FFOD325 : He Thought He Was Getting a Phone Call

This week’s episode is a little different and it’s one that means a whole lot to me. A few weeks ago I got a message from a family down in Georgia about a man named Jeff Daniel who was going through one of the hardest seasons of his life after losing his wife earlier this year. They thought maybe a short phone call from me might lift his spirits a little.

Instead, I loaded up and drove to Georgia. What followed was one of the most meaningful weekends I’ve had in a long time. We shared supper, swapped stories and hunted together the next morning. But what I didn’t fully realize until later was just how much that time meant to Jeff and his family.

Without me knowing it, “Laureen” reached out to Jeff’s grandson Clint and recorded their side of the story and hearing it for the first time on this podcast reminded me that sometimes the greatest part of hunting has very little to do with the hunt itself.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:33

I guess more stores. I did make a couple posts about it. But the way this thing all came apart was kind of divine intervention. I was talking on the phone and the first client. I was like, okay, I'll go check it. And I'm not bragging and not get too many of those. I don't get to look at them that much. It's got to be a few. Anyway, I went over there and I'm just scrolling down. He was talking about his grandfather. 79 years old and he apparently had met me somewhere in Georgia at a turkey show. And I gave the head of something. Anyway, last year. And I can't get him. And I can't really get him out of the house after breaking my heart. I've been married to your mama for 53 years now. And I get a lot of requests. Anyway, I want back in. I need to put this sales number down there. So I call it. I cannot believe it. You could not believe that. Anyway, we talked and talked and talked about it. Just come over and take some turkey now. It was kind of a good thing. And I did, and I didn't want to make a big deal about it, you know, and it was uh because we didn't we didn't kill the turkey or anything.

SPEAKER_05 3:09

Well, I'm going to interrupt for just a second. It's just me, it's just Laura, whatever y'all want to call it. And I've got to interject because as good of a storyteller as my daddy is, and I think he is one of the best. And I don't it's not just me saying that. If y'all come up to me and tell me that too not doing the story, because for lack of a better phrase, we didn't want to put it on horse in the way Mr. Just uh break up the media, in the way they set the stuff, and the way they insisted the crowd, and tell all that unfolded stuff. There's a lot of that stories that's not telling me because I can tell you make yourself look like we can make a full idea. And so we weren't doing the best stuff of telling y'all the whole story. And we love stories in the game okay. So I'm gonna call clear. So y'all can tell us called clear.

SPEAKER_03 4:30

Your grandson reached out to me.

SPEAKER_08 4:39

Hey, how you doing?

SPEAKER_05 4:40

Is this Clint?

SPEAKER_08 4:42

Yes, ma'am, this is me.

SPEAKER_05 4:43

Hey Clint, it's Lauren. I so appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today.

SPEAKER_08 4:48

Oh, yeah. I can't I still I gotta pinch myself and believe all this is even true. You know, I know it's like I know it's like, you know, you're like, oh, we're just regular people, but you know, to like me and my grandfather and people that turkey hunt. Yeah, you know, your dad is like a god.

SPEAKER_04 5:07

So sweet.

SPEAKER_08 5:08

And I mean I grew up in that generation where like the hunting videos were being pumped out big time, and my grandfather always got them for me, and he would give them to me at Christmas every year, and I would go home and I would watch them over and over again. I'd get my mouth taller and sit there and try to imitate them all and stuff. And then, you know, my grandfather would always, of course, tell me the story of when he met Cuz and Will Primus in I think 1987.

SPEAKER_12 5:32

I met you at Will Primo at at the Greek Helly Lit Hair Linux Center on Cheshire Bridge Road. I can't remember what year it was. Yeah, it was a long time ago. It was, and that's the first time I saw Mossy Oak Camo, and y'all y'all were making that film, and you said you you were able to move.

SPEAKER_11 5:53

And I said, How was you able to move? And he said, That mossy oak blends in so well.

SPEAKER_12 5:56

I said, You know what? I have got to get some of that mossy oak and I've been hunting with ever since. Well, I brought you a couple of things too.

SPEAKER_08 6:03

He just always looked up to him so much. So, you know, people have like celebrities they looked up to, but you know, uh my grandfather's Michael Jordan was your dad. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 6:15

Oh my goodness. Well, Clint, I can't wait to get into this story. And I I said it earlier that my dad, as good of a storyteller as he is, he wasn't doing a real great job of telling the story because he didn't want to like toot his own horn. And I'm like, Clint's gonna tell me the whole story. If I call him, he's not gonna hold back.

SPEAKER_08 6:35

Well, my grandfather always said I could talk the horns off the goats.

SPEAKER_05 6:39

That's good for podcasting. We love that.

SPEAKER_08 6:42

I guess that's good.

SPEAKER_05 6:44

So now what do you call your grandfather?

SPEAKER_08 6:47

Um, I call him granddaddy. Granddaddy?

SPEAKER_05 6:49

Oh I love that.

SPEAKER_08 6:50

So Grandma Granddaddy, Grandma Granddy Granddaddy. And I'll say that's a that was a synonymous title, Grandma Granddaddy. Usually never said one without the other, but she passed away, and that's what you know, that's what led me to this.

SPEAKER_05 7:03

So put all this in motion. Well, when we first let's get started. Tell me a little bit about granddaddy and tell me what kind of husband, what kind of father, what kind of grandfather has he been an outdoorsman like? Just tell me all about him.

SPEAKER_08 7:18

Well, I mean, my grandfather, that was one of the things that, you know, my grandfather's just a very good person. Um I've looked up to him my entire life. Um, doesn't cuss, Christian. Um, he's a Freemason. Um he's a great husband. They were married for sixty years. He met her in high school. He never even looked at another woman. Um Yeah, I mean, I mean, they fell in love instantly and he said he called her every day and uh he never missed missed a day. I mean, even when I was growing up and we would go hunting and stuff like that, you know, he would call her every night before they went to bed. But husband, great father, he had three children. Um Jeffrey, my mom, Tammy, and then uh Natalie which would be the youngest. My mom's the oldest, Jeffrey's the middle, all of them very successful. He raised three great kids, but they they did it together, you know, my grandmother and grandfather, and um I just know as far as you know, there's just nobody that I've ever really met that's better than him. He has a great moral compass. And um as far as being an outdoorsman, I don't know the whole history, but I know around the eighties is when he got into turkey hunting. And um, I think some of his coworkers or something like that, they got into it, but he always told me this story of going to a place where I think Will Primo and Cous Strickland were selling mossy oak. And he met them and he said, Um I think they were showing a video and in the video they were kind of moving around when they were shooting the turkey. And my grandfather asked, Well, how are you able to move like that? Cuz said, 'Cause I had that Maffi oak. You know, then body land. And my grandfather bought it and um he has worn that same pair of moffioaks ever since that day. He's never washed it. It's still original. He has the jacket and everything and and he's talked about that story. But yeah, just as as far as my grandfather, um, career-wise, I think he worked for Lucent Technologies. And um he was big in like um I think circuit boards and like transistors when they were first being made and he did a lot of that. I remember he used to travel all over the country, you know, eventually moved to Lucent. He stayed there until retirement and um then they moved to the farm down in Wilkes County, which their family has owned for, you know, generations, and that's where we turkey hunt. Um he got me into it. I he took me down there when I was about seven years old and they have I mean, if your dad, I don't know if he told you about the land, but it's very beautiful, open pasture with big timber and lots of turkey and lots of deer. So but yeah, but my grandfather is the is you know, in my family's I probably look up to him almost more than my father. Him and my dad are my you know, I look up to them so so much and um they both got me into turkey hunting, but my grandfather was the one that really got me into it 'cause you know, where my dad wanted me to do it the way he wanted it done. Grand granddaddy would kind of you know, he'd let me go out there on my own sometimes and try to figure it out and that was always I always enjoyed that. But he he got me into turkey hunting. I used to ride with him, my great grandmother, um, in a single single cab up on fifty. It took an hour and a half, they checked me out of school just like your son. Um they checked me out of school, they'd drive an hour and a half down to the farm and tell me all kinds of stories about hist they you know, you I'm sure you've got that I like history. And um they got me into it 'cause they would tell me the stories of our family going all the way back to the Revolutionary War and I thought it was cool. So all that, you know, the relationship with my great grandmother and then the farm, it just I fell in love with turkey hunting, I became addicted hearing them gobblers in the tree. It just there's nothing like it. You know, uh it's almost it's almost cult like. He took me out there and there was like eight different eight, nine different gobblers gobbling, and I'd never heard anything like that before and we had some fly down and they came towards us. I didn't get an opportunity to shoot one, but um, you know, I had a I had a great hunt and um that was it. That was it from then on I was addicted and I went every year after that with my grandfather. And he I'll say this my grandfather has always made sure that every single person in the family that wanted to hunt had an opportunity to hunt. Like he's big on you know, the the next generation and younger people hunting. I mean he bought me turkey calls when I was eight years old. You know, so he was big on encouraging and he uh big on um he is super big on management. Like we don't just shoot small bucks, we don't shoot small turkeys, you know. Jake is a one time thing. He taught me, you know, and then after that you want to go for something that's you know, a uh you know, big 'cause you want to have him around.

SPEAKER_05 12:23

He's a gamekeeper.

SPEAKER_08 12:24

Definitely a gamekeeper because I think he remembers a time when there weren't that many, but then they or maybe there were a lot. And then he's kind of saw the numbers kind of dwindle a little and but they've gone back up. I think your dad'll tell you that they they had like eight like eight gobblers that morning running around in a circle acting crazy, but weren't able to kill one, but but that's how turkey hunting is, and that's one of the things that makes it so fun, is you just never know how it's gonna go.

SPEAKER_05 12:52

So true. Now when you described when you were talking about your grandfather, you talked about that he and your grandmother have been married, you said sixty-three years.

SPEAKER_08 13:02

No, sixty sixty years. It would have been s yeah, if she would have lived, I think another week, it would have been sixty-one.

SPEAKER_05 13:09

Her passing kind of kind of led to some events that ended up with you reaching out to my dad. Tell me how that came to be.

SPEAKER_08 13:18

Well, I don't know if he told you the whole backstory on that, but it was kind of like a miracle that it ev he even read the message. But basically, I mean, I was talking to my grandf you know, she passed on and my grandfather just was very, you know, sad. I mean, anybody would be. That's I mean, that was his best friend.

unknown 13:35

Right.

SPEAKER_08 13:36

You know, and and they were very close with each other and they spent they were never apart. I mean, I don't I don't I'm trying to think of a time where they were ever apart and they weren't, you know, and she was a homemaker and she cooked. But I mean, you know, she drove a school bus and stuff like that. But um as far it's just it's just he was he was basically telling me he wasn't gonna turkey hunt. I yeah, and I and I've turned that's my best like you know, like I've never not hunted an opening day without my grandfather. Every opening day, I've always went with my granddad.

unknown 14:11

Right.

SPEAKER_08 14:12

Uh always, every single time. And we would come in, she would make us breakfast, so I guess, you know, just this year and her not being there, he said he wasn't going to. So it devastated me. So I just twiddling my thumbs and thinking, what can I what can I do to like jolt his system to get him to possibly want to turkey on with me this year. That's what this whole thing was for. I just want my granddad to turkey ant with me. And um you know, and the thought of him not killed me. But anyway, so I was writing this essay and it was just explaining what kind of fa uh, you know, a father he was, grandfather, husband. I was I told that in the message, I was like, he's not gonna turkey out with me this year. I'm so I'm sad. And all I wanted your dad to do was call him. I was like, if you could just call my grandfather, I know for a fact him hearing from you will make him want to turkey hunt with me again. It would make him very happy just to hear from him. And I mean, I'm talking about every opening season. I'm 39. Since I've been seven, he has told me the story of Mayok and meeting cuz, meet and cuz, meeting cuz, meet and cuz, I mean beating him when okay, when he goes and buys calls with turkey thugs. You know, it's like, you know, and I mean he loves cuz in every single way. And um I was just like, maybe if he can talk to him, but then your dad somehow read the message, reached back out to me, got my phone number, and called me and offered to come hunt.

SPEAKER_05 15:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 15:44

And I didn't even believe it. I mean I was like, yeah, right. Well and and and I mean I just figured there's no way it'll actually work out. Like, even when I was like, you know, you figure a guy like him, as many hunts, and not in a bad way towards him, but just he's busy, he's got yeah so much stuff going on. And um, I mean I I I pay attention I I watch all I listen to the podcast, I watch all the stuff.

SPEAKER_05 16:10

He's going.

SPEAKER_08 16:11

I love it. But anyway, so he reached out to me, he was like, Hey, you know, I'm gonna come down there. And so um I y your dad'll tell you I was speaking I didn't even say a word, I think, for about ten seconds. I just sat there. And then finally I was like, I was like, really? I was like, all right. And then so I had to keep it a secret. That was one thing. It was hard. I could you know This is a surprise.

SPEAKER_05 16:34

Our listeners don't know that yet. This was a total surprise to your granddaddy.

SPEAKER_08 16:39

Mm-hmm. 100% surprise. He was your your dad gave me explicit instructions. So I was to the point where I felt like if I spilled the beans, he wouldn't come down there, which I mean I felt like that. He was like, Whatever you do, do not tell him.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Right.

SPEAKER_08 16:53

So and I wasn't supposed to tell anybody else. I was just supposed to be between me and him, but I had to tell my uncle because my uncle, um, he like there's an old cabin that's been on our farm since since I mean the 1700s. It was fallen down, but he fixed it up, made it freaking awesome, put a cool porch on it. I mean, you're I'm sure your dad told you it was a pretty nice place. It has old solid oak wood beams, I mean it has original floors. He did such a good job at fixing it up. So I had to contact him to be like, hey, would it be possible for Cuz and his grandson to stay there? And he was he didn't even you know, he loves y'all just as you know, he loves hunting. He's a big more of a deer hunter than turkey hunter, but um, you know, he was all for it. So he was like, heck yeah. So he helped me. We like behind the scenes were, you know, cleaning it up and uh I was getting the I was scouting turkeys like crazy like I normally always scout, but not like this. Like I was coming every day. I was like, I gotta make sure the turkeys you know, I gotta make sure I know where they're at. I can't have the mossy oak people come down here and we ain't got no thing.

SPEAKER_06 18:00

We ain't got no dang turkeys and I done talked it up, you know, because anybody'll tell you they got turkeys, but you know, you could go out there and sometimes you don't, you know, well, I didn't see any, but anyway, so I was scouting them, I was make I had stands, I had trees fixed up, I mean I had uh roads raked out, and I was doing all this behind my grandfather's back.

SPEAKER_08 18:23

And I know he was suspicious. But he was just thinking, you know, because I I take care of my uncle. My uncle, see, my uncle and his wife, they own Wagyu cattle, it's Deep South Cattle Company. And um they run the cows on my grandfather's farm. And I I take care of them day to day. And then of course, like, you know, when my uncle's off, he comes down there and he takes care of them. So me and him kind of really take care of them together, but until he's like retired, you know, I do a lot of the work there when they're not there, feed 'em, yada yada yada. And um, so it was just a big thing where then everybody in the family knew, but everybody was having to keep it a secret. I mean, like my mom knew, my my dad knew, we were we were getting steaks for cuz, we were like getting all this stuff together, and like I said, it was completely and me and your dad stayed in touch the whole time. And um, I was you know, I kept him updated. I was like, hey man, I'm on the turkeys, I know where they're at, I know where they're at, it's gonna be a good hunt. It's gonna be a good hunt, I'm telling you, I'm telling you. And of course your dad's so humble the whole time. He's like he told me he wasn't even worried about turkey hunting, it's more about making my grandfather taking his mind off of off of her passing, even if just for for a day. That was his goal. He didn't care. He's like, I ain't coming to kill you turkeys, I don't even care about that. And um Yeah, it was the secret. And then to the up until the point when your dad was driving down there, I mean my mom and dad are distracting him by cooking food. And I'm down there telling him I'm roosting turkeys, I got the gate open, I'm standing by the road waiting for your dad and your son to pull up Matt, which by the way, your son is you should is Matt your son?

SPEAKER_05 20:05

He is, he's my oldest.

SPEAKER_08 20:06

You should be very proud of him. That's a great kid. You should be so proud. I mean, that's one if I was half the person that he was when I was that age, I'd be two times ten times farther in life. Thank you so much. Great attitude, great hunter. Uh he's already got the when I was his age, I was a running gun. I mean, if I heard a turkey gobble, I was walking a hundred yards and I was gonna find him and I was bumping him half the time. But he was like, No, let's just let's just wait.

SPEAKER_04 20:33

He's patient.

SPEAKER_08 20:34

Very patient. He's he's a good hunter. And um very, very, very good kid and so kind to my grandfather. But yeah, so they pull in the driveway, I let him in. Your dad doesn't waste one second. As soon as he hops out of the truck, let's go. Yeah, I mean, he's ready to go meet my grandfather. And of course he looks at me, he goes, Did he steal the beans? He was convinced that we had told told him.

SPEAKER_05 20:58

It's so hard to keep a secret.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

This is Clint Brantley, and I I hadn't explained it all, but anyway, his grandpa supposedly is a big fan. He should probably raise his bar, but he hadn't been turkey hunting in a year or two. He lost his wife, he's been a little depressed, and Clint reached out to me and just wanted to know what I talked to him. And I said, Well, how about if I just go over and go hunting with him? So we're about to surprise him. And he may just go, Who are you? But anyway, we're about to find out. Old timer is more than just a knife. It's a timeless tool meant to be passed down. The USA made generational series of knives are crafted to last generations, so they become memories made. Let's turn and back to timer knives built for generations.

SPEAKER_12 23:33

And that's the first time I saw Mossel camo and y'all was making that film and you said you were able to move.

SPEAKER_11 23:42

And I said, how would you lose me to that Mossel fancy so well?

SPEAKER_12 23:45

And I said, you know what? I have got to get some of that mossy I've been hunting with ever since.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Well, I brought you a couple of things too, but your grandson reached out to me and it was I'll have to tell hi.

SPEAKER_08 23:57

I'm co-I don't think your dad fully understood how much my grandfather like I don't know that he has many fans quite like my grandfather. I really don't think he does. Like I know a lot of people look up to him, but my grandfather, there's a very special way that he looks up to your dad.

SPEAKER_03 24:17

And it was a message that long. Right than that. And the more and it you gotta kind of read and just because you I get a lot of stuff. But the more I read this note, the more emotional I got. And I was like, I texted him, I said, send me your cell number. And I said, I want to talk to him. And I talked to him, and he was telling me about you being a little sad, and I understand that. Almost lost my bride twice. He said to answer twice. But anyway, uh I said he said he just wanted me to talk to you. I said, I just come over and let's go through that time for the longest time. I said, Hello, you stay okay? And uh say look, it ain't as much to me. But it's like uh take care of 33 days. I just got back from my last time.

SPEAKER_13 25:16

I say you know, mm-hmm. We've been married till February 30th and 61 years.

SPEAKER_03 25:23

Well it's been tough. I know what happened. I ain't here to change that. I'm just if I can take your mind off of it for a day, I get it. Right. I've been married uh fifty fifty-three years this past March. And I it just I kind of you know, I I was I said, I just need to go over and visit William.

SPEAKER_08 25:42

But we did, we walked up there, and I think I do think that your dad got to see because my grandfather almost cried. Oh I mean, I don't know if you saw that video, but he he cracked a little when he he said, cuz I mean when he opened that door, my grandfather and let me just say, that single moment has changed the trajectory of my grandfather's life.

SPEAKER_05 26:04

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_08 26:06

I mean it. No, I'm uh I'm I'm not if you could talk to my uncle and my mom and his sister, they were, you know, very worried about just his m he's just sad.

SPEAKER_04 26:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 26:16

He just he wasn't himself. And he don't get me wrong, working out again, he was he runs like five miles every single day, gets up at five thirty in the morning, reads the Bible, very disciplined, very regimented. And he was doing that, but he just what he just kept saying to us, I don't even know what I'm doing this for. And when Cuz came that whole weekend since then, he has just been so happy. In such a great mood. And he has he's only been talking about that. Yeah, and and um but yeah, so the surprise, it was it was a hard undertaking but it but it worked, and we kept it all the way to the last minute, and your your grandson got to see something that and the in I think he got to see the impact that your dad has you know made and it's not just the turkey hunting it's it's deeper than that. And I I mean he saw that 'cause he he he did. He almost he almost cried several times just 'cause he was so emotional about the fact that he was I ain't seen you since nineteen eighty You know, I mean he he didn't know he almost didn't know what to say. I don't know if you saw the video but it just he he was but then he told him exactly when he met him and you saw how excited he was. It was a great moment and it like I said it it's it set my grandfather you know he's very happy now. So we we really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_05 27:41

You've you've kept the surprise. Your whole family kept the surprise. Cuz pulls up. When you're standing back watching your granddaddy get to interact, what were you thinking? Like what was going through your mind when it was. It all worked out.

SPEAKER_08 27:56

I mean, I was crying. I don't know if you saw, but I I mean I was tears rolling down my face, and I don't cry very much. I just could I just and it was also a relief, it was a relief too. I was like a pressure relief valve finally went off because like um I like I said, I don't think your dad, I would tell him, I'm like, you don't understand how happy my grandpa. You do not understand the surprise it's gonna be. Because like I said, he th he thought he even said he said they let the cat out of the bag, didn't they? He said, No, I had no idea. I mean he's still in shock. He told me today. I mean, I don't know. I just I I really don't know how I really don't know how to put it into words, but it just it was just um I knew okay, do you know how hard it was to see my grandfather so sad for so many weeks and not tell him, you know? Like I wanted to tell him because I wanted to give him some good news. I had this great news, I had this awesome news that I was I was like I can tell I want to tell him because I knew that I was like, if I could be telling it, he would cheer up. So it was hard enough to have to hold that secret and then see him, you know, watch him be so sad for so long. And because this was this was a you know, it was like a few months that went by. And I'm sitting here like, I kept saying myself, man, if he can just get to this day.

SPEAKER_04 29:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 29:18

If he can and so when it happened, I just I lost it. I was like a little baby, I started crying and I was just so I I knew that this would change the trajectory of his life. I knew I'd be turning up with my grandfather again. I know that he would be he would realize that there are good things that are gonna happen to him on the other side of his wife passing away. And he can't and he shouldn't feel bad about that. He should feel he should he should I mean she is in heaven. I'm telling you, this woman was a saint. Thought about nobody else but herself. Even when she was in the hospital passing away, she was more concerned about my dad's cancer than she was about her situation. You know, so she's where she needs to be. And now he realizes that there are cool things and new adventures that are gonna happen, and and that's all what went through my mind. I mean, that's exactly what went through. In like a ten second blip, you know how your mind can think of so many things when your adrenaline's rushing, it's just it was just an overwhelming overpouring of emotion. And my every my mom, my dad, and um my little daughter was there, so they all got to see that, and we were all just everyone was just waiting for this moment for granddaddy to be happy.

SPEAKER_05 30:35

And he was.

SPEAKER_08 30:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:38

So that night, what are they talking about?

SPEAKER_08 30:41

I mean, well, first your dad I mean, this just I mean, my grandfather is just so I cannot tell you how like happy he is, but your dad gave him some stuff. And I mean my grandf oh my gosh, he hasn't stopped talking about that. He's called every single person. Told him about it. But yeah, so we're we're sitting there and they do this little unboxing and then they're just you know, they're just we're talking about turkey hunting. Um I mean, they talked about all kinds of stuff. I tell you like this, like you said, I was almost in shock. So some of it I almost I don't like I don't remember. But yeah, we were talking about turkey hunting, we were talking about um, you know, what we were gonna do the next day. We started game planning, and I mean, as I was pulling up that evening, I seen like six or seven gobblers out right behind Leonard's house across the street. So I knew there was gonna be a good hunt the next day. So we were game planning, but that but you know, he was main he was just showering granddaddy with old Maciok stories, talking about um granddaddy was talking about, you know, of course, when he first met him, they go over that, and then your your dad was just going over all kinds of stuff that you know nobody else out there would know. Yeah, my grandfather is just in la la land.

SPEAKER_06 32:03

I mean he's just sitting over there like a like a Justin Bieber fan, you know. You know how those people are well, you know, I'm saying you know how you know how crazy they are.

SPEAKER_08 32:12

But um he was just focused, tracker beam, and um everything that um your dad said he was just soaking it up and and one thing about my grandfather is he remembers like everything, so he's gonna remember this moment for the rest of his life. But yeah, so we we um then we transitioned, we ate some barbecue, um it was it was good and uh they enjoyed it. You're and then we sat on the couch and me and your me and Matt kind of talked a little bit and then we just I just kinda sat there and let Cuz and my grandpa they talk for probably an hour and a half. Just about all the all the different turkey hunting stories, you know, like war stories, I guess we call them. Hey, turkey hunt turkey hunting is a war, man. I'm telling you, when it's in Georgia when it's you know the end of the season and it's 90 degrees and the humidity's a hundred percent, you got twelve ticks crawling on you and you're crawling across the field your belly crawling to try to get to this turkey and you're going over ant hills and you're like, I'm choosing all this to kill this turkey. So it's it's uh that you know, so you're and you you know, of course your dad was telling us just all kinds of cool stuff. He took a picture of um actually took a picture of the the camo and sent it to Toxie. My grandfather I mean of course imagine my grandfather thinking that. You know, he was just like blown away.

SPEAKER_04 33:35

He's like, I can't believe he did that.

SPEAKER_08 33:38

He has uh he was telling us about a VHS tape called The Truth.

SPEAKER_04 33:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_08 33:43

It's like the first one. But my grandfather has the one that's only the truth. It doesn't have one on it.

SPEAKER_05 33:49

That is a that is an even more rare, more limited run. That one is like so special. He should hang on to that forever.

SPEAKER_08 33:59

Well, my grandfather is he wants to send it into Cuz so he can have it.

SPEAKER_04 34:04

Clint.

SPEAKER_08 34:05

Yeah, he Yeah, and and and oh my gosh, I gave my grandfather cuz this number and I went there yesterday. I had to get a um snap ring tool.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_08 34:16

If there's a tool, my grandfather has it. And if there ain't, his cousin Bobby Danner can make it.

SPEAKER_04 34:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 34:22

And I'm not kidding, they're amazing mechanics and welder. But anyway, so but yeah, I went over there and he said, I can't believe I texted Cuz today. And you know, he replied he said, and he replied. Oh, he w you know, he couldn't believe that. He's I was like, Can you believe that you have coast strict on the number and you're talking to me? He goes, Clint, I still can't believe it. So, yeah, so the hurt hasn't even happened.

SPEAKER_05 34:47

The sun hadn't even set, the turkeys aren't even on their roost yet, and this has already been a huge success for your family. You feel me? Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 34:56

Oh, it's it was everything we could have asked for, and and even it just it went as great as it could go and and even better. And like I said, you're he's such a class act, the best entertainer ever. You know, he's like you l he has that magnetic personality. When he starts talking, yeah, you just want to listen to what he has to say.

SPEAKER_04 35:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 35:18

And then Matt, you know, he's he's the same way, but he's just he's very, very humble and he's a very good kid.

SPEAKER_05 35:26

Thank you. They share a lot of the same mannerisms and stuff.

SPEAKER_08 35:29

They look just alike.

SPEAKER_05 35:30

Yeah, they do. He looks almost identical to my daddy's high school.

SPEAKER_08 35:33

Well, I told him he was cuz reincarnated. I said, You look just like him in the original days back when they were standing on that porch.

SPEAKER_05 35:40

If he had a beard.

SPEAKER_08 35:41

Yep. And your dad had that camera that looked like a dagum dinosaur.

SPEAKER_10 35:46

Huge.

SPEAKER_08 35:48

I was asking him how he toted that thing around. It's like, couldn't believe it, you know. I I didn't even think about that as a kid. You know, you don't think about the cameraman back there toting that big old camera around and not getting seen. It's hard enough to not get seen with just a gun in your hand, let alone a camera.

SPEAKER_05 36:04

Yeah. Yeah, he would cover it. He would make these like little mini textured blinds and bottom land. But the thing is the camera would have the tape and the bottom land and the stuff hanging off of it, and so he would come to like my ballet dancer title. And video it. But it would be it would look like something in the audience because I called that off because I brought it to the dancer title, and I'm like, oh, that's my bad.

SPEAKER_06 36:29

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_05 36:30

Um that night, what was the vibe and the energy? Because if if I'm your granddaddy or if I'm you and I know we're getting up early to go turkey hunting, I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to fall asleep that night. Were you all excited?

SPEAKER_06 36:44

Yeah, I didn't sleep. I didn't sleep. Neither did my grandfather. He said he stayed up till three o'clock in the morning, went to sleep, woke up at four.

SPEAKER_08 36:51

Because you know, my grandfather, he has he wakes up extra early if he I mean, you know, this was like, you know, it's like he was auditioning for some major role in a movie or something, you know. He he just he couldn't believe it. And um, yeah, he could yeah, he told me that. He said he couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep either. I was so excited. I was getting to take your your son your son went with me.

SPEAKER_04 37:14

Right.

SPEAKER_08 37:14

And then Cuz went with my grandfather. We went on my uh my grandfather's side of the road and they went across the street, and I knew they were gonna be on the Dagum Turkeys. I was like, and that's one thing that I was so confident was I had scouted them so well, I had them so patterned that I pretty much I mean, there's no guarantee you're gonna shoot them, but I knew they were gonna hear some goblins and I knew they were gonna see some.

SPEAKER_05 37:36

Right.

SPEAKER_08 37:37

You know, but yeah, so I couldn't sleep at all. I and I woke up at five o'clock in the morning, went and got some Chick-fil-a biscu or some uh well, I say they're Chick-fil-A biscuits 'cause McDonald's done went copy Chick-fil-A's chicken biscuit and it they copy it tastes exactly the same. It's got the same butter biscuit. Uh so I went and got the biscuits and I wrote 'em over to um to your dad and your son and they they tore 'em up and it was like I think I got there about five forty-five in the morning and I was just pure adrenaline.

SPEAKER_04 38:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 38:09

I mean, I c and and just still in disbelief that and let me just say this. They they didn't seem like that though. They were like very n it was just like I was hanging out with my best friends. Just normal, so humble. Your dad didn't act like some celebrity. He didn't act like he had been hunting at a million ranches, and this was just, you know, this ain't nothing to me. He was on he made us feel like he was honored to be there. We had beautiful land. He was and it made us feel so proud.

SPEAKER_10 38:38

You should be.

SPEAKER_08 38:39

My grandfather's so proud of that. I mean, and then and I'm happy I did it, you know, got them onto them turkeys, but they had like I said, they were able to go out there and have a good time.

SPEAKER_05 38:48

So I'm feeling like the excitement and the enthusiasm. And like the mood and just everything being lifted. Like that was just that was such a thoughtful and the fact that your grandfather had been on your heart and you were just racking your brain with what to do. And like all the things and like a inbox kind of cluttered and something that's going to be understanding to a folder.

SPEAKER_08 39:19

It was a miracle. It was a virus of it.

SPEAKER_05 39:24

Everything happened the way it was supposed to. And so I can tell the story of how their mornings that went down, but he was asked to meet. He said the only thing that wasn't absolutely perfect was we didn't kill a turkey. I said, But you know what? There's mornings when we've gone and we killed a turkey pretty quick and it was an awesome hunt, but we didn't have as much time to talk. And I'm like, maybe Mr. Jeff just needed more talking, you know?

SPEAKER_08 39:47

Yeah, that whole yes, he that they they well they needed that. That he needed to hunt with your dad alone and just hang out with him, just by themselves, nobody else around. And yeah, I'm glad that that I'm glad it didn't happen that way. I'm glad they didn't like because a few weeks earlier, 'cause he did go out there with me on uh opening morning and we didn't hear nothing. And then we went two weeks later, I said, Granddaddy, I got I got one roosted, I watched the tree it flew up in, we're good to go. Let's just go sit in this spot, we're gonna kill one. We went, we were out of there by 715. You know? I mean, seven fourteen gobblers on the ground. It was nice. I had like an inch and a quarter, maybe almost an inch and a half spur. It was a nice turkey. Big old beard. And um, you know, they came right in there gobbling and everything. But you know, you you wouldn't have wanted that, 'cause like you said, they wouldn't have had that time to to talk. But I things things things every single thing that was supposed to happen happened exactly the way it was supposed to, even up to their hunt. And like you said, I want them to I don't want to spoil the beans on that. I want Carlos to talk about it. In fact, I want to hear more about it 'cause they kinda you know, they told us a little bit about what happened, but you know, I want to hear the minute because I didn't get I he didn't say nothing about the conversation because you know when they got back they kinda had to go. But yeah. Um, you know, me and your um and then me and your son were across the street and we had a really good hunt as well. I'll tell you, it was didn't didn't get killing, but same thing. We had a lot of time to hang out. I love it. And I'm in shock as well. I'm sitting here thinking I cannot believe I am sitting here taking God's grandson hunting. And it meant a lot that he trusted me. I mean, you know, he's you know, he's seventeen years old or yeah, he's seventeen going into college, right?

SPEAKER_05 41:34

That's right. He'll graduate in a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_08 41:37

That's awesome. He like I said, you'd be very proud of me. He gets started early like that. He's he's got a good line on what he wants to do for career, which is awesome. Logistics and stuff like that. I think he said he wants to learn German.

SPEAKER_05 41:51

He's got all kind of all kind of goals.

SPEAKER_08 41:55

That's good to have goals. You either have goals or you don't, right? That's right. And uh but he's a good kid, and yeah, but as far as as far as that, it just like I said, everything everything was was happening the way it should be, and you know, I don't want to get harp you know harp too much, but I mean God definitely was in all this. For sure. I mean he made everything click into place. I can't accredit it to anything else. The way it worked out was just not perfect.

SPEAKER_05 42:23

Divine intervention since in the week since have you noticed like a difference in your granddaddy and and how has the the week since then compared to his past couple of months?

SPEAKER_08 42:37

Yeah, like the that's what I was gonna it turned the corner for him. Like I said, he hasn't been like before he was kind of, you know, just focused on the passing of his wife. And I'm not saying he's not thinking about that, because trust me, he is. He's never gonna not think about that. But he's more focused now on the future. You know, we're thinking, hey, maybe maybe maybe they might come next year and uh we'll we'll get them maybe come ear we kept saying maybe they come earlier and we can try to hunt again and uh you know, we can get one this time, maybe because when they came, I hate to say it, but it's almost an unkillable church of time. Uh, you know, their hand up. Um even even even to the point where when one hen slips off to go nest, there's still another one hanging around even in the afternoon. Because I know there's this little cherry spot where it seems like it's one hen with one gobbler I've I've on this property. I don't know about everybody else, but one hen with one gobbler. And once she goes off to nest, he's by himself in the afternoon, and I can usually go in there between twenty ten and twelve o'clock and I can bang sticks together and they'll come running at me and I shoot 'em.

SPEAKER_04 43:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 43:42

But um, but you know, yeah, so he's looking forward. I think um next year, me and him we're gonna go to NWTF, I think it's in Mississippi, wherever he'll be.

SPEAKER_04 43:52

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08 43:52

And you know, and those we're saying, Hey, you know, we'll come holler at you cuz and you know hang out with you.

SPEAKER_05 43:58

And he would.

SPEAKER_08 44:00

Nashville. Oh, okay. Nashville. Even better. That's right above us.

SPEAKER_05 44:03

It's just not that far. You gotta take him. He would love it.

SPEAKER_08 44:06

No, I am. And then in cousin even said, you know, like holler at me when you get there and we'll hang out with you and we'll get you know, and I mean my grandfather is just he can't believe this. So now it's like whereas I think he was kind of thinking, like, what is there left for me? You know, what is there left for me? I've had kids, I've was married, I was married for sixty years and she's passed on. And I mean I can understand where he's coming from. But at the same time, we love him. And he's the best person in our I mean, when I tell you he's like the Magna Carta of our family, you know, it's like we look we look up to him and um everybody does, so we need him around and and this m made him have a reason to you know I'm not saying he didn't have a reason to be around, but I can't explain it other than it's like jump starting a battery.

SPEAKER_04 44:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 44:56

And his battery is back on and he's running full again. And um and he yeah, and he's like I said, we're we are gonna go to NWT. Of course he says, unless the rapture happens He says if the rapture don't happen, we're gonna go to NWTS.

SPEAKER_04 45:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 45:17

For our listeners, Clint, I was just I was gonna ask you for somebody that's grieving deeply and was just kind of in a little bit of a dark place, what do you think of this whole situation meant the most to him? Was it the hunting? Was it the stories? Was it it being a surprise, or was it just y'all being thoughtful enough to want to do this for him?

SPEAKER_08 45:40

It was plain and simple. It was just meeting cuz. There's nothing else. It was just meeting cuz and getting to meet somebody that he has looked up to for so long that he has talked about so many times. I mean, three weeks ago, riding in the truck, he just randomly tells a story about when he met Coach Strickland. I'm sitting here thinking, I'm gonna want to tell him so fast. It was, I mean, of course the conversations meant something, but all that, all that came, you know, all that came with Cuz showing up. The conversations, the hunts, all that. But just meeting him, it was just I I don't know, I just like I said, I really do I I really honestly believe that my grandfather is Coach Strickland's number one fan. I really don't think that there is a there is somebody who looks up to him more than than my grandfather. And um, like I said, just meeting him and y you know, that it I I mean I know it sounds cliche, but it was it I mean it. It's just it's just somebody he's really looked up to and it was it kind of felt like a full circle type story. He even said, I haven't seen you since 1987. You know, and I don't know, and I mean they had a conversation and my grandfather, you know he has a conversation with somebody and it's a good experience, he's gonna be loyal to that person forever. And he ain't bought nothing but mafiok since then, so I don't know. But yeah, but yeah, just just meeting your dad was I mean and and all I'm saying is that made him realize you know, if any if anybody is going through anything out there that they you know, I don't know what their their experience might be. Hopefully they have family that cares. I mean my my thing is, you know, it wouldn't ever happen, but I I cared enough about my grandfather to make it happen. I love my grandfather that much. And I think you do gotta have somebody somebody that cares enough about you to do it in the first place. But you know, hopefully everybody out there has somebody that can that when they see 'em, you know, maybe they'll find something to help lift them up, you know. And if you and if you don't, it's just whatever it is, you know, that people have been like holding back on, you know, don't hold back on nothing. That's one thing my grandfather took away from this. He kept you know, he's saying like, you know, he like and uh the seize the moment because he did big time.

SPEAKER_05 48:14

After that weekend, I can tell you too that it's you keep saying that your granddaddy's a fan of of my dad, but I'm telling you my dad's a maybe as big of a fan of your granddaddy after getting to meet him and spend time with him. He had such a good time.

SPEAKER_08 48:28

Well, that means a lot to hear that, and I I can't wait for him to hear y'all's hear hear hear this and hear when he hears that, he's not he's gonna be in disbelief, I'm telling you. We're gonna have a watch party. And I'm gonna record his reaction and I'm gonna send it to you.

SPEAKER_04 48:43

I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_08 48:44

Because I want you to I want you to see him watching the podcast, he's gonna freak out. Yeah, we're all the family's gonna get together and we're gonna And you know, that's another thing he has to look forward to, you know. And this one moment you know, one moment can change your whole life. And it you just have to wait for it to happen. You know, that's the thing. You can't give up. And and and that's what I've taken from this is that no matter how down you feel and no matter how sad you get that there are brighter horizons, and it might take some time, but it'll happen for you. You just gotta believe that it will 'cause you know, for the longest time, you know, I g I I I knew that there was a thing for him. I knew it was this date was coming. He didn't. And he was in despair. He was so sad. You know, and and you know, it's it's like if you w if he would have given up, he would have never had this happen. So that's my biggest that's my biggest thing is you can't give up. You have to just keep trucking until until that day comes and it turns around for you because the Lord it turned him around so much. And I just thank y'all so much, and your dad, and my mom is so grateful, Jeffrey's so grateful, Natalie's so grateful, my Aunt Kay, she's doing okay. Thank you, thank you. I mean, so many people are we all love my grandfather. I mean, he'll tell you that we he has a good family. We got his back big time.

SPEAKER_05 50:14

And um special clean.

SPEAKER_08 50:15

Your whole family is but but I'll say this though, as much as we have his back and as much as we were trying to be positive to him and make him feel better, we could not come close to the way your dad made my grandfather feel. We couldn't even we couldn't touch it. And um we realized that. And I that's why I wanted him to meet him, because I was like, look, there's nothing I can do to make this man happy anymore. Try to get him to go feed cows with me, try to get him to go hunting with me, he don't want to do it. But that man right there, Coach Strickland, that's the one. And uh it hook, line, and sinker, it worked.

SPEAKER_05 50:55

There's a quote, and I'll butcher it because I don't remember it off the top of my head, but it's it's something about when you're having a bad day, you gotta realize that some of your best, happiest memories haven't even happened yet.

SPEAKER_07 51:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 51:06

And so for somebody that's deep in grief and going through a terrible time, it's like just give him one of them memories to show him that there could be some more. You know, there's more coming, there's more to this.

SPEAKER_08 51:18

Yeah, and that's what and that's what I I just needed him to get to that 'cause I knew he would see from this experience that because he's so he's just so in disbelief. I mean, I still think he thinks he's dreaming that it even happened. But um, yeah, just gotta wait for that miracle to happen because it will and at the same time Macio people, y'all are just different. I'm sorry. From the documentary, The Colonel and the Fox, it made me cry. That that is the way they touched on Turkey Hunt, the way they the way they hit the history, the the way they show the father and the son out there putting their arm around each other. See, that's what I was gonna miss. Because my grandfather put his arm around, you know what I mean? We did that. And I was thinking I I watched I actually was watching that documentary. I was watching the Chron Fox, and it was that very intro, and it was it was uh I saw where the father and the son are walking and he puts his hand on his son's shoulder, you know, and I was thinking to myself, like, man, I just can't not have my grandfather hunt with me, and that's when I hit Coach Drickland up. And it all came it all worked out perfectly.

SPEAKER_05 52:27

What a special family, what a special story. Why do you think, like, especially this day and age and the times we're living through, why do you think kindness and gestures of this magnitude, why do they matter so much more right now?

SPEAKER_08 52:44

Well, because because so many like I mean, 'cause most people would never do anything like that. Nobody would care. You know, they might like like and that's what I'm saying about Mossy Oak people is you're um, you know, the whole team toxic, everybody. It just seems like y'all care about your the people that buy your stuff. I mean y'all we're not just customers. It almost feels like we're all family. It's a big family. And um it just means it just it just means a lot to you know, hey, I feel like uh every penny I spent we all was made whole that day. I mean, good lord, but I don't it's just you know, it's easy. Uh you could like say something to somebody on Instagram and they could send a nice note. They could say, Oh, I'm sorry this happened. Tell your grandfather hello. Right. But to go out of your way to drive all the distance that y'all I mean, what he y'all live in Mississippi, right?

SPEAKER_05 53:41

I think it was like six hours.

SPEAKER_08 53:43

Okay, he drove six hours. All the way to my grandfather's farm. Mind you, we ain't know each other from Adam. I mean, golly, you might be thinking, Who are these people? You know, I mean anybody would think that. You know, you're like a little creeped out, I mean, you know, weirded out, but just where do you where are you gonna find that the that that that somebody will come and just plop down and come hunt with you? I just I don't know. And I'll I'll say this, I'm not being rude or nothing, but I was I kept thinking that it wasn't gonna work out. You know, like he's gonna message me at the last minute. But your dad just kept are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? And then he pulls in the driveway and I was just so honored and it just it just it does. It it means so much to you know, to hear to hear from and to see it just all came through and it everything he said he did. You know, I'm s you know, you don't you don't get that a lot. Even people you meet in family sometimes, you know, they don't do what they say. You know. But this stranger comes from Mississippi and comes and stays and hunts with my grandfather just to make him happy. I mean, I I'll I'll I'll I'll do anything for that man. Your your dad, he needs me to come cut some trees down or do some cattle work or anything he needs, he let let me know, I'll do it for him. I would I'd do anything for your dad. He he changed my grandfather's life and I just thank y'all so much. Well listen, he's My grandfather's gonna be around for twenty years because of y'all. Versus dying of grief.

SPEAKER_05 55:15

He sent me a um my daddy sent me a picture after y'all's trip, after y'all got back, and in that picture, in between your grandfather and my daddy, there was the brightest, prettiest sunbeam just shining down in between them. And and I know it's like I'm a v I'm a super spiritual person, and I'm just like, oh my goodness, you know what I thought about, and my dad goes reading his text, and I said, He thought about grandma too. What do you think she would have thought if if what would she have said about that weekend?

SPEAKER_08 55:48

Well, that's the that's the only sad part is he would have wanted to tell nobody else more than her. Yeah. No, no, no, he would have wanted to tell everybody. But but the the number one, the number one person he would have wanted to tell was Graham.

SPEAKER_04 56:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 56:04

And uh, you know, and it was sad he wasn't able to, but at the same time I showed him that picture and I was like, Granddaddy, I said, I believe that Graham was with you that day. Her light was shining down or her blessing was shining. Hey, I believe because I prayed before I did all this. I was like, Lord, just please, whatever I do, just let it work out. So maybe she went to Jesus and was like, Hey.

SPEAKER_05 56:27

Put in a good word.

SPEAKER_08 56:28

Yeah, can you help, can you help him out? My husband's sad and we need something to to work out, and he did it because I just saw that beam of light. And my thing is it could have been anywhere else in the picture, but it was right on his shoulder in between him and us. And that's exactly where Graham would stand in any picture with my grandfather. So that's I can't I can't I can't say that that was that that was random. It can't I I don't think it was at all. That was that whole weekend felt like divine intervention. And your dad kept, like you said, your when your dad pulled his phone out and he showed us how many messages he gets, that's when my grandfather realized that it was probably divine intervention, that there was something else going on that helped it all along. And you know, like I said, we just appreciate it so much and we'll do anything for y'all. Anything y'all need. Y'all are welcome to come hunt anytime.

SPEAKER_05 57:20

Well, thank you so much. Listen, I appreciate you taking the time to spend an hour with me. I don't does it feel like it's been an hour.

SPEAKER_07 57:29

No, I could talk. Like I said, I could talk the talk the my grandfather always says I could talk the whores off of a goat.

SPEAKER_05 57:35

Made my job easy. I love it. You you can come on this podcast and talk anytime. But just to tell your family that my daddy had such a good time. He loved getting to meet y'all. Matt loved getting to hunt with you and getting to meet your grandfather and your family. And he is so lucky to have y'all, and we're lucky to have been a little part of that story.

SPEAKER_08 57:57

Well, I told I told your your uh your son one thing. I said, You're going off to college, but carve out some time, no matter what, to hunt with your granddad.

SPEAKER_04 58:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 58:09

And he said he was. Because you're I heard your dad say a few times, you know, you're going off to college, not that we hunt as much. But I told him just make sure you do, because they ain't gonna be around forever. That's right. You gotta you gotta cherish every moment you get, and I like that's that's a legend right there.

SPEAKER_05 58:24

Good advice. That's good advice. I appreciate you telling him that.

SPEAKER_08 58:28

You have a good one.

SPEAKER_05 58:29

I appreciate that, Clint.

SPEAKER_08 58:31

It was wonderful talking to you.

SPEAKER_05 58:32

It's wonderful talking to you, too.

SPEAKER_01 58:35

God bless America. It's Uncle Ken reporting for duty. My life is a fistful of dirt, and I'm a Mossy Oak celebrant of truth, logic, and common sense right here on the Mossy Oak Fistful of Dirt broadcast. God bless the Spirit Blood Rubbiers.

SPEAKER_00 58:58

You're listening to Fistful of Dirt, the official podcast of Mountyoak Properties. Find your favorite place. Visit Mountyoak Properties.com.

SPEAKER_03 59:13

Well, I know now why you were aggravated with me on the front end of this and edited it so hard. You will want me to talk way more about the hunt over there in Georgia than I was willing to do.

SPEAKER_05 59:26

Yeah, I could tell I was like, you know, he's such a good storyteller. He's holding back.

SPEAKER_03 59:31

Well, I mean, yeah, you know, it's it's like you did the podcast with the boys, which people loved.

SPEAKER_05 59:39

Right.

SPEAKER_03 59:39

But I was hesitant to promote that because I'm like, I'm not gonna go say, hey, y'all go listen to this podcast. They're saying some cool stuff about me. I I ain't doing that. And that ain't why I went to Georgia. I know. And I think you figured that out pretty quick.

SPEAKER_05 59:55

I did.

SPEAKER_03 59:56

And uh I and I've been sitting here wondering, I wonder that ain't gonna be a very good podcast.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:02

Well, I know you just weren't gonna tell the whole story because part of that story was your big heart and being willing to go do that. And I just I wanted to hear the whole story without your filter on top of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:15

Well, you're sneaky, and uh you're also the producer, so good for you. Because I, you know, there's nothing worse than you know, somebody who wants to talk about themselves all the time.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:28

Except except maybe an old man who won't act as a guy that would be worse. And uh there's a few of them on social media, but what a special trip that was. I mean, for a bunch of reasons. And uh now we're in touch all the time. I'm getting pictures from over there, and uh, you know, it's it's just that's fun. Get there, and it ain't that big a deal. It really wasn't, it was a big deal to them, but it's not to me.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:53

It's a very big deal to them.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:55

You hear this all the time. This is what happens when you're a giving person, and I'm surrounded by them. I'm not talking about myself. The more you give, God starts bringing stuff to you to give away in this vicious cycle. And when I got back, and man, you talking about a lot of divine intervention, I ended up being able to go hunting with Dexter Roberts and Russell Andrews and uh with little Will Roberts who's all over social media about the county.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:24

Because I was following his story, and you and I hadn't talked about it. And you were on a different hunt with a different group of people, but still in Tennessee. And the day I thought you were coming back, you sent me a selfie from the tree. You feel good about checking in. And the kid over your shoulder, I was like, I know him. I said, that looks like a familiar face. I said, Is he on Instagram? And you were like, Yeah, he's it. And I said, Pop, I've been following his story for weeks.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:52

Yeah, the fact is uh the place we were at, Dexter knows that guy and I do too. I was there, you know, with the sheriff and some other people and all of them. And uh boom, I you know, he said now Dexter and his buddy Russell they're bringing this kid over in the morning. They you want to go, they want you to go with them.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:12

I was like, I okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:14

You know, I and then what a special day that was. I was I I was with them from I don't know how far they had to drive all night, got there, and I said, now look, we gotta leave at five o'clock. I got a spot, but we gotta get in there quick. And they were out there at five o'clock and we hunted to I don't know, after two unbelievably close encounters where he could see the fan that was right through there at thirty yards and the turkey wouldn't raise it. I mean, it was crazy, but uh you know, look, if we got it if they got his mind off what he's battling for a couple of hours, that was a mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:52

I don't ever want you to feel when you go on those hunts, and and I'm talking about the one in Georgia and the one in Tennessee, and I know the uh you always want to bring a turkey to that person, and that's how you want to end that story. But I'm telling you, some of my best memories were encounters and close calls and misses and everything else. And sometimes I think God gives you those mornings where you don't get that opportunity because that gives you another hour with your back against the tree talking and biting and laughing and eating bologna sandwiches on tailgates and sandwich bread. He may have needed that way more than he needed a turkey.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:29

Yeah, well, it was a special day, so uh I I guess God sent that one because I talked about the other one, or at least you talked about it. I didn't talk about it much. So anyway, I I am not that guy and don't want to be that guy and say, look at me, look at me, look at me. So uh I don't even like to look at myself. I tell people all the time if I didn't have to shave, I wouldn't have that little mare in the guest back. But anyway, you did good and you are the producer, and that's your job. So thank you for doing that. I know Clint loves talking about his grandfather and what a special family and place that is. So kudos to you. You get two thumbs up and double A pluses, Lauren.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:10

Thank you. That's a good story. It's a feel-good story. If that one don't make you feel good, you just uh you don't want to feel good.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:16

Yeah, well, we're gonna I hate to leave turkey season and I might go back and visit from time to time, but we're gonna switch gears here pretty soon. I spent the whole weekend picking up limbs, getting stuff ready for yaya, weed eating, yeah, chainsawing and spraying. And uh yeah, I'm going to I'm gonna I'm gonna try to plant corn and do it a little different, but I ain't gonna spill the beans. I'm gonna try it and see how it's I'm gonna wait for germination before I stick my test out and say how about I did this and stayed sometimes. But anyway, we're gonna get in gamekeeping mode here pretty soon. So from me and Lauraen up in the camo cave from Mossy Oak and Mastiok properties, God bless you all.