Order of Man - FFN 085： Activate the Hunt ｜ Collin Cottrell

00:00:00.000 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears, and boldly chart

00:00:05.000 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:00:10.440 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who

00:00:17.240 you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:00:22.800 you can call yourself a man. Guys, what is going on today? My name is Ryan

00:00:27.540 Mickler, and I am the host and the founder of this podcast, The Order of Man. This is a show

00:00:32.320 about being a better man, and I want to welcome you, whether you are new to the show or you've

00:00:36.980 been a long-time listener. Guys, this one's a little different for you today. Normally,

00:00:41.420 on Friday, you get to listen to me talk about some things that have been bouncing around in my brain,

00:00:45.080 but today, you get to listen to an on-the-spot conversation between me and my good friend,

00:00:51.120 Colin Cottrell. Colin and I went on a hunt together in Texas about a month ago as of the release of

00:00:57.420 this podcast. It was my very first hunt ever, and I thought you'd enjoy hearing about it and the

00:01:02.840 lessons I learned along the way. So, I asked Colin, again, my friend, and he's also the founder of

00:01:07.540 Activate the Hunt, which is an organization and company dedicated to helping new hunters learn the

00:01:13.260 skills and the tool sets required to make their hunting endeavors a success. So, again, he interviewed

00:01:19.880 me on the spot, and of course, I also, being a podcast interviewer, interviewed him about what goes

00:01:26.420 into a successful hunt and why he does exactly what he does. So, without any further hesitation,

00:01:31.480 we're just going to jump right into the conversation between me and Colin.

00:01:36.300 Colin, what's up, man? Thanks for joining me on the show today.

00:01:38.240 Glad to join you, Ryan, man. This has been a great week, good time, excited to be on the show for the

00:01:43.460 first time. Yes.

00:01:44.440 And let's talk hunting, huh? Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, we're actually,

00:01:47.320 this is a little different than we normally do. I'm not in my studio, which you can probably hear.

00:01:50.380 Uh, we're here in, where are we? Stamford?

00:01:53.760 Stamford, Texas.

00:01:55.440 Stamford.

00:01:55.960 We're here.

00:01:56.260 Northwest Texas.

00:01:57.360 And, uh, I've been out here for about five days or so. Just completed my successful first hunt.

00:02:04.520 And, Colin, you were out here. We're out here with Clay with, uh, Prone Outfitters. And, uh,

00:02:08.920 he's going to be on here in a little bit to talk about some of that stuff. But,

00:02:12.080 Colin, I appreciate you, man. This has been a really cool adventure and something that I've

00:02:15.800 been looking forward to for a long time. And to be able to come out here and participate in my

00:02:20.620 very first hunt was an exciting thing. So, I think we could talk about the hunt. I think we

00:02:23.720 could talk about how the hunt went. And, and you and I just have a conversation about this thing.

00:02:27.400 Yeah, man. I'm really excited to have you just share your journey as a new hunter and the different

00:02:32.140 aspects of hunting that people don't realize. You know, people that aren't hunters don't realize

00:02:36.500 how much goes into a hunt and how much you can truly learn from a hunt. So, I think that's

00:02:40.340 a big part of what we're going to talk about today.

00:02:42.840 For sure. Yeah, it was, it was pretty exciting. Uh, you know,

00:02:45.400 quite honestly, I didn't have a whole lot of expectations coming into this thing. I did that

00:02:48.440 by design. I didn't want to come with a, with a false sense of what was actually going to

00:02:52.280 transpire here over the past couple of days. But I've been pleasantly surprised and I know I'm a

00:02:56.760 better man, uh, leaving, leaving for it. So, how long have you been hunting yourself? I mean,

00:03:01.100 you, based on our conversations, you've been hunting with your dad since you were little.

00:03:04.900 I grew up in a family that hunted. So, you know, that it was a big part of our life growing up.

00:03:10.100 You know, we, we did it to eat, you know, we, you know, and a big part of it was to eat,

00:03:14.160 but a big part of it was camaraderie as well. You know, it was, we went out to the woods and,

00:03:18.480 and for me, it wasn't bow hunting at the start. It was a rifle deer season. So we'd have two weeks

00:03:23.920 every year in the fall or in November, you know, and we'd go out to, uh, our hunting camp and we'd

00:03:30.020 spend time there and I look forward to forward to it every year. And we'd spend time out there with

00:03:34.660 my uncles, my aunts, my cousins, uh, my grandpa, my grandma, you know, it was just a big get together

00:03:39.300 and we'd have a good time and eat good food and have a good times, you know, out hunting. So,

00:03:44.420 uh, that was my start to it. And my, my uncles and my dad played a big part of that. And from there,

00:03:50.340 it just, you know, the passion grew and, uh, I got into bow hunting after that. And from there,

00:03:55.320 it just continued to grow, you know? So, uh,

00:03:57.760 Cause you're primarily at this point, primarily a bow hunter, right? I mean, you don't do much

00:04:01.880 hunting with your rifle.

00:04:02.920 I would consider myself more of a bow hunter. I started out shooting a rifle and shooting,

00:04:08.360 uh, iron sights at, you know, at, and deer. And that was primarily what we hunted was deer. So,

00:04:14.080 and then from there I started shooting a bow and, and we went after Turkey and, you know,

00:04:18.740 I went up after antelope and elk and, and meal deer as well. So, you know, I've, I've hunted all

00:04:24.040 kinds of different animals, but primarily the last 10, about 10 years I've hunted primarily with a bow.

00:04:29.400 Now the last couple of years, now that I'm married and I've had a family, I don't have

00:04:32.900 quite as much time to spend, you know, out hunting like I've had in the past. I've really

00:04:37.380 taken my time using a rifle and just because it's a little bit easier. And that's just the

00:04:42.080 honest truth. It's a little bit easier. You don't have to spend as much time preparing and,

00:04:45.220 and all that good stuff. But, uh, you know, it's given me an opportunity to come on a hunt like

00:04:49.220 this with clay and, you know, spend five days and, and put some meat in the freezer,

00:04:53.640 which is really important for me right now. That's not why I hunt, but that's a big part of why I hunt.

00:04:58.040 Why? So why, if I were to ask you why you hunt, what would you say?

00:05:02.320 Why, why do I hunt? It's not just, like I said, it's not just about the meat because I can go to

00:05:06.400 the super store or Walmart and get meat at the store if I want to, you know? Uh, yes, I love

00:05:11.800 organic meat and I love, you know, knowing that I have the connection with that animal that I killed

00:05:16.000 that animal. I, I did the work myself. I gutted that animal out. I took the time to, uh, process that

00:05:22.540 animal and that is important. Don't get me wrong. And I think the majority of hunters hunt because of

00:05:27.660 that process. But for me, I hunt because of the experiences around it. There's so many different

00:05:33.200 life lessons and things you can learn from hunting, whether it's a patience, character, friendship,

00:05:38.780 camaraderie, just all the different things that you can learn from hunting. Uh, I love that part

00:05:43.880 of it. I mean, I love teaching, you know, this is a good example this week, just me being the

00:05:48.580 hunter and teaching you about hunting. I'm not some pro hunter or some guy who knows everything

00:05:52.300 about hunting, but I could, I got to take the things that I know about hunting and teach you

00:05:56.580 about those things and about the aspects. And I can kind of swing this back to you. What did you

00:06:00.240 learn this week because of this hunt? Yeah. I don't even know where to start. Like I've learned

00:06:03.660 so much. Obviously we talked a lot about patience and I told the guys, you know, how I lacked that

00:06:08.520 at times. So having that patience was a big benefit, uh, to being out here, but definitely the disconnect

00:06:13.560 that we see in society between where our food comes from and us actually eating and consuming that

00:06:18.580 food. Uh, so for me, my whole goal was to come out here and really bridge that gap,

00:06:22.960 you know, to, to try to bridge the gap between where our food is actually coming from out in

00:06:27.900 the wild to, okay, now we're consuming this. It's pretty amazing to see the ignorance in society

00:06:32.720 among where our food comes from. And some of the comments that I've received from people who know

00:06:37.000 that I've been out on this hunt, uh, is, is absolutely mind blowing to me. You know, people

00:06:41.580 that have complained that I'm harming innocent animals or that I'm whatever. And yet they're

00:06:45.660 chowing down on a burger. It's like, yeah, you do understand that you're eating meat as well,

00:06:49.320 right. Or wearing leather shoes or boots or something like that. You know, it's, it's crazy

00:06:54.280 to think about that. We've lost that connect. You know, we, we are so disconnected from that

00:06:59.400 in some places that, you know, they don't even realize that. And it, it almost hurts me. You

00:07:03.300 know, it, I started a project called activate the hunt. And a big part of that reason was

00:07:07.940 because I want to see that connection come back. I want people to realize whether, whether

00:07:11.680 you're from the big city or you're from a small town and maybe you didn't grow up around

00:07:15.200 the hunting, I want people to understand the connect between the different things you can

00:07:19.700 learn from the whole experience. It's not just about going out to a blind with a rifle

00:07:24.720 and shooting a deer and that's it. You know, there's so much more. And I think this week

00:07:28.580 you really, truly got to learn about the whole aspect of hunting before it, during it and after

00:07:34.320 it. It's huge. And it's, it's, you know, kind of swinging this back to you, Ryan, about becoming

00:07:40.200 a better man. I mean, just tell the, tell the viewers about how much better of a man

00:07:44.760 you can become because of the things you learn from the hunt.

00:07:47.440 It's a good point. And, and I, and I do want to make the distinction is that I don't believe

00:07:51.560 that you quote unquote need to be a hunter in order to be a man. I think that's important

00:07:56.100 to know. I agree.

00:07:56.780 Does it make you a better man? Yeah, I think so. I don't think there's any doubt about that.

00:08:00.520 I think anybody who has a wider range of skill sets can definitely perform under different

00:08:07.160 set of circumstances. And that's one of the unintended benefits of me being on this hunt.

00:08:11.760 Yes, it was to put food on the table and again, bridge that gap between where our food comes

00:08:16.100 from and how we consume it, all of those things. But also we talked about this throughout the

00:08:20.820 last couple of days is for me really understanding that the skills that we need to develop in order

00:08:28.200 to complete a successful hunt, patience, discipline, dedication, commitment, all that goes into what

00:08:34.020 we've done over the past five days. And of course, uh, with clay here at prone outfitters

00:08:37.640 leading up to this for months and years, uh, is, is what makes this a successful hunt,

00:08:42.740 but it also makes us successful in other areas of life, right? Within our relationships, within

00:08:46.920 our business, uh, our finances, our health journey. If we can be more patient, more committed,

00:08:51.640 more disciplined, uh, if we can look at the little things as when, if we can find a way to enjoy

00:08:55.640 the process rather than the actual, uh, result itself only, uh, these are all ways to develop

00:09:01.320 and grow. We can't make decisions in a vacuum. If you make a good decision over here on the hunt,

00:09:06.360 for example, cause that's where we are, you're, you're more apt to make good decisions within

00:09:10.940 your family and good decisions within your business and community and every, every other

00:09:14.360 facet of your life. So it's been good, man. It's been, it's been an exciting, uh, an exciting

00:09:18.480 ride. And I certainly appreciate you. Should we talk about the hunt itself? I think these guys

00:09:22.040 are probably going to want to talk a little bit. Let's dig into that a little bit. You know,

00:09:24.800 let's, let's talk about that. Let's talk about, you know, maybe your preparation for the hunt,

00:09:28.340 you know, and your expectations before the hunt even started. I kind of, I want, I want people

00:09:32.380 to really hear, you know, you know, those, those little things. I think they're important.

00:09:36.040 Yeah, sure. Yeah. So for me, I mean, obviously there's a big physical component to it. I didn't

00:09:40.240 really, and this wasn't a very physically taxing or demanding hunt. We've talked a little bit about

00:09:44.560 that, but I think physically just being prepared, whether it's for the hunt or whether it's for a

00:09:48.900 natural disaster or an emergency or whatever. And so, you know, I stay active five days a week where I'm

00:09:54.000 working out and we're adventurous and we're outside and we're camping, we're hiking,

00:09:57.280 we're doing all those things. We also talked about the expectations that I had coming into

00:10:01.780 this thing. I think it'd be very easy for me to come in and think that I'm going to shoot a big

00:10:05.860 trophy deer and that it's going to be, you know, Instagram worthy, which is what you see, right? You

00:10:11.820 see so many people posting all their big bucks on, on Instagram. And while I applaud anybody who's

00:10:16.060 done, done that work to, to achieve that, that's not what it's all about, you know? And so

00:10:21.260 minimizing, I don't want to say minimizing. I want to say neutralizing my expectations that

00:10:27.200 I'm coming out here to learn a new skillset. I'm going to have fun. I'm going to walk away

00:10:31.340 with something that I just didn't have before, whether that's a deer or whether that's an

00:10:36.460 experience. I'm going to walk away with something I didn't have before.

00:10:39.800 So that was, that was really important to me. And then, yeah, I mean, that's, that's really at the

00:10:43.660 end of the day, prepare. The other thing I did to prepare was of course, understand a little bit

00:10:47.200 about the industry, understand a little bit about the legalities. Of course, that was important

00:10:51.900 and the ethics behind hunting and then going out and actually using my firearm and preparing that

00:10:57.960 way and researching, which was just as fun as actually being out there. It was learning this

00:11:03.280 stuff. And then of course, being able to apply it was pretty powerful.

00:11:07.100 And emotionally, I think that's another part we, I want to touch on is, you know, preparing to make

00:11:12.180 that shot and make that kill. You know, there's nothing you can really do to prepare for that. But

00:11:16.120 when it does happen, you know, kind of the emotions run over you and you're like, man,

00:11:20.100 I just killed a living animal. And, and, you know, you, you kind of pointed out and we did my

00:11:24.280 podcast is, you know, you didn't really feel bad, but that you, you did what you wanted to do to be,

00:11:30.520 you know, to fulfill the experience. And I think that was, every person has a different feeling

00:11:35.820 after it, whether it's remorse or, or hurt or pain or just excitement. Everybody's different.

00:11:41.260 Nobody has the right answer to that. I think everybody has their own set way that they're going to,

00:11:46.320 you know, react to the situation of a hunt emotionally, whether you kill an

00:11:50.060 animal or not.

00:11:50.780 I mean, let's be real. That's, that's what you're doing, right? You're killing an animal.

00:11:53.620 Yeah. 0.95

00:11:53.960 Like you're, yeah, you're killing, there's no other way to sugarcoat that. You are killing an animal. 0.98

00:11:57.980 And so I think from an emotional perspective, I was actually a little nervous. I was wondering how

00:12:01.740 I would handle that, how it would feel, how, how I would personally react. And would there be guilt?

00:12:06.460 Would there be remorse? But there isn't because for me, I felt like I did it the right way.

00:12:11.500 We're out here with an outfitter in Texas who, who very high ethics and just in my limited

00:12:17.240 interaction with clay and with prone outfitters is like, these guys are top notch. I mean,

00:12:21.660 they're doing some incredible things and I've learned a lot, which we can get into what I've

00:12:24.740 learned. Yeah, it was important. It was important for me to make a good clean shot. It was important

00:12:29.200 for me to put the animal down quickly. And that's what we did. We were fortunate. I know it doesn't

00:12:35.440 always turn out that way, but I actually felt really good because I knew exactly what I was doing

00:12:40.920 and I had a good reason in my mind for doing it. And there's, those two things are in alignment.

00:12:47.620 What I feel and what I did were in alignment. And you took, you took your time and, and, you know,

00:12:52.180 we're patient with the whole situation. I think that was an important part of it. You know, you

00:12:55.600 knew what you wanted to do, but you wanted to give the animal due diligence. You wanted to make

00:13:01.040 sure that you made the best shot possible. You were as calm as could be. Obviously it's in that

00:13:06.400 situation where you're not calm at all, but you know, you, you, you slow down, you take a couple

00:13:11.360 deep breaths. You know, just like I said, you just take your time, be patient. You got plenty

00:13:15.660 of time. Don't rush your shot. You know, that's important in life. And, uh, you did a good job with

00:13:20.720 that. Now, I also wanted to mention that you put, you put the time in when you practice before this

00:13:25.700 hunt, you prepared for this hunt and you took your time to shoot and shoot your bow and shoot your 0.83

00:13:30.340 gun. And, and that's another part of it. You know, you, you mentally got prepared, but you also got 0.99

00:13:35.640 prepared with your weapon. And that's, that's important. And that just shows how much we care

00:13:40.320 about this animal. We, it's not like we're just going out there to slaughter these animals and

00:13:43.900 take shots left and right. We're really bearing down and taking our time. Yeah. I think it's,

00:13:49.400 I think it's critical that you do that. I have seen too many men, not just in hunting, but just life

00:13:53.920 in general, who just show up to the party and think because they showed up that they're owed something

00:13:58.220 right. Or that they can do it. Uh, and the reality paints an entirely different picture that

00:14:03.280 what we see as the final result, whether it's through this podcast or, uh, an Instagram post

00:14:10.480 and somebody with a six pack abs and the, you know, the perfect relationship or the perfect hunt

00:14:15.400 or whatever is a result of months and years and decades of dedication to that craft. I think we

00:14:24.020 do ourselves a disservice when we look at what people are doing and we look at the results of what

00:14:28.420 people have achieved. And we think that it was, it was luck or that they just stumbled upon it.

00:14:34.740 And in my experience, the most successful men, whether that's hunters or, or business owners

00:14:40.220 or in their marriage or their, their being a father, they've put in a lot of time, a lot of

00:14:45.360 dedication, a lot of commitment, a lot of sacrifice to get them to where they're actually

00:14:50.240 experiencing those results. I think we need to be realistic about that. Otherwise we do

00:14:55.220 ourselves again, a disservice. We think it's easier than it really is. I agree. Yeah. Totally agree.

00:15:01.040 So, yeah. So I, so I shot the deer. Uh, what, what would you say? Probably what? 65 yards. We

00:15:06.280 figured 60, 65 yards, somewhere in there on the shot, on the shot itself. Yeah. It was about 65,

00:15:10.340 70 yards. I'd say. Yeah. Uh, I know that as we, I knew that I was going to take that shot. Um,

00:15:16.560 my heart started to beat really fast. It got a little jittery. I've been shooting forever,

00:15:20.040 20 years, you know, I've been shooting. Well, with me by your side too, I knew that was going to

00:15:24.460 happen. I was, I was kind of ready for that to happen. I was kind of excited to see this all

00:15:28.500 come, you know, play out. And you got it on video, which is cool. Yeah, I did. I did. And we'll,

00:15:32.320 and we'll put that out there too. Yeah, we definitely will. And, and it was, it was just

00:15:36.500 cool for everything just to like, you started to get nervous. You dropped your phone and you were

00:15:40.620 like, you know, not only did I drop my phone, I kneeled on it. And right before I was going to take

00:15:45.780 the shot, Siri came on and she's like, I, I do not understand the question. Can you please say

00:15:50.860 it or whatever she said? I'm like, I got it. I got it. I shut it off.

00:15:56.240 Fortunately, we didn't, we didn't scare the deer, which actually was surprising,

00:15:59.180 but I guess we were far enough. Then you got that gun up there though. And then,

00:16:02.260 you know, I just said, just slow down, take your time, be patient. I could tell all of a sudden

00:16:05.880 things changed. Then you were like, okay, we got time. This is, we got plenty of time. We watched

00:16:09.880 that deer. He was eating, you know, he was going back and forth. He was eating and, and you know,

00:16:14.620 you got in the right position, you got comfortable, you bared down. And I said, are you ready?

00:16:19.060 You said, I'm ready. And you took that shot. I remember actually saying, I think I said this,

00:16:23.260 we'll have to look at the video. I think I said, are you ready? Actually, I think you're right.

00:16:26.760 But I think I was saying that more to me than I was actually saying that to you.

00:16:30.480 Kind of reminding yourself that, am I ready? Am I ready to do this? So I took that shot.

00:16:35.340 And quite honestly, when, when I did, it felt really good. I had, I had them right in my sight.

00:16:41.000 It felt good. I went through the motions that I, that I'd practiced and trained for.

00:16:45.500 It felt good. And you even did some things that I was surprised by

00:16:48.840 watching that deer and following it as it, after you shot it, you did a great job at doing that.

00:16:53.640 A lot of hunters don't do that. You know, they just get excited right away and don't really

00:16:58.180 realize like, Hey, that deer's still out there running away. We got to watch where it goes and

00:17:01.520 see where we're going to pick up that blood trail. Yeah. So I took the shot and then I didn't,

00:17:06.080 I didn't know because this is my first hunt. I didn't know what he would do. And he ran off.

00:17:10.060 So I thought, I thought I had missed, I thought I'd missed right or behind him.

00:17:15.320 And he ran off and I was like, we had this conversation. You, you saw some cues in the

00:17:20.640 deer that made you believe I hit him. I being a new hunter did not see those cues. And I was like,

00:17:24.840 I don't think I hit him. Yeah.

00:17:26.380 Um, but we, we, we waited. That was, that was a big thing that you taught me is, Hey,

00:17:30.060 just, just wait for a second. Um, let, let the thing play out. Let's figure out what's

00:17:34.400 going on. We kind of had to settle down too. Cause we were, you know, you were excited.

00:17:38.500 You got excited right away, you know, not like right away, but you were like, Hey, I just,

00:17:42.740 you know, I did it, you know? So we, it wasn't like we were jumping for joy or anything like

00:17:46.280 that, but got a little excited. Then we have to settle down and just kind of regain our composure

00:17:50.580 a little bit. I think that's an important, important thing. And then I said, okay,

00:17:55.020 we got to give it some time. Then we're going to go look for a blood trail. And then from there we

00:17:58.500 can see where that deer is at. So, so we walked over there, uh, to where I took the shot. I didn't

00:18:03.480 see any blood. So that just confirmed to me what I thought that I missed him. Um, fortunately,

00:18:08.780 like you said, we followed the trip. We followed, followed the deer after I had taken the shot and

00:18:13.500 we knew exactly where he, he took off. And so we followed that trail. It was probably about what,

00:18:18.620 30 yards or so, maybe 30, 35 yards. Uh, we found, you know, not, not a big blood trail,

00:18:24.120 but a decent little blood splatter, I guess, a pile of blood. And, um, and I pointed out

00:18:29.480 at that out to you and looked up maybe 20 yards away. And there he was right there. And I,

00:18:33.740 and I was like, I was about ready to run over. I'm like, there he is. And I like ran over

00:18:36.780 and you're like, hold on, hold on a second. So we settled down for a second, figured out

00:18:40.000 what we needed to do. And by the time we got there, he, he was dead. Yeah. He was, um,

00:18:43.520 I shot him, uh, behind the heart. So double lung shot, like in and out. You made a great 0.85

00:18:47.540 shot. Yeah. So that felt good. And, uh, yeah, it was exciting, man. Then the excitement

00:18:52.280 came up. That, that was when it was because then I knew I'm like, okay, good. You did what

00:18:55.980 you actually set out to do. It's kind of a sense of relief too. You're like, okay, good. We,

00:18:59.800 we found them, you know, we got them for sure. You know, and you just, well, the other side too

00:19:03.500 is my, so my wife hunts and she's hunted for a long time. Last three years, she's, she shot three 0.96

00:19:08.060 deer and she's, she's shot three deer with three bullets. So every shot she's taken, she's, she's

00:19:14.560 hit. And so I was even thinking to myself in my head, I'm like, dude, if I miss this deer,

00:19:19.400 you're like, I will not live this down from my wife. Fortunately I did. And I'm sure there'll

00:19:23.860 come a point in time because I do plan on hunting more that there will come a point in time where

00:19:27.080 I miss, I think that's just the reality. Sometimes in fact, just last night. So two days later,

00:19:32.500 I took a shot at a hog and it was a bad shot. I knew it. And right as I shot, I'm like, I missed

00:19:38.440 him. And sure enough, I missed him and he ran off and missed an opportunity. It's just, I think

00:19:42.220 there's little things. There's little, it's just like us shooting the bow out here, you know,

00:19:46.660 earlier, you know, there's little things I could see you were doing wrong or you needed

00:19:50.380 to change to just get those arrows into a little bit tighter group, you know, just little

00:19:54.640 simple things. And I think that's just a testament to life. The little things in life make a huge

00:19:59.240 difference in the end, actually, you know what I mean? You got to change those little cues,

00:20:02.740 those little things. And when you do that, things tighten up, you know, and, you know, as

00:20:07.980 a man, you become a better man or whatever, you know? And I think that was an important

00:20:11.980 part of the hunt is you learned little things here and there and you brought it all together

00:20:16.140 and it, it turned out, you know, with your shot the other night, it might've been just

00:20:20.080 as simple as you kind of pulling up a little bit at, you know, on your follow through or

00:20:23.440 whatever. And that air, you know, or that, uh, shot just went high a little bit or whatever.

00:20:27.280 You just didn't bear down all the way on the, in your scope or whatever. Just those little

00:20:31.180 things can make a big difference. Let's talk about what you do because I can talk about

00:20:35.860 this experience more. And I'm sure some of the guys have seen pictures and some of the

00:20:38.780 things I've shared, but let's talk about what you do. You know, you, you and I met about

00:20:43.420 what is about a year ago now. And since then you started a podcast and an organization that

00:20:49.420 essentially helps new hunters, which is exactly what you helped me with. Tell me what you do.

00:20:52.800 Yep. So I actually, it was kind of your inspiration that got me, you know, into this is I had a,

00:20:58.820 I've been in the outdoor industry for about 10 years and I've done, you know, everything from

00:21:03.400 marketing to social media, marketing, building websites, different things, advertising, sales,

00:21:07.520 a lot of different areas. And I've met a lot of different people and worked with a lot of different

00:21:11.340 companies over the years. So I've been ingrained in this industry for 10, 11 years now. And it's

00:21:16.500 just, it's been, it's a passion of mine. You know, I just, I love everything about the industry.

00:21:20.800 I love the people in the industry, you know, so I wanted to do something. I'm at this point in my

00:21:25.580 life, I'm 30 years old now. I'm not old, but I'm, you know, I'm not young anymore. I'm not a young

00:21:29.720 kid anymore. I'm married. I've got a couple of kids and I want to do something. I wanted to do

00:21:34.520 something that would potentially leave a legacy in the end. And I think that's important. And

00:21:38.360 hunting is something that's important to me and it teaches me a lot of life lessons and

00:21:42.740 it's a heritage that's been passed down from my family to me. And I want to pass that on to others.

00:21:47.800 So I got the idea to start a website and a podcast and just a community of people that could learn how

00:21:55.660 to hunt or become better hunters, master the skill of hunting essentially. And it's called

00:21:59.820 Activate the Hunt. And basically it's a, it's a podcast where, you know, that's the main part of it

00:22:03.980 right now and the community part of it, it's still growing and just getting started. But yeah,

00:22:09.060 six months, five, six months ago, I started that podcast and, and you'll be on my, you know, on

00:22:14.580 episode number nine coming up. And I, you know, I'm not that many episodes in, but I've really found

00:22:20.600 that podcasting and that whole medium of media has become a awesome thing. You know, I can, I can

00:22:26.520 reach out to my great network of people that I've worked with over the years, people I'm friends with

00:22:31.320 and are way better hunters and outdoorsmen than I am. I'm still learning from them all the time.

00:22:35.620 And I think that's a big part of what I'm doing too, is I'm not just in this to try to act like

00:22:40.300 I know it all, you know, just like what you do with Order of Man, you don't know it all. You know,

00:22:43.900 you're taking your journey and you're taking what others are teaching you and sharing that with

00:22:48.620 people and giving them value and helping them. And that's essentially what I'm doing with Activate

00:22:52.360 the Hunt is I'm reaching out to my network and I'm asking them to come on the show and share their

00:22:56.920 different tips, techniques, and, you know, just different things about, you know, aspects of

00:23:00.880 hunting to help us all learn about hunting, but also to be able to use that in our life and learn

00:23:06.100 about life. So. What would you say to somebody who's considering getting into hunting or going

00:23:12.000 on a hunt for their first time? Maybe they've been on a hunt or two and they're just getting started.

00:23:16.460 What would you say to a novice hunter? Yeah. I'd say that you definitely need to get around people who

00:23:22.940 like to do that, whether it's hunting or whatever it is, you know, you need to get around people that

00:23:27.140 understand hunting and the outdoors and spend some time in the outdoors. It doesn't even have to be

00:23:31.900 hunting, you know, just spend time in nature and the outdoors and have respect for it and

00:23:36.100 hike trails and just get out there and spend time out there. And then from there, you can kind of

00:23:41.340 advance that, get around, you know, other hunters and hang out in the bow shop. If you want to be a bow

00:23:45.740 hunter, you know, hang around people who shoot guns a lot that if you want to be a gun hunter,

00:23:49.260 depending on whatever you want to be and take time, you know, obviously purchase a weapon or

00:23:53.800 get a weapon. And then from there you can start to learn. And I think a big part of learning is,

00:23:59.860 yeah, you can learn a bunch on your own and that's great. And you can watch YouTube videos

00:24:02.980 and all that stuff. And actually, I think you can learn a lot by connecting with other people online.

00:24:07.420 I've learned a lot from connecting with people online, but you really need to have someone to

00:24:11.120 mentor you. You know, you need to have a little bit of a relationship with somebody and it's really

00:24:15.540 going to help you. I think that's the best part of us being here this week together is

00:24:19.060 I was able to mentor you in a different way than I could mentor you, you know, just over the phone

00:24:23.860 or over a text or over a video or whatever, you know, we, we could actually talk in person. So

00:24:28.800 definitely get around people that, uh, that hunt and spend time in the outdoors and learn from them.

00:24:35.420 What do you think some of the pitfalls that most new hunters make, uh, maybe even what you

00:24:41.160 recognized in me where you thought, Oh, Ryan can definitely improve in this area. What, what would you

00:24:46.560 say that is that, uh, that new hunters should focus on?

00:24:50.960 Don't, don't act like, you know, at all, whether you've been hunting, you know, one time or you've

00:24:55.180 been hunting for years. I've been hunting since I was 12 years old and I hunted with my, my uncles

00:25:00.920 and my dad even before that and tagged along, you know? So, you know, I don't know everything and I

00:25:06.420 don't claim to know everything. And I think that's a big part of hunting is not having the pride where

00:25:11.460 you think, you know, everything about it. Just take time to learn from other people and, and have

00:25:16.520 an open mind, be coachable. Um, I think that's, I think that just kills everything that opens up

00:25:22.320 everything right there. If you, if you have the open mind to it, you know, you're going to learn

00:25:25.880 from every single thing you see, everything, every single thing you hear, every video you watch,

00:25:30.860 but well, big, a big thing I see in that, you know, people fall into is watching hunting on TV.

00:25:37.680 And, and I have nothing, I've worked with a lot of these guys over the years that have hunting shows

00:25:42.340 and it's really easy to go on, turn on the TV and see these guys killing these big deer,

00:25:47.060 killing these big animals and, and hooping and hollering and whatever, you know? And, and yeah,

00:25:52.260 that's, that's part of the hunt or that's a, that's a short time in the hunt or whatever,

00:25:56.600 but there's so much more to the hunt than that. You know, there's the, like we talked about before,

00:26:01.660 the beginning, the middle and the end. And that guy goes out to that tree stand and he's

00:26:06.240 maybe put in, you know, seven, eight days of the hunt. And sometimes they don't show that on TV

00:26:11.560 and you don't, I never, I never show. Yeah. Yeah. You don't, and you don't realize that

00:26:15.300 how, how much time it really takes to, to have, you know, I've been on hunts where I didn't kill

00:26:21.180 anything and five, six, actually I had a hunt just a couple of years ago. I was bow hunting in Kansas

00:26:26.940 and I hunted for 14 straight days from, uh, I woke up at five o'clock every morning and was out to my

00:26:34.640 stand before dark, brought a sandwich and food and drinks out to the stand with me.

00:26:39.020 And I sat in that stand, that deer stand all day long and at dark came back in and did it all over

00:26:46.020 again for 14 days, 14 straight days. And I never killed anything. I actually, on day 10, I missed

00:26:51.580 a nice buck at 25 yards and I still, it still hurts. Honestly, just thinking about it, but killing is

00:26:58.700 not what hunting is about. It's everything else that it involves. And if it was just about killing,

00:27:04.440 I would have just stopped hunting after that. You know what I mean? I can't kill anything,

00:27:07.900 but no, I strive to want to kill something obviously. So, you know, I strive to get better

00:27:13.900 and better and improve my skills and do everything I have to do to become a better hunter. That's a big

00:27:18.680 part for new hunters. You know, don't, don't try to emulate what you see on TV, learn from your own

00:27:23.420 mistakes, learn from the people around you and go out there and just get out there and do it.

00:27:27.480 Right on, man. I know this has been a really, really cool adventure for me that I've been

00:27:32.120 able to partake of in the last five days or so. And I'm actually looking forward to continuing to

00:27:37.820 becoming a better hunter, to learning and honing my skills, us going out again, hopefully in the

00:27:43.220 near future. And man, I just got to tell you, I appreciate the opportunity that you presented

00:27:48.020 with me, you know, to be able to come on this hunt, spend some time together and do this thing.

00:27:51.420 No, happy to take you out, Ryan. And thankful for Clay over here with Prone Outfitters,

00:27:56.020 who's been a good friend of mine for the last couple of years. And we just built a great

00:28:00.240 friendship and because of him, we could go out hunting too together. I don't have any land that

00:28:04.820 I own here in Texas and there's not a ton of public land like there is out West. So, you know,

00:28:08.720 being able to come here and, you know, learn from this hunt and learn from Clay and just learn from

00:28:14.060 each other. I think that's a huge part of this. And I, you know, I'm just as much thankful as you

00:28:17.920 coming on this hunt because I was able to share what I've learned from others to you now.

00:28:23.260 Right. And now you get to spread this onto your own kids. 0.88

00:28:26.120 Right. I want to ask you a couple of questions because I ask these of all my guests and you know

00:28:30.500 this because you listen to the podcast, but I didn't prepare you for this. So, I'm just putting

00:28:34.520 you on the spot, but I think you can handle it. I think you can handle it. The first question is,

00:28:37.660 what does it mean to be a man? Yeah. For me, this has been something that's been a big journey

00:28:42.180 for me, especially the last couple of years. I got married a year and a half ago and really

00:28:47.900 changed my life. And a big part of that journey has become is just learning to be a leader and to

00:28:55.260 not just try to tell people how to do things or whatever, but to actually lead them and do it

00:29:00.920 yourself. And I think that's a big part of becoming a man is being that leader to the people around you,

00:29:06.180 not just your wife or your kids, but everybody around you. You have an opportunity to be a leader,

00:29:09.780 whether it's me being a leader to Clay or to one of the guides or me being a leader to you.

00:29:14.600 So, I can lead by example by doing instead of just saying things. So, for me, that's probably

00:29:21.500 been the biggest change I've made is I've had to really lead by example to my wife, my kids,

00:29:27.040 my family, my friends, my parents, the people in church, whatever. And that's what I think it

00:29:33.620 means to be a man is to be a leader. Right on that powerful stuff. How do we connect with you? How

00:29:37.780 do we learn more about what you're doing and get some more information? Yeah. You can follow me on

00:29:42.400 all the social media channels, activate the hunt and you can follow me personally, Colin,

00:29:47.980 C-O-L-L-I-N, Cottrell, C-O-T-T-R-E-L-L. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, a little bit of Twitter

00:29:54.700 stuff. And then you can follow my podcast, obviously subscribe on iTunes or, or any of the

00:30:00.100 podcasting platforms, activate the hunt with Colin Cottrell. Right on. I know a lot of the guys,

00:30:04.300 as we've made some posts over this past week, a lot of the guys have asked, you know, where,

00:30:07.600 where should men turn if they're, if they want to hunt for the first time and yours is a great

00:30:11.440 resource. So I'd encourage anybody to check that out. Colin, I appreciate you, man.

00:30:15.640 Appreciate our friendship. We met what, about a year ago we had talked about earlier and,

00:30:19.580 and you led with value, which I was really, really impressed with. We talked about that

00:30:23.540 earlier as well. We've got to spend some time together, get to know each other. I appreciate

00:30:27.280 you spending some time in the stand with me this weekend and coaching me through some things that,

00:30:31.580 that were exciting for me and honored to have you as a part of that for me.

00:30:35.540 And thanks to you, Ryan. I appreciate it, man.

00:30:37.020 There it is guys, a conversation between me and my friend, Colin Cottrell. If you are

00:30:42.980 new to the hunting world or just getting into the hunting world, I'd encourage you to check out what

00:30:47.960 Colin is up to with activate the hunt. You will not be disappointed and you will learn a ton as I

00:30:53.040 have from him and the lessons that he shared with me. If you want to know how to connect with Colin,

00:30:57.220 head to order of man.com slash FFN is in Friday field notes. So it's FFN 085 to get the show notes for this

00:31:05.120 show and the links that he had talked about with regards to how to connect with him.

00:31:09.260 Now, a couple of quick reminders today, which I did not talk about earlier. We've got a live

00:31:13.120 meetup being held January 26th and 27th, 2018 in Nashville, which you can get the details at and

00:31:19.960 register for at order of man.com slash Nashville. And of course, we've also got our exclusive

00:31:25.900 brotherhood where you'll band together with 300 other men who are on a journey to become a better

00:31:30.880 man in their own lives. And you can learn more and join us there at order of man.com slash iron

00:31:36.180 council. I hope to see you at both until next week, gentlemen, take action and become the man you are

00:31:41.960 meant to be. Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your

00:31:46.920 life and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - December 08, 2017

FFN 085： Activate the Hunt ｜ Collin Cottrell

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