156: How Hunting Makes You a Better Man | Adam Greentree
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Summary
On this episode of The Order of Man, Ryan Michler is joined by Adam Greentree, a man who has been hunting for most of his life. Adam and Ryan talk about the importance of adventure and how it can make you a better man.
Transcript
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I went on my first hunt just last year and I can tell you that it was one of the most rewarding
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experiences I've ever had. I have another trip planned in a couple of weeks and I already know
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it's going to push me and it's going to expand me in new ways as a man. Although I wouldn't call
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myself a hunter just yet, I am learning and inspired by men like my friend and guest today,
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Adam Greentree. He's been hunting in Australia for most of his life and I really wanted to get
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his perspective because it's one we just don't hear a lot of. Today we talk about why adventure
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is so important in the lives of men, developing an open mind to new ideas and experiences,
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knowing what battles to fight and when to make a stand and how hunting can make you a better man.
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You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears and boldly chart your
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own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time. You are not easily
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deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are. This is
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who you will become at the end of the day. And after all is said and done, you can call yourself
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a man. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler and I am the host and founder of
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this podcast, The Order of Man. I want to welcome you to the show, whether you're just tuning in for
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the first time or you've been listening for almost three years. And on that note, I've got to say,
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I'm absolutely blown away with the level of support and the growth that we're seeing here
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in Order of Man and the messages. Guys, I get messages every single day on Instagram and Facebook
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and in my inbox and email from those of you who are growing, expanding, connecting with your families,
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building your businesses, growing your bank accounts, losing weight. I mean, doing all the
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things that we've been talking about for years. And when I get messages like that, it reminds me why
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we're doing this podcast, why we are engaged in this movement. And it is a movement, guys. Millions
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and millions of men across the planet are tuning in. They're banding with us. And we need more guys
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in the fight. We need more men who understand what it means to actually be a man. We need more men who
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want to bestow that masculinity upon our boys. And quite honestly, we as men and our boys, the youth,
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are just not getting the message that we need. And we're not getting the experience that we need.
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And that's what this movement is all about. So with that said, I want to thank you for joining me
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again. We need all of us to be engaged in this process. And this is just one very simple way to
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do it. So if you would make sure you share the podcast. All right. If you haven't shared it,
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you guys are getting value from the podcast. I'm sure otherwise you wouldn't be here, but
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just share it. Go ahead and share with a friend, a brother, a colleague, a neighbor, a coworker,
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whoever it may be that needs to hear the message of genuine masculinity and how to reclaim this
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masculinity in our lives for ourselves, our families, our businesses, and our communities.
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And if you would also make sure you leave us a rating and review, because that goes a long way,
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whether you realize it or not, I read every single one of those, but that goes a long,
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long way in expanding the reach and moving us up the charts in the podcast so we can get in front of
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more men. Now I do have a couple of quick announcements before we get into the meat of
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the conversation today. Number one, our digital brotherhood, it's called the iron council guys.
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This is a collection of 360 men. We are working together. We're having conversations. We're going
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through some challenges. We're completing assignments. We're having virtual calls every
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single week. And this is a group dedicated, dedicated to improving our lives. So pick an area
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of your life, whether that's building strength, or maybe you want to go run a marathon later in the
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year. Maybe you're starting a business. You might want to connect with your wife or
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reestablish a relationship with your children. I don't know. I don't know what that looks like
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for you. Again, I hear and get messages every single day with some of the battles that you
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guys are going through. And I'll tell you what, men are just not meant to go at it alone.
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We're not. And I think those of us who do attempt to go at it alone produce significantly less
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results than those men who find a band of brothers. So if you have somebody locally, great.
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I'd be willing to bet that most of the men listening don't have what they would call a
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band of brothers. And I can't really imagine or think of a better place than inside of the iron
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council, because we've got the system and the tools and the structure to make sure that this
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thing really works for you and the rest of the men inside the iron council. So if you're interested
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in learning more, knowing what it's all about, head to order of man.com slash iron council.
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Now, outside of that, I've just got to give you a couple of quick disclaimers here. I did title
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this how hunting makes you a better man. All right. Now, please understand me because I know
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I'm going to get some pushback on this. I don't believe that every single man out there needs to
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be a hunter in order to call himself a quote unquote man. That's not what I'm saying. But what
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I am saying is there's some skills and there's some tools and there's some experiences inside the
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practice of hunting that will enhance your ability to protect, provide and preside. Now, whether you do it
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or not, that's entirely up to you. But I ask that you go into this conversation with an open mind
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and think about how this experience might help you perform a little bit better as a man, whether
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you decide to take that information and apply it, that's entirely up to you. The other thing I want
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to make mention of the audio is a little off on this one. All right. You got to give me a break
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though, because Adam is in Australia. I'm here in the United States. We're across the planet from each
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other, but the audio is a little rough. It's okay. Hang in there because there's some valuable,
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valuable information in here. And on that note, I'm just going to jump right into introducing
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my friend, Adam Greentree. For those of you who don't know, and I know a lot of you guys follow
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him. He's an avid bow hunter. He's in Australia. I just mentioned that he's the host of the Bow
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Hunters Life podcast and is somebody that I really admire and respect for a lot of reasons, but
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specifically his dedication to his craft and his quest for mastery when it comes to all things bow
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hunting. I've learned so much from this guy in a very short period of time. And he's inspired me
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to live a life of more adventure and to pick up a bow. A lot of you guys have seen my, my progression
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with that and see what the fuss is all about for myself. I'm also again, blown away with his hunting
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schedule. I mean, the amount of hunts this guy participates in is unreal. We talk about that a
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little bit in the podcast and how he does it. And the adventures he takes part in will definitely,
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definitely inspire you to tap back into your primal roots. So sit back, enjoy, take some notes
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and enjoy this conversation with me and Adam. Adam, what's up brother? I am glad that you are
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joining us on the show today. It's so awesome to be on here, dude. We have been trying to do this for,
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it must be eight months now. Well, you're a busy man. You're always traveling around the world. So
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yeah, I know it's crazy. It's just hectic, but I'm stoked to finally be sitting here in front of this
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pretty stupid computer screen and talking to you. Well, and it was good to be able to meet up too
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and put a face with a name when we met up in Salt Lake, what a couple of weeks ago for the Western
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Expo. It was really cool. My boys, I told you, my boys had a great time, loved meeting you, loved
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meeting Cam, all the guys. It was, it was a cool experience for them. Yeah. Same here, dude. It was
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just awesome to see you guys. I think we must've first seen each other at the 5k run. Cam Haynes' 5k run.
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Yeah. And I was stoked to see you guys rock up there and participate in the run and
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everything like that. So it was cool. And just meeting your boys, you know, I'm a family man as
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well. So it was awesome to meet your kids as well. It was rough on that 5k. Cause my oldest son,
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he started off really good and he did really well at first. I'm like, Oh, this is going to go good.
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My second son really struggled to begin with. Like he didn't want to do it. He was complaining. I'm
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like, come on, dude. And had to push him along. And we got about halfway through that thing and my
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oldest burned out. So he started dragging in my second, caught a second wind and started to take off.
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So trying to like balance between the two boys was, was a challenge, but it was still fun.
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It was tough. Me and Kim went in the run and like, we live at sea level, dude. We got there and I
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felt like I had like half a lung, but I was just really proud of my wife. She ran for the whole
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thing. So I was just stoked to see her do that. But no, I didn't even see her there. I didn't know
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she was there with you. Yeah. Yeah. Kimmy did it. She did the whole run. She'd had a couple of late
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nights and everything like that. And plus we're just trying to adjust to the timeline difference.
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But, um, no, it was cool. We got it done and it was just, it was just the ball. And like I was
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saying, just before the podcast started, like so many like-minded people, you know, all the one
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spot. Yeah. It was just the unreal atmosphere, dude. I loved it. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. So does Kim,
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does she hunt with you? Does she go everywhere you go and hunt with you?
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Yeah. I think the first 15 or 16 years together, she just listened to all my romantic bow hunting
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stories and it's finally wore off on her. And she started hunting a couple of years ago and she got
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her first buck last year during the rut. Oh yeah. Yeah. It's been really good. She's had a really
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good experience and she's come a long way in the last couple of years. And our rut's actually just
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about to kick in for our fellow deer and our red stag. So, um, she's getting all g'd up and wanting
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to go out. So that would be cool. That's awesome. What have you learned in sharing with her how to
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hunt and, and teaching her the skillset that you've developed? How long have you been hunting? Have
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you been hunting your whole life? Yeah. With a bow. Uh, I don't sort of call my, the years with the
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rifle hunting cause it was more like vermin control here in Australia. There's obviously a lot of
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introduced pest species that are really bad for the ecosystem. And, you know, it was more just
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culling than hunting. But when I got a bow, when I was 17 years old, it drastically changed into
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hunting, you know, spotting and stalking and just a whole bunch of romance that comes behind that and
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passion as well, rather than just going out with a gun and, you know, pretty much bombing up on these
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feral introduced species. So what am I, I think I'm 37 or 38 now. So I've had a good 20 years
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bow hunting. So yeah, it's been, been an awesome journey and I'm still learning today, dude. That's
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what I keep telling people. Like, like I still haven't mastered it. 20 years of just being a
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hardcore bow hunter and I still get surprised by the way deer react or what they do. So
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it's been, uh, been pretty crazy. Is that the most rewarding part for you? Just the fact that there's
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more to it. I imagine, you know, once you learn all that's needed to be learned about a particular
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skill, it could get boring and tiresome in a way, but I can't see that with bow hunting.
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There's a couple of things that in the past that I've done that I could say that I've mastered.
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And it's like, once you master something, it actually gets, you know, because it becomes
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easier. It becomes like second nature. And I know some guys that are in their sixties and
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seventies, bow hunters here in Australia that say the same thing. They're still getting a lot
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of enjoyment out of it because you never really master it. There's just so much to it. You know,
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there's just, it's ridiculous. You know, I think it was only two or three weeks ago and
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I got in on this really big bark. I put some photos up on Instagram, this beautiful, big,
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the color's called mean old fellow buck and they're like spotty and stuff like that. And
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I got right in on him like 14 yards away and I'm at, or dude, no, I already had this thing
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in the freezer. You know, I'm like, this thing is dead. Anyway, I'm at draw on this buck
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and usually I shoot low because I, fellow deer react really fast. Like, like an axis
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deer, you know, anyone that's ever hunted axis deer, they, they use the tigers chasing
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around and they just drop. So I usually aim for the heart and they drop every time. I
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usually hit them about double lungs, aiming for the heart. Anyway, this thing's really
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relaxed and it's heads down in the grass. And, you know, like I said, I'm at full draw
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and everything's calm and I'm like, yeah, this thing's dead. And then a buck behind him
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notices me and just a slight reaction, but every deer reads that reaction, even though
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he's got his head down and feed and every deer knows the sound of that reaction. So
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he was now fully alert and I rushed the shot off thinking, you know, I've got him and this
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thing dropped straight under the arrow, dude. And I'm like, I'm like heartbroken. It's
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like, how can they do that? It's like full matrix, you know? And that's what I mean.
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And then there's that, you know, I just stuffed one up. I just missed it. And as bad as that
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feels, that's what keeps me hooked because, you know, then comes the passion that, oh,
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far out. I just want one so bad, you know, like I just screwed that up. How could I do
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that? You know? So it's like that down of bow hunting, that bit that pushes you down and
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just tells you, you know, better than the dirt, you know, nothing, nothing's a given. And
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that's what I really love about bow hunting. Nothing's a given. That's not the hate on rifle
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hunters at all, but that's something that I got out of rifle shooting. It seems like the
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hunt's over a lot quicker than still having to get right in the range with a bow and make
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the absolute perfect shot and drop that animal, you know? And that's why I think I'm very
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What would you have done differently in that scenario looking back on it now?
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If I aim for the heart, if I had those couple of seconds longer to aim for the heart, then
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I would have probably hit him double lungs or for the top of the lungs and, you know,
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and dropped him. But if we went out, if we killed something every time, it just wouldn't
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be the same thing. I think I hate failing, but I love failing and something because it
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keeps me going at it. And that's what bow hunting is in a nutshell for me. It's a, it's
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a tough journey. That's got a reward at the end of it. If you keep putting the effort in.
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How has it changed since you started teaching other people? I mean, you're, you're teaching
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your wife over the last couple of years. Obviously there's hundreds of thousands of people that
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are learning from you. Has, has it changed for you since then?
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Not really. I'm just doing what I do. It doesn't matter what it is, if it's bow hunting or woodwork
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or just anything in general, like I like passing knowledge on, especially to my loved ones, but
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to anyone that wants to give me the time of day to learn, you know, I just love pushing
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that knowledge on. And I used to always say, I hate the thought of people not realizing what's
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happening out there. I worked on a massive construction site when I was 18 or 19 years
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old. I wasn't, I worked on this big construction site and I was one of the youngest guys on the
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site. I used to always promote bow hunting, you know, just back then I used to take the
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hunting magazines into the lunch rooms and stuff like that. And I got a couple of guys in the
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bow hunting at that point that were in their late forties, early fifties, and they'd never
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even knew it existed. You know, it's a very different thing here in Australia. You know, it's
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just not really promoted like that. But these guys didn't even know it existed. And I always
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say, I wish I got in the bow hunting at an early age and I got into it at 17 and I've
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got regret that I didn't discover it earlier. Well, these guys were just like, I, like we
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never knew this existed. I just wish that we knew about hunting with a bow and arrow
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earlier. You know, everything that flows on with that, like getting meat, you know, providing
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for your own family, you know, and you know, it's fresh and all, you know, it's very fresh
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and organic meat. The adventure that goes with it, like these guys weren't really regular
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campers or hikers or anything like that. Well, all that goes in with bow hunting because
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as you know, if you're spot and stalk, you need to cover a lot of country. You need to get
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into the back country where you probably have to camp. So all those experiences came with
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it, you know, and I just hate the idea that there's a bunch of people out there that don't
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know how good that experience is, you know? Yeah. And I think the world's a little bit
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lost there, not knowing that's out there. Well, I think there's definitely a connection
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there and obviously our ability to connect with nature is huge and we've got away from
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it as we've built these mega cities and we've got technology and nothing against those things.
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All of that stuff's wonderful, but it's isolated us from nature and from adventure. And in following
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you for, I don't know, the last year or so, I've seen from your perspective, that's
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something that you really enjoy is that adventurous side of things. Can you talk about
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that? Yeah, it's just, it's an absolute beautiful thing, you know? So I've seen Kim,
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Kim's the very city girl. I've seen her go from being that very city girl to a real, we
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call it a bushy here, but like a real country girl. The appreciation that she's got out of
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that for nature and for all the good little things that we've got in life in modern technology
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and stuff like that. I see that she appreciates that a lot more. It's so easy to overlook
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how amazing that is when you just don't realize it's there. And that's what the city does and
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like what a nine to five job does. It's pulled you away from that. And I don't know, it's
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just like out of sight, out of mind for a lot of people. And so everything that I do, I don't
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think anything that I do is special at all. I just, it is what it is. And I get all these
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crazy messages from people saying, that's amazing that you just go out and camp under
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the stars like that. And no, that's just normal. We'll all do on that at one stage. You know,
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this, this is nothing out of the ordinary. It's just that the city has taken that away.
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Yeah, it really has. Is there a hunt in particular, and I'm sure you've been on hundreds, if not
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thousands of hunts, but is there a hunt in particular that you thought, man, this is,
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this one is like, like tops the list for being the most adventurous?
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Not really. Like everyone always freaks out about the solo hunts and stuff that I do. And
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so that's usually where like the back country in Montana comes into play. But here in Australia,
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it's really wild country. Like you're walking around out there and it's, and you've got that
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feeling that no one's even ever walked this same path that you're taking, you know, like that's,
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it's just so remote. Like, dude, you could die out there and no one would find you. That's the
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sort of remoteness it is, you know, like it's crazy to think, but indigenous Australians have
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walked it forever. The truth is you're not the first person to walk it. Indigenous Australians
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have walked all over it. But now if a lot of indigenous Australians also live in, in cities
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and towns and communities, you walk through there. And at that point you sort of are the
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only guy, you know, any person that's walking that country. So I'd have to say,
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Arnhem Land, Australia, it's just, the place is full of dinosaurs, dude. There's massive big salt
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water crocs swimming in the water holes up there and just, just big buffalo.
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Yeah. I've seen some of the stuff you've posted. Yeah. It's absolutely crazy. What is your level of,
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of preparation look like? You know, I've, I've talked with, uh, John Dudley. Um, he talks a lot
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about the way he shot cam, obviously in the way that he shots and he's out every day and, and we all
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see what he does in the gym. What does that look like for you? So the beauty of Australia is there's
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virtually no hunting seasons. Like all my huntings open all year round. There's no tags or anything
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like that. Because as I said, they're like, they're all introduced species, you know, they're all
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invasive species. So I can literally hunt all year round and I pretty much do. And I, I don't really
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find a gap there where I'm like, Oh, I need to hit the gym or I need to do a bit of cardio and stuff
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like that. Cause like before I come to Montana or the back country there in the, in North America,
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I've already done a bunch of hunts leading up to it that I sort of get there and I'm sort
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of like trotting up the mountain dude, you know, with a big backpack on. I'm like the only thing
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that really affects me is, uh, the elevation because you know, everywhere in Australia is
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pretty altitude. So, um, everywhere here is pretty close to sea level. And I've just got a
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training mask here that, uh, underarm sent me over and I usually do a little bit of running
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in that before I get to the high elevation. But it's funny if I had the gap, I definitely
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would because I never want to struggle on the mountain or on a hunt. You know, I definitely
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would. But my preparation is literally just the, the hunt beforehand, you know, and it's
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the same with shooting. Like if I'm at the cabin or if I'm in camp, I'm, I'm literally
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practicing shooting why I'm at the destination that I want to be because we just take a target
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butt in the camp or whatnot and have a bunch of shots, make sure the bow is shooting well,
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make sure nothing's been bumped or anything like that. And, and I don't change anything,
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dude. I like, I shoot the same arrow set up from a rabbit to a massive water buffalo.
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I don't change anything. And people think like, that's crazy. Like it's overkill. It's like
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600 grains of arrow, but I don't have to ever change my sights. There's nothing that can go
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wrong there. Like, Oh shit, I'll shoot in the wrong grain broadhead. You know, that's why my
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arrow's off. It's just the same setup for everything I shoot. Yeah. It sounds like it's, it's just
00:20:25.420
simplified the process. Right. And then you don't have to worry about all these little,
00:20:28.440
little nuances that could, and potentially will go wrong. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So I was talking
00:20:33.800
to the guys at Hoyt and the president of Hoyt there, he's about to go on a, a Cape buffalo hunt
00:20:40.380
and he was talking about the sort of setup that I use for my buffalo. And I'm just like, you just,
00:20:46.340
you can't go wrong with this setup. Like it's a good solid setup. Like I'll literally shoot
00:20:51.480
buffalo and like their buffalo are like two times wider than a 29 inch shaft dude. And that arrow
00:20:59.300
will completely pass through and leave the buffalo. You'll be on the other side of where you shot the
00:21:02.940
buffalo looking for your arrow, you know? So it's just like, yeah. And I also tell a story about the
00:21:07.720
big red deer that I shot this stag, I called him off and he come running down to like nine yards
00:21:13.240
and he was like half shy and away. He didn't quite know what I was. And I was looking for the right
00:21:17.880
angle. And I thought I could get the shaft in this pocket here in a soft spot and up into the chest
00:21:23.100
and probably through the top of the heart. And as I shot, like they just react so fast. If they're
00:21:28.860
slightly aware, he sort of dropped, rolled and come down like that. And it was a horrible shot.
00:21:33.880
I was using that solid arrow setup that I was talking about with a solid two blade broadened.
00:21:38.960
And it's just like one piece of steel, this broadened seed machine through one piece of steel.
00:21:44.220
And so it went through the heart and I just dropped this big stag on the spot. And right then and there,
00:21:49.720
I said to myself, I'm never going to change that setup because that could have been a fatally
00:21:55.000
wounded animal that I may never have found, or I would have broken the arm on this side and he would
00:22:00.660
have just been wounded and, you know, had to live, I don't know how many years with a wounded leg like
00:22:05.800
that. So I thought I'm not going to change that setup for anything. And I didn't, I've shot it the
00:22:10.520
whole time. There's been a couple more cases where I'm just like, if I shot anything else, a three
00:22:14.840
blade, an expandable, a mechanical, that broadened just would have damaged. It would be a nice
00:22:20.600
situation to be thinking about or try and live with. So yeah, I was stuck with that setup for everything.
00:22:25.980
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at Ryan at order of man.com. I hope to see you there. Now let's finish up this conversation with
00:23:37.040
Adam. I'm always amazed at just from being new in the hunting world. I'm amazed at the ethical
00:23:44.680
standards of hunters. I mean, you're talking about it right now. You're talking about wounding an
00:23:48.940
animal and that living with you. And I think there's this really interesting perspective from
00:23:54.960
the outside world who's never been hunting that, you know, you're beady eyed killers, right? And
00:23:59.520
you're just enjoying the kill itself. And it's not like that at all. I mean, how do you address this
00:24:07.080
pushback and this negativity that I'm sure that you just get in droves?
00:24:11.460
Yeah. So one thing is being a hunter has actually made me more passionate about animals and more
00:24:17.900
passionate about being humane and more aware of where your meat comes from and the process that
00:24:23.860
it goes through. And there's been a couple of animals that I've killed now that I've actually
00:24:28.580
shed a tear over, dude, because I am so passionate about wildlife. No, I haven't shed a tear because
00:24:33.760
I'm like, this is the wrong thing to do. I shed a tear knowing that this meat comes from,
00:24:40.400
it's okay to do this, but it's still an animal's life. And I still feel, and I'm very passionate
00:24:46.180
about it. Where the argument comes from and where most of my hate mail comes from is just
00:24:51.100
ignorance. Someone that's eaten a burger at McDonald's or feeding their cat a tin of
00:24:56.500
whatever animal product, but they want to have a go at me because the meat's not sitting in a packet
00:25:03.620
like a pretty packet like this with some fluffy animal picture on it. And it just says the weight
00:25:09.140
of the meat and how much it is. That's fine. But me being with the animal and showing the animal
00:25:14.700
respect and people don't like it, it's so weird that they're like that. Most of them I just ignore,
00:25:21.020
like I pick my battles. I see someone that just doesn't understand and I see someone that's just
00:25:25.460
pure ignorant and they're never, ever going to understand and they just want to talk some shit
00:25:29.240
online. But in saying that, I actually haven't been getting a ton of hate mail. It's actually been
00:25:36.140
so much positive messages from vegans or ex-vegans or animal rights people and ex-animal rights people.
00:25:45.620
It's like, there's definitely a movement. There's been a change now with particularly the way that
00:25:51.240
like Joe Rogan's pushed it across the board and like guys like you talk about, like Cameron Haynes,
00:25:56.260
and there's just a ton of awesome ambassadors out there at the moment that are pushing what the
00:26:01.300
majority of real hunters are like, you know, and that's that what we're talking about. Just
00:26:05.420
people that are very respectful over the animals that they hunt, you know, and just I really want
00:26:11.140
to be humane. And it's, it's almost selfish because I don't want to feel like what we're saying just
00:26:17.920
then. I don't want to feel that guilt and bad for wounding an animal. So I make sure I go to every
00:26:23.640
effort as possible to make sure my setup is perfect, dude, to make sure I get within my effective range,
00:26:30.840
to make sure I know the vitals of an animal, you know, to make sure it's just a quick, clean kill.
00:26:36.580
And the animals that I shoot with a bow, like, I'm hurt, I'm hurt, I'm hurt. They're not running.
00:26:42.380
They're just running out of, that's their instinct to run. You know, most of these animals actually
00:26:47.940
don't feel pain. They just run out of instinct. Like, what was that? And then I've even had them do it.
00:26:54.260
They run out so far, they're really relaxed and they're like, looking back, like, what was that?
00:26:57.920
And then they fall over dead, you know, like that's perfect. That's beautiful. And that's what we strive
00:27:03.620
for as hunters. I do believe that there is kind of this new resurgence or awakening, if you will,
00:27:10.360
to people and the hunting industry in general. I think about like conservation efforts. And that's
00:27:16.420
one thing that I think is really misunderstood that some of these animals, frankly, they're going to die
00:27:21.700
anyways, or they're going to create other problems. You talk about, for example, some of these species
00:27:27.360
being introduced and them causing problems. And I really think that there is, that like the biggest
00:27:32.860
conservationists seem to be hunters from my perspective. Would you agree with that?
00:27:36.740
Yeah, definitely. There's a reason why it's legal. There's a reason why there's a tag for those
00:27:41.940
animals. In the American system, there's not a tag there so we can wipe them out. There's a tag there
00:27:47.200
because there's a great enough number of them that to keep them healthy and populated and for money to
00:27:53.160
go into conservation, they tag and then you can legally go out and hunt that animal. In Australia,
00:28:00.280
there's a reason why it's legal to hunt those animals because they're invasive and they're wiping
00:28:05.000
out other species. So they're wiping out fauna and flora. So we need to decrease these animals. We're
00:28:11.580
never going to get rid of them in Australia. It's too late for that. They're everywhere. They're spread
00:28:15.260
everywhere. But now we need to work as hard as we can to control the population. And it's proven that
00:28:21.200
hunting is a massive factor in decreasing those populations. A hell of a lot more that goes with
00:28:28.720
that. Like we can just say conservation, like that's already big enough. That's already great.
00:28:33.220
It's already a good enough reason to do it. But it also supports all these little towns where hunting
00:28:40.320
is based. So people drive in there and get an accommodation, food, fuel, there's jobs that come
00:28:45.520
out of it. It's never ending. It's just huge. The benefits of hunting are just huge. I know there's
00:28:53.100
towns that if they didn't have a duck season, those towns would not exist. There would not be jobs there
00:29:01.020
for people. So there's a lot to it. And this is sort of backpedaling a little bit. Like say I shoot a pig,
00:29:07.900
a wild pig in Australia. And someone wants to give me shit about that. Like, you know,
00:29:12.000
why can't you just let the animals live? But those pigs are wiping animals off the planet. Like
00:29:18.360
they've already done it. They've pushed ground nesting birds, a bunch of ground nesting birds,
00:29:23.500
frogs and lizards and all sorts of creatures already to extinction. They're never coming back. We're never
00:29:29.340
going to see those animals again. But people don't have a problem with the pig being there and wiping
00:29:34.620
out animals and killing animals. But they've got an issue with hunters going and hunting the pigs.
00:29:38.880
It's so weird. Like I just, like sometimes I'm just like, is it just my mind that's that free
00:29:44.540
that I can see this? I'm saying it because I'm a hunter. I'm saying it because I've got an open
00:29:49.420
mind. I hunt because I've got an open mind. I don't hunt just because I'm a hunter. And I don't
00:29:54.720
justify things because I'm a hunter. I'm just not that sort of person. If something wouldn't be
00:29:58.660
correct to hunt or right to hunt, I just wouldn't hunt it.
00:30:00.960
I, well, I think you bring up a really good point. I think it does have to do with being
00:30:04.740
open-minded and being closed-minded. Like some people genuinely, they only want to see one side.
00:30:11.600
And so they'll never take the time or the energy to go in and explore what's actually happening,
00:30:17.960
why hunters are so involved, how hunters actually behave. And almost what's sad about that is these
00:30:24.040
people with these closed minds, sometimes it seems like they tend to be the loudest people too,
00:30:28.700
right? So when somebody doesn't know, they're automatically assuming that these people with
00:30:33.320
closed minds are accurate and this is correct. And I think that's kind of the travesty.
00:30:37.040
Yeah. I'll still look at an animal and go, look, there's a tag for it and it's legal to hunt,
00:30:40.480
but I'll still do my research, especially when I'm traveling overseas and I don't have the whole
00:30:45.220
picture. I'll still do my research to make sure that that's the right thing to do. It's funny,
00:30:51.020
me and Cam talk about it a bit. There'll be 200 positive comments and you'll read through them and
00:30:57.420
appreciate them. Like I appreciate them, but there's that only that one negative comment and
00:31:01.980
it is the loudest, you know, which is weird, but it's the one, like I tend to respond to that one
00:31:06.700
as opposed to the other hundred that are good. Yeah. I've tried to stop that. Cause I'm not,
00:31:11.480
I'm like Cam will be nice. Whereas I'll tell them to go and fuck off. Do you know what I mean?
00:31:19.700
And not get worked up. That's just how I talk. But, um, yeah, it is funny that that always seems
00:31:25.980
to be the loudest one, you know, like it's also funny. I've never felt the need to go on to any
00:31:32.360
forum or anyone else's Instagram with anything. There's plenty of things that I don't agree with.
00:31:36.800
I've never felt the need to go on, write that to that person. Like, it's just like, don't you have
00:31:41.880
better things to do in your day? Like, please, no one's going to quit hunting because of your one,
00:31:46.260
your one negative. That's never happened in the history of mankind. No one has ever been,
00:31:51.240
you know what? I'm not going to hunt anymore. They're right. You know, that's never happened.
00:31:56.120
Well, there's this really interesting button that's new, I guess, that people haven't seen.
00:32:00.120
It's called the unfollow button, right? So like if you are following someone that you don't agree with,
00:32:06.960
just click that little button and then you don't have to see any of their stuff anymore. It's
00:32:10.780
amazing. And it'll be better for them. They'll have a better day, a happier day. And so
00:32:14.380
will whoever they're negatively commenting to. What are some of these species that have been
00:32:19.320
introduced into Australia that you're talking about? So there's 27 huntable species here in
00:32:24.360
Australia and every single one of those is introduced. The biggest ones would be like
00:32:28.780
water buffalo. They came from Asia. There's a couple of islands off Australia that have got
00:32:33.700
Marion turkeys on them. So they've been introduced. Then you've foxes, rabbits, jackrabbits, pigs,
00:32:39.700
goats, six species of deer. So we've got fellow deer, red deer. We've got rooster deer, chittle deer,
00:32:46.360
or you guys usually call them axis deer, samba deer and hog deer. There's camels, there's donkeys,
00:32:52.240
there's some real weird ones there. There's feral. So like the house is so overrun and wild here in
00:32:57.340
Australia that I think it's single-handedly killed off more species, like sent into extinction,
00:33:03.760
more species of wildlife than any other animal. Did you say cats? It cut out right when you said
00:33:10.020
that? Yeah, cats. Yeah. So like your domestic cat has gone wild and feral in the bush. So Australia
00:33:16.260
had no predators, dude. So the birds would nest on the ground. You know, there's no instincts built in.
00:33:22.500
Right. Nothing's hunting. Exactly. So all these ground nesting birds are just obliviated and frogs and
00:33:28.360
lizards and it's just stuff that's not used to it. And cats aren't killing to eat, you know, like they
00:33:34.420
do that as well. But cats and like foxes and our wild dog population, they thrill kill. So they'll go
00:33:42.220
through and just, you know, they just kill, move on to the next one, kill, move on to the next one.
00:33:46.580
And the other thing is when there's an abundance of wildlife that they can get to, they'll be really
00:33:52.600
selective eaters. One of the landowners, and this is talking about domesticated animals now, but
00:33:58.360
one of the landowners that I know, their lamb population kept dropping down. The first year,
00:34:04.920
I think they noticed a drop and they only had like 70% of their lambs for the year. And then
00:34:10.320
the next year it dropped and they only had like 40%, like a massive drop. Then last year, dude,
00:34:17.620
they got zero lambs, zero lambs. And it was this wild dog population and the wild dogs were just going
00:34:24.600
around and killing all the lambs during lambing season. They were becoming really selective eaters
00:34:30.260
at that time. And they were literally just eating a little bit of chest cavity out of the lambs and
00:34:34.260
eating the organs and moving on to the next lamb. And they wiped their whole income out, dude.
00:34:41.040
Just insane. Imagine, that's just what they're monitoring is their lambs, because that's what
00:34:46.480
they make money out of. These wild dogs are also going around and killing wallabies and
00:34:50.840
wombats and echidnas and all of Australia's natives that they can get to. They're also
00:34:55.340
killing them. Then I post a photo of a wild dog and like everyone loses their fucking mind. It's
00:35:03.260
like, are you kidding me? That's an innocent wild dog. Yeah. And that innocent wild dog is killing
00:35:09.340
innocent animals. It needs to be controlled. It doesn't belong here. It's not good. We've done
00:35:15.740
our research and it's not good for our ecosystem that these wild dogs are running around uncontrolled.
00:35:21.580
It's the same with bears and Canada's new initiative with hunting and bears. Wolves are
00:35:27.800
very much the same way. We have coyotes around here. They're not a huge problem, but they've killed
00:35:32.800
one of our turkeys. They've got into our chickens. So yeah, I mean, this is a legitimate problem for
00:35:37.760
sure. And it's only going to get worse unless we control it, unless we keep coming around. It's
00:35:42.160
only going to get worse. And what makes that worse is cities are getting bigger. People are getting
00:35:47.020
more closed off to what actually happens out there in the wild. A part of me just says, just do what
00:35:53.140
you do and stop worrying about battling the masses and defending it and stuff like that. But another
00:35:59.000
part of me says, no, just keep trying to educate. This year has actually been that big battle where I'm
00:36:04.500
just like, I'm sick of defending the sport. I've been doing it for 20 years. Like ever since I started
00:36:09.160
bow hunting, I started writing articles. And if I could get a word in on newspapers and stuff,
00:36:14.280
when something negative was coming out about bow hunting or hunting, I'd try and do it.
00:36:18.860
You know, social media is perfect because it's immediate. You know, you can put the word out
00:36:22.820
there immediately. And yeah, I try and educate for that as well. But at the same time, I'm just
00:36:28.040
fighting the same battle I have been for like 20 years. And I don't give up on anything, but a little
00:36:33.380
bit of it just says, just do your thing. Enjoy it. Stop trying to defend it.
00:36:37.200
I do believe there is an obligation to your point that, I mean, for the next generation of
00:36:42.120
hunters or whether it's hunting or another battle that you're choosing, like I do believe we have
00:36:46.640
an obligation to fight for those things that are important to us. So other people can enjoy that
00:36:51.360
as well. Yeah, definitely. I think a big part of it is just that I understand it so much that it's
00:36:57.780
just like, this is normal. Why can't everyone else understand it? But, you know, like I said,
00:37:04.680
you go into one of these big cities and stuff like that. And I sort of live the two lives as
00:37:09.040
well. You know, like I'm in the city a bit and I'm then right out in the wild, you know,
00:37:13.300
and you can see how people can be closed off from this. A lot of people, all they know is
00:37:18.280
that city, their city and their life. And that's how it's supposed to be.
00:37:23.600
Yeah. I just, you've just got to keep an open mind.
00:37:26.060
Yeah, definitely. I wanted to ask you about photography because in your Instagram profile,
00:37:32.240
obviously photography is something that's important to you. I mean, you can tell on the
00:37:36.180
quality of the pictures and the work that you're putting out there. Did that just come of necessity
00:37:40.800
and being out there and wanting to take pictures and share what you're doing? Or has this been a
00:37:44.260
hobby you've had for a long time? It's sort of been a hobby that I've had for a long time.
00:37:48.040
Like I remember just going out camping and fishing or it's hard for me to remember a lot of things
00:37:53.200
and you're always busy. And I found if I had a photo of whatever the experience was,
00:37:58.100
whatever that was, to look back on that photo, it was like the memory straight away. Like,
00:38:02.980
oh yeah, that's right. You know, we were down there camping or, you know, yeah,
00:38:06.320
that was a beautiful night or whatever it was. And that was just pretty average photos that I used
00:38:11.760
to take for a lot of years because it was just about capturing that memory for myself and my close
00:38:18.520
friends. In a way, it was about promoting the outdoors and what I do. And a photo could do so
00:38:25.100
much better of that and me telling like, like you could have a big article that I wrote, you know,
00:38:31.460
and it was like glorious and it's nice to get all the facts. Well, then you could just show someone
00:38:35.820
a photo and let their own mind run wild with that photo. And then once I got into writing articles and
00:38:42.240
the quality of photos had to be a lot better, I think it just was a natural progression. You know,
00:38:47.060
that's how it went along. And then to the point now where it is, I want the photo to just represent
00:38:53.060
what I'm looking at myself. And sometimes a photo never does that, dude. It doesn't matter how good
00:38:58.040
you are. I'll look back on the photo. I'm like, man, that day was so much better than that photo.
00:39:04.340
What the image that I was seeing with my eyes was so much better, you know, and then,
00:39:09.020
and even film doesn't really capture that a lot of the times. And the film will be glorious.
00:39:14.160
It'll look unreal. I'm like, who was still better than that? You know, some things you've just got
00:39:18.840
to live for yourself. Yeah, that's so true. I mean, I think about that, you know, you take a
00:39:22.700
picture of a cool sunset or you see the moon and it's huge in the sky. And then you take a picture,
00:39:26.820
you're like, wait, that's not what it actually looks like. And so I liked that point that you
00:39:31.140
made of like some things you've just got to experience for yourself. Well, Adam, we're winding
00:39:34.720
down on time, man. This has been a great conversation and I've been looking forward to just having
00:39:38.160
this conversation. Obviously I respect you, appreciate what you do. And I think you're a great advocate
00:39:43.340
for hunting in general, which is something admittedly I'm just getting into, but I'm really,
00:39:47.280
really enjoying it. As we wind down, I do want to ask you a couple additional questions. The first
00:39:51.720
one is what does it mean to be a man? For me being a man, and I know it's called order of man, but
00:39:57.620
you know, I just think human dude, to be a human, it's just about being good, you know, and thinking
00:40:02.660
about like how you feel for how would others feel and love and appreciation for everything we've got.
00:40:09.200
Cause some people will never have the things that just me and you've got, dude, family, dude,
00:40:14.360
some people will never have kids. So, you know, love and appreciate that. I just love people smiling
00:40:19.720
and being happier around me, dude. If everyone around me is happy and smiling, then I'm like happy
00:40:24.460
and smiling, you know? So I just think just being a good person and going all out to like, you don't
00:40:30.360
know what tomorrow brings. I don't know what tomorrow brings. I could be dead tomorrow. Might as well be good
00:40:34.680
today. You know, I might as well have people happy around me today. So that's what it means to be a
00:40:40.180
man, a human. Yeah. A human. Yeah. Very cool. I like it, man. Well, how do we connect with you?
00:40:45.160
What's the best way to link up with what you're doing? Probably I put most of my time and effort
00:40:49.940
in the Instagram these days. So it's just adam.greentree on Instagram. And if you don't like
00:40:55.900
the hunting side of things and hunting ain't for everyone, you know, I can respect that.
00:40:59.680
Then, uh, first.man.image is just me photography page. Usually everywhere I go, I just sort of take,
00:41:07.120
uh, take stuff that's not so much hunting related. It's just the outdoors or the stars or a cabin or
00:41:12.780
my wife, whatever it is, you know? So yeah, it's cool. Awesome. We'll link it all up. Well,
00:41:18.440
I wanted to tell you my boys and you know what I've, I've found is that kids are a really good
00:41:23.720
indicator of another human being because they're, they're raw, right? They'll tell you exactly what
00:41:29.600
they see, exactly what they feel. And my boys were so excited to meet you. They're like,
00:41:34.360
ah, I really liked Adam. The only hangup my oldest son had. And I was going to tell you this
00:41:38.600
is he said, dad, he said, damn. Cause I guess what you said is you're like,
00:41:43.220
these are damn fine looking kids or something like that when you had met them. And that was
00:41:46.860
his only hangup, but man, other than that, and he's like that, but other than that, man,
00:41:51.100
they loved meeting you. And I can tell that if the boys have a good time around you and certainly
00:41:55.980
they were smiling and having a good time, then that speaks highly of you. But in the limited
00:42:00.260
interaction that we've had, man, I've enjoyed getting to know you a little bit better. I'm
00:42:03.220
enjoying hopefully to get to know you a little bit more than that, but man, I appreciate you
00:42:07.640
coming on. I appreciate you parting some of your wisdom with us and looking forward to doing this
00:42:11.240
again, man. No, awesome, dude. I love it. And it's been a pleasure to be on and I'm glad we finally
00:42:15.300
hooked up. Gentlemen, there you go. My conversation with Mr. Adam Greentree. Again, I know the audio was a
00:42:21.660
little bit off, but there was so much value in this episode. If you took that information in and
00:42:25.780
you really tried to understand what he was sharing, the life of adventure, conservation efforts,
00:42:32.000
all of the things, the skills, the mastery that goes into the process of being a successful bow
00:42:37.000
hunter. And I really enjoyed the show. I hope you did as well. Guys, if you would make sure that you
00:42:41.700
connect with him. He spends a lot of time on Instagram. I'm there as well. Facebook, Twitter. I mean,
00:42:47.440
you name it, you can track us down. You can find us, but give us a shout out. Let us know what
00:42:51.380
you liked about the show. Let us know what you're going to implement. If you're going on any hunts
00:42:54.960
anytime soon, please let me know. I've got one coming up in two to three weeks, like I mentioned
00:42:59.540
earlier. So you guys will be seeing some pictures on that from me, but a really great conversation.
00:43:04.080
Again, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Now, the couple of quick announcements as we wind
00:43:08.320
things down again, just a reminder on the uprising, five more spots left. So if you're on the fence,
00:43:13.540
you're thinking about it, you don't really know if it's for you, whatever it may be,
00:43:17.100
go check it out. Orderofman.com slash uprising. Or if you want, just send me an
00:43:21.340
email, Ryan at orderofman.com. With your question, I'll be able to answer any questions
00:43:26.180
within reason. Of course, we don't get too much into the specifics because that element
00:43:30.320
of surprise is very, very important in the process itself, but feel free to shoot me an
00:43:34.060
email and let me know what questions you have again, five spots left. So get on that quick
00:43:37.420
with that guys. I am going to check out for today. I appreciate you being on this journey
00:43:42.900
to reclaiming masculinity with me. You're going to hear from us tomorrow, specifically Bubba Downs
00:43:48.200
on In the Trenches, and then you'll hear from me on Friday for Friday Field Notes. But until then,
00:43:52.540
take action and become the man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to the Order of Man
00:43:58.260
podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.
00:44:03.040
We invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.