in the fire line we had tied up with the hen decoy. It finally escalated to the point where the bearded hen choked itself to death with the fire line. We had to end the hunt, because we only had one tag. I have never encountered a situation like this that had the game I was hunting kill itself with a decoy.
What is your greatest accomplishment in hunting?
Getting my friends and family involved. I get more excited watching my daughter kill a buck vs. myself. Watching my 100-pound wife reel in a 50 plus pound halibut is more rewarding than watching myself ever catch anything. We are all in this together. Preserving heritage and being able to share memories with loved ones having fun in the sport we love is everything.
When did you meet Trent and become familiar with Blitz Outdoors?
I met Trent very soon after meeting Doug Crabtree. Doug was one of the original members of Blitz Outdoors, just my relationship with him, and filming almost assimilated me into Blitz Outdoors immediately. Once I met Trent and discovered the values of conservation, learning, and expanding the love of hunting was aligned with his down to earth demeanor. I knew that Blitz Outdoors was something I was proud and very lucky to be a part of.
What do you hope to give back to the viewers of Blitz Outdoors?
We need to get families involved in outdoors and local conservation. Rather than me showing off trophies and boasting bragging rights, we need to deliver the message of what’s really holding our tradition together. I believe convincing people to get their own land, and manage their own dirt is a great way to take care of the environment around you. We also need to get back to conversing about the sacrifice it takes to get to this level for everyone. Such as pro-staff members recounting how cool it was and starting up, sacrificing in school. Let’s learn about how we can all make each other better.
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