Fist Full of Dirt
Welcome to Fist Full of Dirt, the official podcast of Mossy Oak Properties hosted by Ronnie "Cuz" Strickland. Whether you own a small farm, lease land or just love hangin' in your backyard.. we’re all about the outdoor lifestyle and how to get the most from your time in God’s great Outdoors.
Fist Full of Dirt
FFOD327 : Be Kind & Shoot Turkeys with Scott Branca
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This week I’m sitting down with Scott Branca from Branca Boys Spurs. Most turkey hunters know Scott from his incredible replica spur creations and custom knives but there’s a whole lot more to the man than craftsmanship.
We talked turkeys .. how a hunt back in 1994 changed his life forever and why turkey hunting gets so deep in a man’s soul. Scott is one of those humble, steady people you’re thankful to know. The kind of man who quietly pours his heart into everything he creates. I believe y’all are really gonna enjoy this conversation.
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Welcome to Fistful of Dirt, the official podcast of Mafio Properties. Whether you own a small farm, leaked land, or just love hanging in your backyard. We're all about the outdoor lifestyle and how to get the most from your time in God's great outdoors. Now here's your host, Ronnie Cut Strickland.
SPEAKER_03Am I live from the Camel Caves?
SPEAKER_02Am I live?
SPEAKER_03Getting some rain on our crops. We had a podcast last week about summer food. And I had an epic fail last year. I ain't having no epic fail this year. Yeah, we were talking about drilling and all that kind of stuff. And I have gone down so many rabbit holes I feel like Lorreen. But I I feel like I got a I feel like I got a handle on it now.
SPEAKER_04Those are different kinds of rabbit holes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I went and shot some photos of I drilled through a standing food plot. And no, I didn't crimp it. I don't have a crimper. I don't have all that yet. My thought was the food plot, it was still raw mostly. And I don't know if it was in the dose age. Anyway, this this uh this drill I was using has a cultive packer thing on the back and it crushed it down good while it was planting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I checked it a few days later and it was brown. I said, well, if it pops back up, I'll just raise my bush hog up kind of high and mow the top of it. I wouldn't worry about it. But man, it's just doing spectacular.
SPEAKER_02Good for you. You were due for a good crop.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, you know, I I planted corn too, and uh everything is getting rained on. I hadn't fertilized it yet, but I feel like I got a handle on it.
SPEAKER_02So far so good.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the farm, the farm is doing good. I was glad to get like two weekends in a row at home.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03To try to get caught up because turkey season was blistering to say the least. But it was very special.
SPEAKER_02It was a good one.
SPEAKER_03But it's uh it's it's time to to move on to different things. You had a big week. You got Matt, the middle grandson, graduated from high school.
SPEAKER_02My oldest is uh a high school graduate headed to start. Well, I'm as pro I'm as proud as I can be.
SPEAKER_03He's gonna be moving into Mississippi State. You gotta live there as a freshman, I think.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you have to live on campus. So I've already got little storyboards going with me and yay decorating and coming up with what we're gonna do so he's uh feels comfortable and feels like home.
SPEAKER_03Well, I can tell you who ain't happy about it. Yeah, yeah. He's like because you know he he he he's at our house every night, he's up. It's always cranky. She's still got cranking. Yeah, she'll be hugging on him for three more years. Every time you start talking about Mississippi State, she just kind of gets quiet, and I was like, bless her heart.
SPEAKER_02Well, here's the thing, he's in our backyard. If the child was gonna go to college, we couldn't have picked a better, closer one for him to go to.
SPEAKER_0330 minutes from our house, 15 minutes from our work.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you gotta be happy about that.
SPEAKER_03So that's uh that's a good thing. Y'all have done a y'all well, y'all you and your sister and both of y'all's husbands have done a superior job on all four of those grandkids. They're just the best.
SPEAKER_02Oh, well, one thing they all have in common is very active grandparents. And I think that's way more important than people talk about.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I you know, we I always I'm always so blessed that y'all live close. I don't know how you don't get invested with your grandkids. I guess some people are like, oh, I'm gonna retire and get quiet. I hate quiet.
SPEAKER_02I saw this thing and I don't know if this is rude to say it, but it said that people that are the best grandparents are the people that weren't ready for their kids to leave, and the people that aren't the best grandparents that didn't enjoy raising the kids that they had. I'm like out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's uh it's been a blessing. And uh but hey, life goes on. Cranky's next. Walker, he's already done with his freshman year, moved out, moved back home. Matt's working.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Matt's got a full-time job. Matt, he's working for uh one of my best friends on the planet, Dr. David Allen. He's been on the podcast two or three times.
SPEAKER_02That was my job when I was at Mississippi State.
SPEAKER_03And he's seeing patients and hooking them up to STEM and filling out records and cleaning. He's working uh has to be at work at seven.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That's the best thing in the world for him because David's one of the he's one of the smartest people on the planet, and he's a good boss because he don't play. You know, here's the rules. Yep. And and Matt's he's been around your mama a lot. Oh, yeah. Y'all petted on him too much. David Allen ain't gonna pet on him.
SPEAKER_02Oh, sir, and there's no sugar coating with that one.
SPEAKER_03But he appears to love it.
SPEAKER_02Yes, he's thriving.
SPEAKER_03So that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02It's good to have a purpose.
SPEAKER_03Well, people turn out good for a reason. Speaking of good people, people that turned out good for a reason. I don't know why it's taken me so long to get this guy on our podcast, Scotty Bronca. He's a guy that builds the knives for the wounded veteran and has the whole time. He's one of the nicest people, an artist and a craftsman of Turkey Thug. And uh I'm just gonna I'm just gonna interview him about you know stuff he's building and kind of his story because it's pretty interesting. So uh if you need a little inspiration, y'all stay tuned. We're gonna we're gonna visit with one of the good guys, Scotty Bronca. Scotty, how you doing, brother? I'm good, brother. How are you this morning? That's good. You getting some rain? Are you dodging tornadoes or anything up there in Illinois or wherever you're at? No, it's uh it did cool off, though.
SPEAKER_06It's in the low 50s this morning, and it's only supposed to be about 65 today. It we've had quite a bit of rain here the last couple days, but uh it's definitely cooled off.
SPEAKER_03Well, it ain't cool down here in Mississippi, of course. You know, we're in we're in Tornada Alley down here, but anyway, that's that's not why I'm calling. I I can't believe as long as you and I have known each other, I've never had you on the podcast. Apologies. I know Lauren's brought it up three or four times. Every time she sees a picture of the knives, which we'll talk about later, she's like, You gotta get Scotty on the podcast. I know. So apologies for taking so long.
SPEAKER_06There's no need to apologize for anything. You just mentioned something about it at the at the convention last year when we was talking at the booth. But I just I sure do appreciate you even even taking the time to talk to me, brother. I really do.
SPEAKER_03Well, you're one of the you're one of the good guys, boy, and nobody nobody has to guess what path you walk. Because if they follow you on social media and they should, they they can see what kind of person you are. But I want to dig a little deep before we start talking about products and all that kind of stuff. Now you w were you born and raised in I can't rem I can't I'm not sure I'm pronouncing the right sound. It's Tuscola. Tuscola. See, I would have got that wrong. I was gonna say Tuscaloosa or something like that. Is that where you were born and raised?
SPEAKER_06Born and raised here, cuz I've been here all all of my 50 years, right here in Tuscola. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Now what part of Illinois is that in?
SPEAKER_06It's central, I'd say. Um it's in the central part of the state.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You're up in big deer world, but you're a turkey guy, and I love that. Well, tell me about growing up. Were you uh was there hunting and fishing every day in your life? How'd you grow up? What what were you doing when you were a a little tapper?
SPEAKER_06There there was. Um when I was little, dad, dad always took me hunting and fishing. Um it's farm community around here. Um Tusco is a little town, probably about 5,000. And I've I lived in a little little uh suburb outside of town, so to speak. Um, but I had a buddy that farmed and a lot of my friends around here are farmers, and uh so I spent a lot of time uh on the farm with them. You know, we were always in the tractor or in the grain truck or doing something outside, riding four-wheelers or or what have you. So I'd say, you know, growing up was good, was good here. Small, tight-knit community, everybody knew everybody, and we was always outside doing something. So hunting and fishing was a big part of my life really at a young age. Um I remember dad um we'd always go squirrels and rabbits were the thing we did when I was a kid, and we hadn't been introduced to turkeys, you know, when I was younger, but we did a lot of squirrel and rabbit hunting and um dad always coon hunted. I remember when I was a kid he had coon hides um hanging all over the garage. Coon hunting was a big thing for him back when I was little, and um, you know, they'd take the hides to sell and this and that. Not many guys do that anymore just because the hides I don't think are worth what they used to. But hunting was a big thing for me ever since I was a little little tyke running around, so it's been in the blood for a long time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know, there if everybody grew up in a small town like that, the world would be a better place. I bet you got a subway and a nail salon up there, though. There's a subway and several nail salons. Yes, sir. I I I want to talk about turkeys because I I don't get the chan I don't get the chance to talk to many artists, and to me that's what you are. I'm not I'm not sure that's your main income and all that kind of stuff, but you're a real artist. Everything you turned out that I look at is just breathtaking. So when when did the turkey hunting bug hit you and how did that happen?
SPEAKER_06Well, so I was introduced to turkey hunting uh by a good buddy of mine that lived in Paris, Missouri. Uh his name is Clint Chandler, he's one of my best friends to this day, and he he's the one that kind of introduced dad and I um to the sport um back in, I think it was ninety-four. Um Clint had moved here from Missouri. He was just a couple years older than me, so he'd have been probably 19 or 20, just out of high school, and he ran a little hog barn here outside of Tuscola. And my my mom and stepdad owned a restaurant in town, and he came in there one day looking for somebody to help him uh clean up the hog lot, and uh I kind of got volunteered, and so long story short. I got volunteered, and uh it it turned out to be a wonderful thing because Clint and I became best buddies, and uh he eventually went back home to Missouri and um had invited dad and I to come and try turkey hunting. His dad had a little 55 acre, I say little 55 acres was good good patch uh back then, still is now really, but uh had a place uh had some turkeys on it and invited us over there. We had taken him pheasant hunting and and stuff, so he was kind of returning the favor and we got over there and uh once we got around the turkeys, why the rest is just kind of history. It just started a a a thing in my life to where we became infatuated with it like so many others, and uh has just sent me to where I am today um as far as the turkey world or the turkey industry or just hunting turkeys, period. It's just uh it's become a lifestyle like so many.
SPEAKER_03What was it about turkeys, do you think? Or do you even know what that grabbed you so deep?
SPEAKER_06Uh you know, cuz I just you know, the gobble gets us for sure. I'll never forget the first time I heard a wild turkey gobble. It was something I'd never heard and experienced, and it's hard to put into words other than I don't know, it's just something that gets in your soul, in your spirit inside you for me anyway, and you just can't like Tom Kelly said, you can't you you can't help but but hunt 'em, whether you want to or not, it's just something that you've gotta do and I just don't know how to explain it. It's uh it gets in you and uh it don't come out of you once it's in you.
SPEAKER_03So was was there a certain hunt or a certain day or something that just burned in your memory that started that, or is it just the whole thing?
SPEAKER_06I think it's just the whole thing. Um I I can tell you real quick, the the first time we were over there, the first experience I had at a wild turkey was was not like you'd think it would be. We're we're sitting in a fence row and and uh a bird had gobbled and and we're calling to him and he's answering and he's answering and we're calling. We're green, you know. The guy I'm with, uh Clint hadn't been hunting a long time either, and we're we're learning, and he's gobbling, so we're calling back, and because it's cool and he's answering us, and then the bird goes quiet on us. And we sit there for a while and we're calling and nothing, and we don't really know what to do. And I remember Clint saying, you know, an old boy told me one time that if you can get to the last place a turkey gobble, maybe he'll come back here. So we get up out of the fence row and we're walking along this fence row in the field out in the open, and it's hilly in there, and we get down a hundred yards or so from where we're we were sitting, thinking where the bird might have been last gobbling, and we call, and we don't hear nothing, and we stand there for about five minutes, is all, and we start walking over the next hill, and we get to the top of the hill, and about that time the gobbler gets to the top of the hill, and he's just running towards us. And we meet each other at the top, and he puts on the brakes and starts running. And my this is the first time that I've even had any experience or seen a wild turkey up close, and uh he takes off running anyway. Clint and I both shoot. I don't even know who killed him, but we killed the turkey. I got to claim it, and we took 6,000 pictures, and I was on top of the world, and we've been doing it ever since. So if there was one time, I guess it was the first time that just grabbed a hold of me. I just uh I don't know, it was quite an experience, but the gobble, but the gobble.
SPEAKER_03It was all divine intervention. You know that I say so. You know that, and I know that. You know, one I I do this uh uh secret sauce thing every year. I interview, you know, four or five legendary turkey hunters, and one of the coolest tips I ever heard is like when you when you you're getting ready to get up and move, just wait 30 more minutes. Yeah. And of course we learned that. Now you've been doing it a long time. Have you are you a run and gun guy? Are you a patient guy? Has that changed or how what's your favorite method?
SPEAKER_06Uh of course running and gunning is is by far the you know the most exciting. Um we hunt a lot out of blinds, and the reason for that is because most of the places that we have to hunt here around home um are open fields. Right. Um a lot of places we have permission to hunt on. It's it's flat country here and there's a lot of fields, and so we've had to hunt that way. Um so we don't have the luxury of you know running and gunning uh like a lot of guys do that have access to more ground, more timber so to speak, but every chance we get um we're running and gunning because those are the the exciting times for sure. Um but we've had to sit we've had to sit still and be patient for a lot of the 33 years we've been doing it, uh, just because we've had to.
SPEAKER_03You do you, that's what I tell my grandson. Nothing wrong with hunting out of a blind, and I've told this story before. I was on a some kind of panel and people were asking questions to it was four or five of us up there. I don't even remember if it was deer or turkey, but anyway, some guy was one of the p people in the audience asked the guy next to me, it was his turn, if you could outlaw one product in turkey hunting or in hunting right now, what would it be? And he immediately set a ground blind and he gave all these reasons. And I I guess I was making a face and the mediator asked me, he said, Because what are your thoughts on that? I said, I love 'em. And I said, I can't tell you how many wounded vets in a wheelchair I've popped that thing and set it over 'em. Or I had my grandsons in when they were five years old. I'm like, think about what you're saying before you say it. Check your ego at the door. There's nothing, you know, sitting patient and doing what you gotta deal with, there's nothing wrong with the ground blind. I think people get too fired up about hey, you gotta hunt like I do. You know, man, that that that that aggravates me.
SPEAKER_06I agree, and I think there's you know there's a lot of that today. It didn't used to be as bad, I don't think, before social media come into play. Seems like um everybody's got an opinion today, and if you don't hunt the way they do, or you don't shoot what they shoot, or you use decoys or don't use decoys. Everybody's got you know, an opinion and there's too much headbutting. We're all out there to try to kill a turkey, and as long as it's legal, why just root for the next guy and let him do it. Hey, you do you and let let me do me, you know. We're all on the same team.
SPEAKER_03So that's right. You buy a hunting license and go by the rules, we're teammates, and anyway. That's a bad part of social media, but it's got good parts too. So it does. It does. I want to ask you about Bronco Boy Spurs, and I know it's not just Spurs, and people got to follow. I think personally the best way to follow you is on Facebook. You have a wonderful Facebook. How's your Facebook listed? Is it is it Scotty Bronco? Is it Bronco Boy Spurs? How can they follow you on Facebook?
SPEAKER_06Well, I've got a um I have a Facebook page, uh, and it's under Bronco Boy Spurs, and then also have a personal page that's just under my name, Scott Bronca. Um, and we're on Instagram under Scott Bronca as well. But most of my stuff, and I don't know why, I guess because I have more people following me that know me personally. Um I have a bigger following under my personal page on Facebook, just under my name than I do my business, and I tend to use my personal page more for stuff. Uh probably ought to use my business page more for business stuff.
SPEAKER_03But well, you got a cool name. Who don't want to follow somebody named Scotty Bronca? Holy cow. But uh how how did all this start? Because uh it had to have a you had to start somewhere doing that. I don't know if it was maybe, you know, taxidermy or whatever, but how how did you end up in in the spur knife world? Because man, you're really good at it.
SPEAKER_06I appreciate it, Kez. God bless you. You're too kind. Um I I did actually have a little to do with taxidermy. Um I was doing uh taxidermy part-time. Uh so just real quick, a lot of people don't know this about me when they see all this stuff online, um, the spurs, the knives, and taxidermy, whatever, I got my hand in a little bit everything, but um that's all part-time stuff. I actually have like a real full-time job um where I work for a chemical chemical company half for this is year 29, actually. So I've done the 12. Yeah, I've got a full time deal. So all the other stuff is just on the side. I got a hard time sitting still, so I gotta have something to do when I got a little downtime. So um, but I was doing taxidermy part time a little bit, and um I've got a good friend, you know, you may or may not know him, Jody Harrison, a preacher man customer. turkey calls. Um he lives in Asheborough, North Carolina, and he was looking for a replica turkey spur for his he's got a lid strap that he puts on his box calls. Um it's like a leather type piece of cording that keeps your goes over your lid between the lid and the box to keep the uh box call quiet when you're carrying it around in the woods. And he was looking for a spur to dress up one of his calls for the Unicoy callmaker show that he that he goes to and he didn't want to use one of his spurs. He didn't want to use a real one because everybody saves the spurs from their birds so he wanted to know if I could make a a fake one just like a replica turkey spur and I'd never done anything like that, you know, so I said well I guess I could try. And so I made a a mold of a a a good spur off a bird dad had killed one of the longest spurs uh that we had and I I I poured the mold and and made a fake spur, drilled a hole in it um at the top where you know the tendons go through on a real one and I airbrushed it and put some clear coat on it and took some pictures and put it on Facebook and it just exploded. I mean nobody else had been to my knowledge, I'm sure there were but I didn't know about it. We're making fake replica turkey spurs, you know why would you have one of those w anyway?
SPEAKER_03So that's kinda how it started I I made a spur for Jody's box call and then we just kinda put it out there for people to see and started making necklaces and and keychains and this and that and it just kinda exploded um and that was back in twenty sixteen so here we are ten years later and we got Bronco Boy Spurs and we've we've gone on to start making some knives and um I I just that that's where it started what point did you stop and think holy cow people like these things it had to be like the orders came in or something was there a point you went wow I don't I have hit on something well when I started selling some of the necklaces and this and that I I thought you know I think we can we can we can do this.
SPEAKER_06So um I saw something that I could create that people could use it was in my niche so to speak because I love turkeys so it just kind of fit I mean it was perfect. So we just kind of rolled with it and we eventually started making them for NWTF banquets. We got in the preferred vendor program with NWTF and and banquets were ordering them as uh we were selling as keychains like um you could get a you'd buy a leg band go to turkey banquet buy a leg band for twenty bucks you'd have a chance to win a gun. So they were using the spur keychains and like a a leg band you'd you'd buy a chance at winning a gun and you get a spur keychain. It just it made sense because it was a turkey spur at a turkey banquet. So that kind of took off and of course they got more attention because of that. And then uh I was fortunate enough the NWTF um did an article and put them in a magazine and so people started hearing about 'em and that's what kind of helped drive the the business part of it and more eyes on them and and people were aware that we were doing stuff like that so it kind of took off.
SPEAKER_03Yeah I I have I have a keychain and a rearview mirror thing and all that the pictures are wonderful but they certainly don't do them justice. Ha how'd you hook up with Sandy Brady? Because he you know he's the guy making those beautiful awards and stuff. You're part of that thing now aren't you?
SPEAKER_06Yeah Sandy's one of my my best friends um as well well I just I have so many cuz uh through this organization and through the spurs I just met so many good people but Sandy um reached out to me over a spur. Um I think uh a good friend of his callmaker Kimmy Hanks with Hanks Game Calls was was wanting to uh toy with maybe putting a spur in a pot call or something just something different. Um you know you couldn't just get replica turkey spurs anywhere and nobody wanted to use real ones so people had ideas. Um and that's kind of how that came about with Sandy he called me we met over the phone became friends and then he you know wanted to start using them on his awards and I think for the last four or five years there's been one of our turkey spurs on on every one of the Grand National Awards and you know he does awards for for state calling contests and he does them for all kinds of stuff. And um I tell you what we do we trade we trade spurs for pocket crosses. I know you've seen these pocket crosses and so I got I got a pocket so I send him spurs when he needs spurs and he sends me crosses when I need crosses and and he puts the spurs on awards and I just hand the crosses to people so it's been a it's been a cool little thing with Sandy and I but he's a he's a really good dude and uh sure thankful for him and all he's done for me. He's helped me uh along the way and in with my business um as well so I've just uh been very blessed. God's had his hand on it from the get go for sure and um I just I can't thank him enough for for the direction that that the business has gone and my life's gone and just for everything I have.
SPEAKER_03Just a gift of a gobbler this spring there's been a few times I can recall when I've been on the bird there and didn't get him to go back the next day or maybe even that next week but I got a buddy maybe it's a whole I can send him a waypoint on the goblin there's a big difference between making something and creating something and you you you clearly have created something and uh it's pretty cool. You know it's like a lot people catch a big bass now and they don't kill the bass they throw it back and they'll get a replica made you know with dimensions and all that kind of stuff. And I think it's pretty cool to be able to put them spurs on your every mirror and you didn't have to take one out of the herd there. So that that's pretty awesome but I I think at heart you're a craftsman and I don't want any trade secrets and all but there's got to be a lot that goes into that.
SPEAKER_06Well there is um and that's the part that people don't see they should they get to see the end of it. And um if you I'm sitting in the shop right now looking at my my table that all my molds are on for my spurs and if he was in here with me cuz you'd be you'd be laughing at the process. But my dad helps me pour my spurs and uh he gets him out of the house and lets us spend some time in the shop together and I'm thankful for him for all his help. He's always helped me as much as he could out here. But my my spurs setup is is a caveman in today's world a caveman operation I mean I've got rubber bands around molds that that leak and it's a it's just a process and a pain in the butt and and uh but you know it it works and um there's many steps to get the spurs from from start to finish looking like they do but it it is it's it's time um in each one of them and the knives I mean everything's made one at a time by hand. Each spurs hand poured and sanded and drilled and airbrushed and clear coated. I mean it's just there's an art to it. But I enjoy it. It's not work to me. It's a you know it's a passion. Like when I'm in the shop it's it's my happy place. And when I retire from the plant uh I'm not gonna quit working because I can't sit still this is this is where I'm gonna be it makes me feel like um uh I'm worth something or what what I'm doing is worth something because somebody's gonna end up with every one of these things that I'm making. And they're gonna be able to you know what I mean at some point. That's right. Every knife I make every spur I send to a banquet somebody's ending up with that. So there's just thousands of pieces of things I've made in somebody's car or truck or in their pocket or what whatever. So it's a cool it's a real cool thing. I'm very blessed. Tell me about the knives when well the spurs I guess the spurs were first and then because of the knives or the spurs the spurs the spurs are artwork too but the knives and I got a little history with that when when did the knife thing start so um I got a friend Larry Dixon in Texas that uh he makes calls and and tinkers with some wing bone stuff and he he gave me the idea actually I gotta give him the credit for it about making a turkey leg knife and using the leg as a handle and that's kind of where the knives actually started. So we teamed up together and I molded just like I did a spur I molded a turkey leg um spur on it and everything and um made a replica leg handle that we were going to start making knives out of. And we did and we put them out there and they sold because nobody'd ever really seen anything like that. I hadn't and um so that's kind of how the knives got started and then we went to the um I thought well I can make a deer a replica deer antler handled knife and it just kind of took off so and we started selling those to banquets and uh offering those to people. So then we started putting stuff on the blades.
SPEAKER_07Um so that's how the knives started and then they were a hit.
SPEAKER_03Um so yeah that's what's next good gracious you know I here's the cool bear hangs were next the rear view mirror hangs there you go because I'm always that's that's the cool that that's the coolest accessory ever. And yeah it looks so much better than having a mini beer can or something like that. It's like that thing is cool.
SPEAKER_06I bet you're still on a lot of those it's yeah I have it's it's just it's redneck. It's uh I should have been born further south because I have to be the biggest redneck in central Illinois probably the rednecks are everywhere.
SPEAKER_03They ain't just in the south I've traveled enough to know they're everywhere.
SPEAKER_06Well there's one in central Illinois I promise you that but so real quick just where the rear view mirror hangs I gotta give credit uh where credit's due to another good friend of mine Jeffrey Thompson who's a callmaker he um had somebody make one of those little bitty turkey heads and he was putting them on the top of his um hand turn strikers for pot calls he makes he makes uh decorated strikers and so that's where that idea came from and he was gracious enough to let me use it for mirror hangs so he gave me a little one and I molded it and that's how the mirror mirror hangs came about. I'm just always trying to think of something the next thing to keep keep me busy um I make me a little extra spending money so I can keep hunting it's just I'm always trying to create something you got to keep coming up with something new because things will you know can die out and then they lose tension and you got to come up with something else. You gotta come up with something else. So my mind's always going that's just kind of the I guess the artist or the creativity in me.
SPEAKER_03Well you're you're being very humble kind of blown by the knives but I've I've been able to witness what those knives mean to people because since the first hunt or the second one man I've been we'll be working on 17 years that's coming March. Not only have you built and donated the knives to the wounded veterans down there you've made them all special and they're always different. It's got a veteran or it's got an American flag on it or it's got a spur on it's the reaction of these people highly decorated and I wish you could be there every time that's a tight I'm just a guy I don't have anything to do with it. And I've tried to explain to you what that means when you hand those people that knife and Apex ammo and I haven't done sponsorships and all that and when you hand somebody one of those hands it's not a handmade like that it's just and when it's a knife you know people are crazy about knives but why why was the veteran and look you you had to run me down at the NWTF. Because I hadn't had time to ship them take them home but you are relentless to make sure they get them and that says so much about your character. Why is that an important project for you?
SPEAKER_07Well I I you know I've always had a special place for veterans in in my heart.
SPEAKER_06I just have a lot of appreciation um you know for those guys that I I'm not a vet. I didn't make a sacrifice for our country. These guys did um we don't turkey hunt cuz without our veterans we don't we don't live in a freeze country in the world without our veterans. We don't do anything um with the safety and the protection that we have with without those guys and and people need to understand that and it's just it's easy for me because that's just the way I feel in my heart and these guys need to know that we love 'em and we appreciate them and we're thankful for them and we realize that we don't have the freedoms we have without those guys. So it's important to me that if I can impact a few of them by sending eyes with you, like I told you from the get go, uh I'm in till you quit doing it. I'm in forever because th they deserve it and I'd love to see the faces. You know every time I see somebody in public has it's got a veteran hat on uh I go up to them I don't care where I'm at and I I just thank 'em for their service. I shake their hand, I hug them, whatever, and the reaction that you get from these guys and gals, it's like they don't hear it enough in my opinion and uh they want to tell you the a story or they just I've had them get emotional or just thank you, thank you sir for recognizing that I serve, you know, and it's like wow how could you not recognize these guys?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It's you can tell it comes from your heart. And when I'm down there I'm not I'm not real quick to break out my phone and start taking pictures and stuff. But I think it was two or three years ago you know they they'll come in four or five at a time there's always two hunts and and we've got Mossy out there farming and all that stuff and I and we passed out got the guys' denives and all I said all right we're gonna meet up in in an hour. Lunch is out on the table blah blah blah. Y'all be on the front porch in an hour. We're gonna split up here you guys and all that kind of stuff. And this one guy he went fixing a sandwich and he went outside got him a folded chair and got up on a cake of a what little cream was there and had a sandwich sitting on his lap and he had that knife in his hand he was just toiling from one side back to the other back to the other and I was like I wanted so bad to take a picture of it but I said I'm not I'm not going to impose on that moment. And it's like man I wish if Scotty was there to see that we wouldn't walk up and say nothing. But it's like man those things mean something. And I think I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's a special time for us to hand that to a veteran whether they're in a wheelchair or on a crutch or whatever their issue is man they forget about everything for a while so man from from the bottom of our heart down here thank you for doing that that's a big deal.
SPEAKER_06Well you you I I'm in to the end brother on that I promise you that as long as you're doing it you got knives from Scotty I promise you so um it's just it's a good even though I'm not there to see it I I'm hearing it now and I know it anyway that it that it makes a difference just because I see that when I go up and just say thank you to one of them.
SPEAKER_03So you know I had a couple guys last year actually call me um sorry I'm getting a little emotional I always hand you a card to them you know just uh hey here's a guy that handmade this knife and you know some I I I I would I would hope some of them would call you you know they I've had guys call me um and and and thank me and and tell me what you know what it meant and I've had them email me.
SPEAKER_06Yeah so I've got I've I've I've had contact with some of these people that received the knives so that's absolutely not necessary but but wonderful to hear from them and get to talk to him for a minute. You know what I mean? So so I I still feel like I've I've kind of been been there in a sense or part of it because I've got to talk to a few of these people so it's uh it's it's a good thing and you'll get them you'll get them from me going forward for sure. That's the least I can do.
SPEAKER_03Can you uh promise Can you quote me the t-shirt that you had done with that I want you to tell me what your t-shirt says I know the message is be kind love one another hug people help people if you love someone tell them be thankful and last but not least is shoot turkeys.
SPEAKER_06We gotta shoot turkeys.
SPEAKER_03That may be the best t-shirt or the best motto I have ever heard and if you've never met Scotty you just met him if you read that right there he wrote that that kind of sums you up don't it?
SPEAKER_06Well you know I I'll just real quick tell you how that that started is social media and and uh all these memes and and stuff you see on social media I'm scrolling through one day and I see I see a meme of Morgan Freeman now you know who the actor Morgan Freeman is lives in Mississippi sure I know who he is okay yeah you probably ate dinner with him who knows I wish he's a good one yeah I like Morgan anyway there was a meme uh on social media and it had a picture of Morgan Freeman on it and it was in black and white and it had half of his face like you sometimes you take your selfies and it's got half of your face on it. I love that and everybody else in it but this meme with his picture at the top said how do we change the world and underneath that it said one random act of kindness at a time and when I read that I just thought wow that that is powerful and I thought I need a meme I need something to be encouraging to to people that I could put out there like that. So I I just kind of wrote down some things on a piece of paper that were important to me that stood out that maybe defined me and that's how I came up with a message and I put that picture on a meme and and put Put it on social media and people were like, Oh man, that's cool. You need to that'd be a cool poster You need to put that on a t shirt. So I was like, Okay. So I made up a bunch of posters and just started giving them away and then we put it on a t-shirt and we started selling shirts and that's kind of how the message started and their shirts I got 'em all over the country, people wearing message shirts, and it's just so humbling that that people are are sharing that 'cause you know as well as I do. In today's day, we you know there's a lot of dark out there and we gotta be shining light every chance we get. So anytime that we can try to encourage people or throw some goodness out there and some light in the dark world, why we just gotta do it, man.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well that's that's very special. I when I retire and start selling t-shirts one of these days, I'm I'm I'm gonna have one that just says, What would Scotty do? You got you got a tough decision, just I what I wonder what Scotty. I always I got a couple of buddies like that. It's like they're they do the right thing, it don't matter who's around. If nobody's watching, if their mama's standing by, they always do the right thing. And that's the thought I have when I think of you. And uh I know you don't do anything for accolades or praise or anything else, that's not how you roll, but uh your your faith is very important to you. How's that shaped you in in business and everything? Because I know that's number one, you know, God, family, country, I know that's number one with you. How does that shape you?
SPEAKER_06Well, you know, we've all got life, you know, life's stuff down here and we all make mistakes and we've all got a story and we've all got a past, and and um I I have not always been as close to to the Lord as I am now. Um I I uh I battled some alcohol addiction for a long time and about three and a half years ago I I just gave my myself to Christ and um it has changed my whole life.
SPEAKER_07Um of course in a good way.
SPEAKER_06It's uh it's just it's important that you have a relationship um with the Lord. I didn't realize how important that was. Um it just made me look at things different, how I treat people, how I raise my family. Um really was important in in this little time we have down here. Um I just found that if you put you know your faith first and you put the Lord first and everything you do, uh you're gonna have a lot less trouble, you're gonna have a lot less stress and heartache, and it's just it's just important. It's more important than I ever realized it.
SPEAKER_07So it's kind of I don't know, it shaped me in a way that it's it's hard to describe.
SPEAKER_06It's just uh it's a walk uh I'm in a different place, in a better place um now than I've ever been, and and uh I'd like everybody just to know to be in the situation that I'm in now as far as my walk with the Lord, that it's just more important than anything you do down here. Um, you know, because I got to speak at the convention last year, um I got to give my testimony and kind of tell my story. And um I just feel like um the the Lord has me trying to encourage other people um to build people up um to to encourage people when they're struggling.
SPEAKER_03Um well we need all the good role models we can get, and that's the best manual that it is, and I wanted to just wanted to hear you say that. I didn't know you had an issue with it, but I you said something at the front end that I have to remind myself all the time. We all have a past and we have all made mistakes. I do them uh you know, I make them weekly, and I you can all you can do is ask for forgiveness and you will be forgiven. And that's right. That's a good way to live your life, and you're uh you are one of the best examples for that, and I'm glad you're in the turkey hunting cult, my brother, because you are making it a better place.
SPEAKER_06Well, I appreciate that, because I r I really do. You know, I'm I'm a work in progress. I I battle every day, and we all do. That's that's life in the flesh down here, and uh we all have struggles and and it's not easy um walking with the Lord. But um once you once you you make that transformation and and you you live for him, then um you just do things different and you you get reminded of when you're maybe starting to fade away or you're doing something you shouldn't be doing, you get convicted of that. And so it's uh there's just no better place to be. Um and if I could encourage anybody or say anything today that that's at the top of the list, it's it's about having your faith and having a relationship with Christ and uh I'm sure thankfully for mine.
SPEAKER_03If we want to buy a t-shirt or a rear view mirror, a hanger or a spur, how's the best place how how's the best way to get in touch with you? Or do you sell them to individuals? Are you just doing banquets and stuff now? Or can can Oh no, we have a website. You have a website, what is it?
SPEAKER_06It's broncoboyspurs.com.
SPEAKER_07Spell up bronchiform. B-R-A-N-C-A. Boys. B O Y S Spurs.
SPEAKER_03S P-U-R-S.com. Bronco Boyspurs.com. That's got the knives and everything on it. It does.
SPEAKER_06Um our t-shirts are not on there every day because we don't keep a big inventory just because of different sizes. What I normally do once or twice a year is I'll make a social media post out there and say, hey, you know, whoever wants shirts, they're now available on the website, and I'll I'll put them on there then and give everybody a couple weeks to go make an order, and then once everybody orders, then I have my shirt guy make them. Um and that's just because we don't keep a big inventory of them.
SPEAKER_03Well, you better order some because we're gonna promote them on the podcast. Well, I appreciate you promoting them.
SPEAKER_06And you know what? I want everybody, I want everybody all over wearing them. And you know what, cuz it's I don't make much off the shirts and I sure don't sell them for a profit. It's it's more about getting the message out. Uh, I give away as as many of them as I as I sell, really. It's just it's just about sharing. It's just about getting the message out there as far as the t-shirts go.
SPEAKER_03Um I I can't thank you enough for your time. That's a that's a wonderful t-shirt, a wonderful message. You're a wonderful person. And again, I'm sorry I took this long to get you on here, but here's the good news. The podcast has gotten really big, and I hate to keep saying that. No, it's not Joe Rogan big, but it's big. So you know it was all divine intervention. The longer the the further we push on, the bigger it gets. So you we just spread your message with thousands, and I appreciate your time, brother.
SPEAKER_06I appreciate you too, cuz. You know, speaking of of my time, and I I've said it to you before, but I remember um I remember a social media interview with you, I don't know what it was, but somebody was interviewing you, you was on the front porch somewhere, and I know you've done many, but you said something that I have never forgotten, and it was the most important thing that you can give somebody is your time because you've only got so much of it, and we don't know how much we have, so that's probably more valuable to us, whether people realize that or not, is our time and you are giving me your time right now, and you have given your time to so many people, whether it's at the convention or on a veteran hunt or just wherever, right now on the phone with me, all your podcast people that you spend time with, and you get their story. So God bless you guys for for you and who you are and what you stand for. Um you've been a big influence on me for a long time, and you didn't even realize. I mean, when I was a kid, I was watching you and Will and Jimmy and Harold Knight and David Hale and all these guys as a kid that I looked up to, and I never dreamed in a million years that I would be friends and have relationships with you said individuals like I do today. And um so I appreciate you and all you do too, and uh I'm proud to call you friend, brother.
SPEAKER_03Well, you're too kind. God bless you, brother. I can't wait to see you. I'm putting, I'm officially putting on my bucket list one or two things gonna happen. Either you're gonna go with me to Florida, one in bed hunts, or you're gonna come down here and go turkey hunt with me and these boys. And I'm I'm putting that at the top of my bucket list. So God bless you, Scotty Bronca. You're one of the good guys, buddy.
SPEAKER_06I love you, Kaz. That'd be absolutely wonderful. And I appreciate you and your family and your time. And um, if you need anything from me before the convention, all you gotta do is holler. You know how to get hold of me.
SPEAKER_03Thank you, my brother. God bless. Old timer's 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, lessons learned, and values taught. Old timer knives built for generations.
SPEAKER_01I'm in my tree stand every afternoon. I escape the stupid world with my Mossy Oak camera, which by the way I'm getting on the Mossy Oak Podcast, is called Fist Full of Dirt, which pretty much summarizes my life. You know, in Braveheart and the Gladiator, when the gladiator went to fight the evil forces, he kneeled down and get a fistful of dirt and fondle the essence of physics of spirituality of the earth, and that we all must remain grounded down to earth. So I fondle earth every day.
SPEAKER_00You're listening to The Fistful of Dirt, presented by Monty Oak Properties.
SPEAKER_03Why are you getting tear out?
SPEAKER_02That one made me kind of a m he's just such a good guy. And you can tell when you when we get to see him in Nashville, he's just the most warm. Give you a big hug, just good energy people. I love being around people like that.
SPEAKER_03Well, they're uh sometimes they can be few and far between, especially in today's age. And I I I think he said he's f getting close to 50.
SPEAKER_02I wouldn't have thought that. He looked like a teenager.
SPEAKER_03He uh he is one of the nicest people, and just from the from the onset, ran me down, harassed me to get me some knives to take to these wounded vets, because he had heard about the hunt and he may not have sent him to the first one. I don't even know that people know when we did the first one, but from the second one on, and it's been sixteen years, he how many we're gonna have, and all this kind of you know, and he makes a special you know, design for each group. It's just unbelievable on somebody's heart like that. And I had to make him, I said, look, when you send the knives, put your card in there so I don't have to individually give these guys your sale and all that kind of stuff. He he didn't he wasn't doing it for all that. He just that's the way he feels about it. He's a good person. He is a good person. I was so glad got him on here. And you can't have enough messages like that as far as I'm concerned. And people say, Well, that really wasn't instruction. That wasn't kind of instructional, and it wasn't no, it was inspirational.
SPEAKER_02It just feels good.
SPEAKER_03Feels good. Sometimes you feel good about stuff, and feel good about that. We'll have to revisit with him. And I I'm gonna certainly share a turkey hunt with him at some point because he uh he is absolutely eat up with it. And again, it was all divine intervention. So with that said, we've had uh two kind of off-topic subjects. One of them was summer food plots, and this was kind of an inspirational message. But we're gonna keep moving forward. Lauren reminded me the other day, you know, podcasts don't do as good in the summer.
SPEAKER_02They call it a little summer slump.
SPEAKER_03A summer slump.
SPEAKER_02We're not gonna have a slump, y'all.
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, y'all y'all share these things and make sure everybody listens to them.
SPEAKER_02Listen to it on your way to the beach or you know, going to play golf. Put it put it in your ears and and just kind of it doesn't have to be hunting season.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you can share it with somebody and not get in trouble.
SPEAKER_02You know, no no bad words, no bad topics.
SPEAKER_03It's like when I hand somebody one of my books, I said, hey, no big words, no, no bad words. All right, Laurreen, good job. Uh there's a lot going on this summer. I'll keep you posted on different things. I got a little list over on my desk of pretty cool guests. I'll keep you guys posted on that. So from me and Laurreen up in the wet, thank goodness for the rain, from up in the wet Camo Cave in West Point, Mississippi, from Mossy Oak and Mossy Oak properties. God bless each and every one of you.
SPEAKER_02Let's see in seven days.
SPEAKER_00Your favorite place.
